Airline Fees For Carry-On Baggage Could Be Banned By Upcoming EU Vote

At some stage, every traveler has come across a “low-cost” airline that charges for all kinds of extras including carry-on baggage and more. While budgeting for the trip, all the added costs can hurt. However, travel in the EU could soon be simplified by banning fees for carry-on baggage. This will also go on to simplify ticket pricing for air travel.

Resolution of European Parliament on carry-on baggage fees

Recently, the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions has unanimously adopted a new resolution. Meanwhile, the resolution calls on airlines to guarantee that carry-on baggage will be free of charge for passengers.

As noted by Travel Tomorrow, the EU Parliament urges countries to enforce a ruling on carry-on baggage that was made in 2014 by the European Court of Justice. This is yet to be confirmed, as an official vote on whether to adopt the resolution is set to happen in the European Parliament in October.

What would a ban on carry-on baggage mean for passengers?

Basically, the European Parliament aims to solve two major problems, one of which is airlines having inconsistent policies that confuse passengers. The second is unclear advertising that could mean hidden fees when buying the ticket.

Back in 2014, the European Court of Justice made a ruling that carry-on baggage, which complies with reasonable requirements for size and weight is an essential part of air travel. At that time, the court decided that passengers shouldn’t face extra charges, but unfortunately, this was never enforced.

Seeking clarity for passengers on carry-on baggage

However, the new resolution pushes to enforce that ruling and effectively get rid of extra charges for carry-on baggage. Meanwhile, it also seeks clarity for passengers on what, exactly, a “reasonable” size and weight is for carry-on bags.

As travelers know so well, the size and weight standards vary between the different airlines. This gets even worse when passengers have connecting flights on different airlines. These may have different standards, increasing the chance of paying extra fees when boarding.

Meanwhile, the EU urges airlines to be more open and upfront with passengers regarding additional charges for flight timing, seat allocation, etc. Moreover, this potential ban on carry-on bag fees forms part of a wider drive to standardize and simplify fees and ticketing for air travel throughout the EU.

Spanish officials launch an investigation

Recently, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in Spain launched an investigation into several “low-cost” airlines. The Ministry said separating these fees from the ticket price made it look like the carrier offered competitive prices. However, in the long run, this didn’t reflect the total cost charged by the airlines to passengers.

Through this practice, passengers could be misled into believing they were getting a better deal when they actually weren’t. Meanwhile, concerns have been aired that search engines offer an unfair advantage to airlines advertising their “super-low” fares.

At the time, Spanish MEP Jordi Cañas, said:

Low-cost airlines do business with the price of tickets by hiding the extra for carrying cabin baggage until the end of the purchase.

Europe has already spoken out on the subject, but member states continue to allow airlines to play with prices and deceive travelers. This must stop.

No doubt those who are forced economically to book so-called “low-cost” flights might actually end up getting a good deal.