The new cabin interior of a Boeing 737-800 with low cost airline Ryanair.Nicolas Economou/Reuters
The TikTok of a man who flew from London to Milan earlier this year for a pizza and a glass of prosecco – all for less than the cost of having a Domino’s pizza delivered to him at home – inspired me. His total outlay for the flight and meal was £17.72 (CAD$29.77) while the delivery pizza would have come in at £19.99 (CAD$33.58).
Although the cost of transit to and from the airports wasn’t factored in, not to mention the cost of coming back from Italy, the one-way flight from London to Milan was a jaw-droppingly low £8 (CAD$13.44).
The business model for discount carriers is to lure you in with a low fare with no frills and then upsell you. But now that we have a few discount carriers in the Canadian market such as Flair, Swoop and Lynx, is it worth straying from the known, bigger carriers in order to try and save a buck?
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I decided to take a test run with a solo return trip on Ryanair RYAAY-Q from London to Nice, France for five days in late May. I arrived right after the Cannes Film Festival and during the lead up to the Formula One race in Monaco – a period of higher demand for travel in that area. Even so, I was able to find a return airfare for £63.97 (CAD$107.47).
Let the upselling begin.
After I selected my flights I was bombarded by pop-ups and tables with options for, well, everything.
If I wanted to choose the next higher fare class (“regular”), I would get priority boarding, a reserved seat and I could bring a 10kg carry-on bag to put in the overhead storage. It would just add £63 to my fare, doubling the total cost.
There were two other higher package options, the highest one adding £173.58, which is 271 per cent more than the bare-bones fare. But if you remain with the “value” fare, you get hit with a pop-up asking you again if you want to upgrade. Very persistent, but I remained vigilant.
I was then presented with the option to select a seat. It was £8 for a seat at the back, or £9 for up front. For a seat even closer to the front in what they call their “get off quick” seats, it was £13. Seats with extra leg room near the middle of the plane were £14. But extra leg room in a seat up front was £20.
It’s not immediately clear on the page that you can just skip picking a seat if you wish, thus avoiding paying for seat selection. And if you choose to forego selecting a seat, you get hit with another pop-up warning you that you might get randomly assigned a middle seat. Nevertheless, I once again indicated I did not want to pick a seat.
Okay, but was I sure I only wanted to travel with a small cabin bag? That’s what the base fare comes with, and I would have to reconfirm that this was my intention. And if you think a small cabin bag is the same as a carry-on bag, you may find yourself in the same situation as other travellers who arrive at the airport to find out they are subject to a €69.99 fee.
I’m not sure why that was shown in Euros, but that works out to £60.49 pounds, which would again almost double the cost of the return airfare, and you would still have to account for adding on the option for an overhead bag on the return flight.
As part of my trial run, I had previously looked up “Ryanair cabin bags” on Amazon and was not disappointed. There are many options in the maximum 40 x 20 x 25cm dimensions available for the adventurous, budget traveller looking to maximize their allotment on European budget airlines. I picked out an almost perfect rectangle of a backpack for £29.95 (CAD$50.32).
I was getting on this plane for nothing more than the base fare come hell or high water.
I was then bombarded with even more options: prepay for parking at the airport, fast-track the security line, pay to get SMS updates, pay for carbon emissions, prebook a car rental, arrange transportation from the airport.
In the end, the trip was a success. With a bit of research into baggage allowances, it was indeed practical to score the absolute lowest fare option on a discount carrier and bring everything you need for a trip. As luck would have it, I was randomly assigned to an aisle seat in an exit row with plenty of leg room. And since the south of France in May doesn’t require bulky clothing, I was able to fit my laptop in that same backpack.
I’ll definitely be on the lookout for low-cost trips on the deep discounter airlines after this experience. But after navigating every sales tactic known to humankind, I wonder if I would pay for an option to skip the upselling next time. If it was under £2, I think I might.
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