Outrageous airline fees

FEES for standing on a plane, wanting to take baggage on your trip and forgetting to bring your earphones among the most ridiculous.

check-in

FEES for standing on a plane, wanting to take baggage on your trip and forgetting to bring your earphones are some of the world's most ridiculous airline charges.

We've found fifteen of the most outrageous airline and airport fees - which even includes paying more to check in with a real person.

Know of more crazy surcharges? Tell us below

Pay to stand on plane

Would you pay to stand during a flight? Chinese carrier Spring Airlines proposed exactly this, promising those who took the option a discounted price.

"It's just like bar stools," a spokesperson for the airline said.

"The safety belt is the most important thing. It will still be fastened around the waist."

Pay for leg room
How much would you want to pay for seven inches of extra space? Try about $10 an inch, if Continental airlines are anything to go by. In 2010 the airline started giving people the option of purchasing extra leg room, and Australia's Virgin Blue soon followed suit. They introduced the "Blue Zone" option, which gives you 25 per cent extra leg room for $20 to $70 more.

Pay to check in
Discount airline Ryanair charges people $15 extra if they check in at the airport, through their service desks. If you check in online, it's free.

Pay to park
In 2010 the ACCC accused Sydney airport of price gouging with car parking rates, noting that the price of short-term parking has almost doubled in the past financial year, from $28 to $50 for four hours.

Pay to pee
Ryanair are also considering charging passengers $1.50 to use the toilets on board. At the moment, Boeing have said no to the proposed fee, but Ryanair hasen't flushed the idea yet...

Pay for baggage
American Airlines and United Airlines charge $15 for your first item of checked baggage, and if you have a second bag United will charge you $50. But that's not quite as bad as Spirit airlines, who charge you $10 for your first two bags, but $100 for your third.

Pay for earphones
Complimentary earphones no longer exist for US Airways, who now charge $5 if you want to listen to anything, or block out sound.

Pay to redeem freebies
US Airways have something called an "Award Redemption Processing Fee". After a customer accumulates enough frequent flier points to claim a free flight, the airline then charges them $25 to $50 to redeem their free flight.

Pay for paper
Delta and American Airlines charge passengers anything from $50 to $70 if they want a physical ticket, rather than an e-ticket.

Pay for fuel
Fuel charges now account for 40 per cent of a ticket's price on most airlines, costing you anywhere between $30 to $300. The most recent airline to increase their fuel surcharge was Qantas, who are now charging an additional $45 per passenger on flights to the UK and Europe, bringing the total surcharge up to $190.

Pay for a pillow
American airline JetBlue no longer provide complimentary pillows and blankets. Instead, for $7, you can buy customised comfort kits, which the airline claims are the world's cleanest.

Pay for pretty much everything
A study last year by Flight Centre found that travellers who fly on budget airlines end up paying more than if they'd chosen a full-service airline due to the increasing number of extra charges, which triples the cost of a ticket. Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways are up to $47 more expensive than a Qantas $253 one-way fare, after extra costs like food and drinks were added to match the standard Qantas offering.

Pay for access to the airport
A "station access fee" applies at Sydney's International and Domestic Airports. If your ticket shows International Airport or Domestic Airport as the origin or destination, the access fee is automatically included in the cost of your ticket, which will be a whopping $18.60 return or $11.80 one way.

Pay for improvements
Toronto Pearson International Airport added an "Improvement Fee" of $19 to each passenger's airline ticket when they were undergoing renovations.

Pay to drop off
At Luton Airport in London, the home of discount airlines, you have to pay $1.50 a car just to drop off travellers.


Know of more crazy airline surcharges? Tell us below

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