Monarch Airlines - a new rip off

[Hackney]

Just went to check in online for our Monarch flights and found that I had to choose seating.
£5.99 per seat or £18.99 if I have legs.

There's no mention of this when you book. And they're quite clear that online check-in is free.
The check-in bit may be free but there is no way to check in without incurring the £36 charges for choosing a seat.

The only consolation is that to check in at the airport doesn't cost anything but we almost certainly won't get good seats and we won't be seated together.

Is it legal / good practice to say something is free when it can't be done without doing something else which you're charged for?

I'll know and avoid Monarch in future.

[davepoth]

You don't have to pay it, do you? No.

[Hackney]

You're right, I don't have to pay it.
But I do want to check in online to save myself a few minutes at ridiculous o'clock tomorrow.
Their website says I can check in online for free but then says I have to pay £18....for something they say is free

Maybe rip off isn't the correct phrase, perhaps "lie" covers it better.

[Spitfire2]

davepoth said:

You don't have to pay it, do you? No.

Doesn't stop it being ridiculous

[Countdown]

Most of the budget airlines charge extra for seat selection.

If check in is free at the airport just do that?

[davepoth]

Hackney said:

You're right, I don't have to pay it.
But I do want to check in online to save myself a few minutes at ridiculous o'clock tomorrow.
Their website says I can check in online for free but then says I have to pay £18....for something they say is free

Maybe rip off isn't the correct phrase, perhaps "lie" covers it better.

http://www.monarch.co.uk/faq/flights/check-in-onli...

Monarch said:

Please note: Online check-in is free to passengers that have pre-allocated a seat. You must select a seat in order to take advantage of the online check-in service.

A bit sneaky, but nothing compared to some of the scams Ryanair pulls.

[PauloV12V]

Try Thomas Cook charging for hand luggage over 5kg.

That is the biggest rip off!!

[98elise]

Hackney said:

The only consolation is that to check in at the airport doesn't cost anything but we almost certainly won't get good seats and we won't be seated together.

We recenly flew as a family of 4 with monarch. We couldn't check in on line as we booked via an agent. We still got to sit together.

[98elise]

PauloV12V said:

Try Thomas Cook charging for hand luggage over 5kg.

That is the biggest rip off!!

Thats really bad, monarch is 7kg, and you can't share. I ended up having to empty stuff out of my ultra light cabin case and only taking a small camera bag in it.

[Puggit]

Easyjet have no hand luggage weight limit (although you must be capable of putting your own luggage in the overhead compartments): http://easyjet.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_i...

[The Leaper]

Yes, but EasyJet's hold luggage allowance is pretty small and if you're a gram over their charges are disproportianetly steep. They don't have a hand baggage weight limit at all but they have a size limit.

Still, can't moan as it's all clear as part of the booking procedure and ts and cs.

I'm just glad I don't use budget airlines ever unless there is no other alternative.

R.

[ewenm]

This sort of rubbish is why, after a holiday earlier this year, I've decided driving or taking the train to European destinations is preferable to "budget" airlines. At least there's a sense of adventure, of travel, of a journey to planning a road/rail route.

[Puggit]

The Leaper said:

Yes, but EasyJet's hold luggage allowance is pretty small and if you're a gram over their charges are disproportianetly steep. They don't have a hand baggage weight limit at all but they have a size limit.

Nope, it's standard (32Kg) - but you have to pay per bag.

[With these feet]

The Leaper said:

Yes, but EasyJet's hold luggage allowance is pretty small and if you're a gram over their charges are disproportianetly steep. They don't have a hand baggage weight limit at all but they have a size limit.

Still, can't moan as it's all clear as part of the booking procedure and ts and cs.

I'm just glad I don't use budget airlines ever unless there is no other alternative.

R.

Used Easyjet 2 weeks ago. Weighed my suitcase at work @ 15kgs. On the scales at Gatwick 13.5....

Still, "budget" airlines arent really budget. Menorca was £30 on the way out (+ £25 for baggage in the hold) and £330 return. Add my wife with another hold bag, my 5 yr old son and the flights were over £1100, no food or drink either. Funnily we boarded straight after "speedy board" who paid extra as young children need assistance. Lots of moany gits complaining as to why we got on before them!

Daft thing is I took an adidas bag on as hand luggage that could be squeezed into their box, but weighed 10kgs!

[Rosscow]

ewenm said:

This sort of rubbish is why, after a holiday earlier this year, I've decided driving or taking the train to European destinations is preferable to "budget" airlines. At least there's a sense of adventure, of travel, of a journey to planning a road/rail route.

I agree!

Airports and air travel suck, I'd much rather load up the car and shoot through the Tunnel!

[The Leaper]

puggit,

My experience differs from your for some reason. When I used EasyJet from Gatwick to Milan in May 2012 the hold baggage allowance was 20kg, not the 32kg you mention. Consequently, my hand baggage was rather heavy!

R.

[Ultuous]

Indeed, I'm flying with them on Saturday - it's 20kg per bag checked in (i.e. if your party's paid for 2 bags, you could split them 25/ 10 for example)... That's still much better than some other budget airlines I've used!

As for being charged for being overweight, it's normally up to the discretion of the check-in desk (who often aren't EJ employees) AFAIK - I got away with 6kg over once, but wouldn't expect to repeat the feat!

[Blown2CV]

checkin is seat allocation. If you want to allocated your seat in advance, you pay. If you want to do it on the day, you don't. There is no part of checkin that can be done in advance if you aren't allocating seats, so yes maybe saying checkin online is free is a bit misleading, but nowhere does it say you NEED to pay £18.99 for extra legroom seats. I know those are the ones you are on about because I flew monarch a couple of weeks ago. The extra legroom isn't even that extra.

[Hackney]

Blown2CV said:

checkin is seat allocation. If you want to allocated your seat in advance, you pay. If you want to do it on the day, you don't. There is no part of checkin that can be done in advance if you aren't allocating seats, so yes maybe saying checkin online is free is a bit misleading, but nowhere does it say you NEED to pay £18.99 for extra legroom seats. I know those are the ones you are on about because I flew monarch a couple of weeks ago. The extra legroom isn't even that extra.

You're right, I didn't need to pay £18 but I would have to pay £6

As an addition to this, on the return flight we checked in at Mallaga airport and were amongst the first there. We had 1 piece of hand luggage each and 1 bag to check in to the hold. On check in we were told that the other bags could be put in the hold at no extra cost. My wife decided to check hers in. Then, when my BIL put his bag on the conveyor belt to be weighed as we'd done on the way out and had done with my hand luggage we were told it was over weight. Even though it weighed less than the hold luggage we'd already checked in. So, we moved a few things into my wife's case and before we knew it his (unlocked) hag was through the back door and on its way to the plane even though he wanted to take it as hand luggage.

Not a big deal, just bizarre. Especially when - according to the scales - the combined weight of my wife's bag and the BIL's bag was lighter after we'd moved things between the two. And we've still no idea why we had to move things in the first place.

[Blown2CV]

even if you pre-allocate your seats, you might not even get them! There was a kerfuffle on my flight where there was a massive family who had paid to all sit together. This wasn't possible for whatever reason and one of the daughters, who looked about 15 maybe was put next to me. Cue much kicking off from the Dad who looked like he'd had a few shandies in the airport bar. The daughter looked petrified at the idea of being separated from her family, which I thought was a bit weird but then I guess you don't know what the underlying issue was. So, she got swapped for a massive burly bloke who had volunteered to swap so we could get underway. Bang goes my armrest!