How Airline Checkouts Make You Pay More for The Same Seat

Two passengers, same flight, identical seats—yet they’ve paid completely different prices.

In Chapter 1 we saw how airlines compete to make you feel like you’re getting the best deal.

But take the cost to check-in a bag, as an example.

It's the same flight, the same airline, and yet you can pay more than the cost of the fare, to check in a single bag.

* An important distinction here is that the aggregators (Skyscanner, Google and Kayak) don't set the prices. I used the cheapest fare shown, and then the cost that the booking platform charged (e.g., Opodo, eDreams).

The real costs are buried in the checkout, where there is almost no transparency.

Now, when you consider three add-ons: selecting a seat, checking in a bag, and some ticket flexibility, look what happens compared to the "base fare":