For reasons that I'm not going to go into, I have to book some flights for next week. After a lot of messing around and various soul-searching as to the available options, I settled on some flights that will get me there by Monday lunchtime, and require me to leave Friday morning. This was decidedly sub-optimal since it means I lose any productive time during the day on Friday (and yet require the hotel overnight... but it's the only flight from that airport for three days either way), and further it means a looooong wait for a connection on the way home, which kills the rest of the day.
But, it struck me as the best of all the options - the alternative loses the whole of Monday in travel and requires the cost of a hire car, negating any cost benefits.
So, I click through the ordering options (also annoyed that the website in question doesn't seem to allow you to book the whole journey in one go - I need to book each of the two legs seperately), and select the flights I want... only to discover that the price they're quoting is entirely a lie! In addition to the cost of the flights, there's a large charge for 'taxes and charges', which rather neatly doubles the cost of the trip!
Aaaargh!
Plus, to add insult to injury, there's a little advert at the side of the page stating that by ordering direct I was saving at least £5 per flight, which obviously makes me feel much better about being ripped off with these hidden costs.
2 comments:
I'm disappointed Steve. The old "flight tax" is one of the oldest tricks in the book. And you fell for it.
I didn't fall for it - I knew it was there. I just didn't expect it to almost double the cost.
Plus, it's not actually as if I have a choice - the other flight options will have similar hidden costs, and the taxes will still beat the cost of that hire car and/or the cost of an extra night's stay in the hotel.
I've seen these extra charges before... but they've never been this outrageous.
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