So many airlines have now reduced the amount of luggage they will let you carry for free. Most budget airlines now charge for every bag that goes in the hold, this includes the major players such as easyjet, ryanair and Jet2 as well as smaller airlines like BMIBaby and FlyBE. What’s more a lot of them are very strict indeed and if your case is a mere 100 grams over they will make you pay for an entire extra kilogram.

While you may get a free allowance of 20kilos or have a similar amount included when you pay to put your bag in the hold it can cost as much as £10 per kilo for every kilo you are over your allowed weight. This is why it has become increasingly necessary to get hold of luggage scales.

Bags, Luggage, Suitcases, Baggage, whatever you call it if you are going away for more than a day you are going to need it. Airlines have decided to make a quick buck on a simple necessity and the only way to stop it is to be careful. Before you travel check your airline’s weight restrictions and then use your luggage scales to make sure that it is under the allowed weight.

The amount of allowance depends on the airline… Ryan Air for example will allow you 16 kilograms per bag and charge you upto £40 return for each bag. If you take 2 bags you are allowed 32kilos. Easy Jet however will let you check upto 8 bags at a cost of £8 per bag however they will only let you have a maximum combined weight of 20kilos. These new baggage restrictions are designed to catch you out… It is definitely worth your while checking your bagage before you leave.

Top Tips for Cheap Flights

Check your documents…

Name changes can be very costly indeed, RyanAir charges £100 for a name change online and even more at the airport so double check before you book that you haven’t made any silly typos in your haste to book a cheap deal. Airlines have be known to charge customers even if one letter is out of place. Sometimes it might even be cheaper to book yourself a whole new flight.

Check your booking for unnecessary charges

Many airlines will automatically include insurance in your shopping cart during check out. If you have your own insurance you don’t need this so make sure it’s de-selected. Priority boarding is often commonly included.

Turn up Early and sit together

Many airlines now charge a fee to let you pick your seats which means unless you turn up early you may not be guaranteed to sit together. In practice people are usually more than happy to move and with a lot of budget airlines such as EasyJet seating is on a first come first served basis.

Avoid Priority Boarding in small airports

In small airports like the ones RyanAir typically fly to, priority boarding is a complete waste of money. You’ll get called first to go through the boarding gates and you’ll be first onto the airport bus that takes you to the plane, but once your on the bus it’s a complete free for all and you won’t necessarily be first onto the plane.

Check your hand baggage

Up till very recently I though that hand baggage allowances were the same across all airlines. However I was wrong, in fact hand luggage varies wildly in both size and weight so it is important to check with your airline before you get to the airport.

You are only allowed ONE bag, this means that any extras such as handbags or airport purchases must fit into your bag. You could have to pay to check the bag in otherwise or a fee of around £30 otherwise you may even be denied boarding completely.

Weigh Your Luggage!

Airlines are sneakily changing their luggage allowances on a regular basis so it pays to check. Once you are at the airport if you have too much weight you will have to pay an excess sometime as high as £15 per kilo over the limit. You may have to check it in as another bag which can cost £40.  Make sure you also check that you aren’t over your overall personal limit. EasyJet for example will let you pay for unto 8 bags in the hold, however your personal limit will still remain at 32kg no matter how many bags you have.  To be safe turn up at the airport at least 2kg under, that should leave room for your souvenirs on the way home!

Weighing Luggage before you go to the airport is important!

Check in online:

Checking in online is almost always cheaper with both budget and scheduled airlines. It saves time as if you only have hand luggage you can go straight through and even with luggage all you have to do is go the baggage drop. It also means you can turn up at the airport closer to your flight.

Budget Airline Allowances:

Correct at time of writing (April 2010) please check with your airline before flying.

Top Tips For Saving Money While You Travel

Before You Go:

• Find the best flight prices by using an aggregator site like SkyScanner.net or Kayak.com both these sites scrape various other flight sights on a regular basis to get upto date flight prices so you can search multiple sites at once. It also lets you search for budget airlines as well as scheduled airlines, you can choose to depart any day in a month simply to find the cheapest price. Kayak also has a really cool feature that allows you to set up a daily or weekly email alert which tells you if the fare for your dates dropped. Kayak can also provide some pretty cool charts which tell you if now is a good time to buy.
• Avoid travelling in peak season like the school holidays, flights are usually cheaper at these times.
• Midweek travel is generally cheaper than going on the weekend.
• Make your booking on a Wednesday holidays and flights are almost always cheaper as they are related to demand. This is because people tend to book when they have the time to discuss with friends and family so prices rise at the weekend and on Mondays.
• Book flights well in advance, generally the later you buy the more expensive it will be. Airlines are very good at managing their inventory these days and the low last minute flight deals of the past are over.
• Book Package Holidays Last minute- there are still amazing deals to be found last minute for package holidays as long as you are flexible with where you go.
• All Inclusive Packages are usually only slightly more expensive than self catering holidays and will save a bundle on eating out in restaurants once you are on holiday.

Luggage:

• Find out what your airlines luggage allowance is before you go away. A simple way to do this is with a digital luggage scales. Check our article on how to weigh your bags or how to find out your luggage weight.
• Try to book any bags onto your flight in advance, budget airlines like ryanair and easyjet charge a per bag charge which is much higher at the airport.
• If you are overweight pool your luggage with friends or whoever is in front of you at the airport rather than pay exorbitant excess luggage charges. (these can be as high as £20 per extra kilo)

Travel Guides and Maps

• Don’t buy maps – go to the tourist office instead.
• Exchange currency in trusted places like banks rather than in tourist areas where you are likely to get ripped off with a bad rate.
• Check out if there are free events or free museums to visit.
• An up to date guide book is worth its weight in gold but you some print all the info they will need off the internet before they go away. This can work well for small places or a short stay.

Hotels

• Check hotel prices in advance, hotels are almost always cheaper than the rackrate if you book online. Particularly with late hotel specialists like laterooms. Be careful though unlike making reservations with a hotel you often cannot cancel without losing the full reservation amount.
• Booking.com offers free reservations… if you want to ensure you have a booking but don’t want to pay up front.

Once You Are There

• Use Skype rather than make expensive calls in your hotel, skype to skype calls are free (or just the cost of using the internet cafe) and skype to landline calls are very very cheap.

• Visit off the beaten track resorts and attractions they will be far cheaper than the main sites and often far more rewarding.
• Buy your souvenirs away from the city centre.
• Stay away from the city centre – having your hotel outside the central district will save you lots of money not only on hotel rates but also on eating out and shopping. You’ll meet more local people and get a better feel for the city. Generally there are huge price rises around the central tourist areas, Leister Square in London and Time Square in New York.