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Not without my hand luggage: we fight to end airline’s illegal hand luggage fees
Euroconsumers’ ‘Not Without My Hand Luggage’ campaign demands that airlines immediately stop charging for hand luggage and refund consumers who’ve been unfairly and illegally charged.
Ever found yourself squeezing your travel essentials into a tiny underseat bag just to avoid being charged to bring a small suitcase on your holiday?
Airlines have started slapping fees on reasonably sized hand baggage, the kind of small cabin case that fits in the overhead locker. This has angered passengers who rightly expect to be able to travel with their luggage.
Euroconsumers want this practice to stop and consumers to get back the money they’ve paid for a basic part of travel that they should have never been charged for.
Hand luggage charges break consumer law
These charges are not just frustrating and unfair, they are prohibited by law. First of all, airlines are ignoring EU legislation that says the final price of a flight including all prices must be shown up front. Unclear information means consumers can face hidden fees which makes comparing airlines to get the best price very difficult.
Secondly, falsely presenting hand luggage as an optional extra to be paid for goes against a principle set in 2014 by the European Court of Justice.
The court said that hand baggage is “a necessary aspect of the carriage of passengers and that its carriage cannot, therefore, be made subject to a price supplement, on condition that such hand baggage meets reasonable requirements in terms of its weight and dimensions, and complies with applicable security requirements” EUR-Lex – 62012CJ0487 – EN – EUR-Lex (europa.eu).
Be reasonable on hand luggage
The ECJ’s ruling was never enforced, leaving open the door for the recent pricing tactics. However, it makes clear that hand baggage is not a supplementary, luxury item, but a necessary part of travel and that, within reasonable size and weight limits, should not be subject to a fee.
Is the established cabin bag size of about 56 x 45 x 25 outrageously unreasonable? The airlines didn’t consider it so for many years. It is only very recently that they’ve followed each other in imposing these luggage fees based on demand, route and travel dates, with costs anywhere between €6.00 and €75.00 per person.
But their commercial strategy now seems clear – to first lure passengers away from checking in hold luggage to save operational time and money. Then, when consumers are used to carry-on hand luggage, the airlines target that with extra fees.
Time to enforce
With more airlines introducing these spurious charges, Euroconsumers members are fighting back.
After a complaint made by Euroconsumers’ member OCU to their consumer ministry, the Spanish authority fined budget airlines Vueling, EasyJet, RyanAir and Volotea a total of €150 million for these illegal charges for cabin luggage and demanded they stop.
Euroconsumers’ Belgian and Portuguese organizations, Testaankoop/Testachats and Deco Proteste, are waiting for the outcome of similar complaints they lodged with their national authorities.
Time to refund
But it doesn’t stop there. Consumers also need to get their money back. Euroconsumers has formally addressed Vueling, EasyJet, RyanAir and Volotea and WizzAir with two clear demands: allow passengers to travel with reasonably sized hand luggage without any additional costs and refund passengers who have already been unfairly charged.
Euroconsumers’ organizations are also directly reaching out to consumers to let passengers know this practice breaks passengers’ rights and to urge them to retain all their tickets and receipts for future refund claims.
As part of this joint “Not Without My Hand Luggage” action, our Belgian member Testaankoop/Testachats was also on ground at Brussels Airport, distributing flyers and informational stickers to inform passengers about their rights to bring hand luggage on board and claim refunds for unjust fees.
Keeping a close eye on airlines
The fines will be a direct challenge to the business models of some airlines who have become notorious for their ‘innovative’ pricing of basics like seat reservations and printing boarding passes to offset headline cheap prices for flights. But charging for the so-called privilege of bringing a small case with you when you travel is a step too far.
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“Airlines’ new luggage pricing strategy is plain unfair and illegal. It’s time for consumers to get back all unduly charged hand luggage fees and Euroconsumers will be there to make sure this happens”
Els Bruggeman, Head of Policy and Enforcement at Euroconsumers.
Read the letter and demands to the companies here:
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