Ryanair has axed its family seating policy – but kids’ fees still add up

Those aged over two must have their own seat, with the amount charged varying widely depending on the airline. Photograph: Viacheslav Iakobchuk/Alamy View image in fullscreen Those aged over two must have their own seat, with the amount charged varying widely depending on the airline. Photograph: Viacheslav Iakobchuk/Alamy Ryanair has axed its family seating policy – but kids’ fees still add up The airfare for a baby on your lap could cost more than your own ticket. Here’s how airline charges and travel taxes can hit you R yanair recently stopped making parents pay to sit next to their children but depending on the airline the hidden extra costs involved in flying with children can be substantial. In some cases, you can even end up spending more for the baby on your lap than you paid for your own flight. Your baby might not need a seat, but you are still likely to pay fees for them to travel. Some airlines offer discounts for children over two, while others whack families with the cost of a full-grown adult. In one example found by Guardian Money, there were nine separate charges for taking a baby on board, as fees added to adult fares were also applied to those too young to need their own seat. “Trying to work out the final cost has become incredibly complicated and frustrating,” says Rory Boland, the editor of Which? Travel. “It’s not until you’re a good bit into the booking journey that the amounts become clear.” Under-twos In some cases, headline prices for tickets are lower than the cost of taking an infant with you. For example, Wizz Air sells one-way adult fares from as little as £14.99, but under-twos travelling on their parents’ laps are subject to a flat charge that is higher. The airline applies a €32 (£28) fee for each flight for an infant to sit on an adult’s lap, regardless of the price of the adult ticket. Individual seats can be booked for infants on some airlines, but this requires them to be strapped into car seats not exceeding the width of the passenger seat. View image in fullscreen Having an infant on your lap can often cost more than buying the child their own seat. Photograph: RyanJLane/Getty Images “The idea that in-lap infants are charged more than a full adult because of some fixed fee they’ve arrived at, is clearly unfair,” Boland says. “There’s absolutely no sensible argument for why a very small child, or baby, will be charged more than an adult. That simply doesn’t make sense. Some airlines will probably be making a handy profit off the amount they’re charging for lap infants.” Wizz Air says: “We don’t agree with that assertion … the small fee we charge for infants who sit on their parents’ laps is similar to that charged by many other airlines and reflects standard practice across the industry.” Basic fees for a lap infant work differently at each airline. For Wizz, easyJet and Ryanair, for instance, there is a flat fee regardless of destination, while British Airways and Virgin Atlantic charge about 10% of the adu