Get compensation for Excess Airline Charges!

Intro

Every now and then, businesses find a way to remind us exactly where their priorities lie. For EasyJet, RyanAir, Volotea, and Vueling that moment came when the Spanish Ministry of social rights and consumer affairs fined them €150 million for unfair business practices that exploited their consumers.  

For many, travel is rarely cheap, so low-cost airlines are usually lifesavers. However, these same “low-cost” airlines tend to come riddled with surprise fees for the usual amenities such as checking in a bag or printing a new boarding pass after you lose yours. These same surprise fees are what got these four companies in trouble as they were placing extra charges on their everyday customers just for hand luggage that did not need to be checked in. As a result, the price would unexpectedly rise when customers went to make the purchase making it much more difficult to compare prices.  

The Spanish Minister of Consumer Affairs under the Department of Social Rights deemed this practice among others illegal leading to a €150 million fine on the four companies. The other practices mentioned in the decision were charging extra for booking a seat next to minors to accompany them, not being upfront with the final price, prohibiting cash payments, and charging a fee for reprinting boarding passes. All of these practices made booking flights significantly harder and more expensive for consumers. Within the European Union, other members are also pushing the EU to place a ban on carry-on luggage fees. Governments throughout the EU are recognizing the danger this poses to consumers.  

As a consumer yourself, you now have the chance to take advantage of these rulings to get compensated for the harm you have faced from these same companies. More than that, you have the opportunity to show companies that you will not be taken advantage of easily.  

Key takeaways 

• RyanAir, EasyJet, Volotea, and Vueling engaged in unfair business practices that put consumers at a disadvantage by hitting them with surprise fees for bringing carry-on luggage, booking a seat next to a minor to accompany them, or even reprinting boarding passes at the airport. 

• The Spanish court fined the four companies  €150 million and other European countries are following suit. 

• Consumers can now show these businesses that they will not be taken advantage of and can push for compensation for their damages. 

• Whether you were affected or are just exploring options you can check your eligibility for compensation 

Airline Court Case Explained

What Happened?

RyanAir, EasyJet, Volotea, and Vueling, low-cost airlines, started charging their customers extra for bringing hand luggage such as backpacks, purses, or carry-ons in the last steps of their purchase. This made purchasing flights significantly harder as consumers could not make fully informed decisions about their purchase or compare prices as the final price would be hidden until the end of the purchase.  

Considering that hand luggage is very common amongst passengers and usually free on other airlines, the Spanish government took note of this among other unfair practices like charging extra to book an adjacent seat to an accompanying minor or creating a new fee of 20 euros every time someone needed to reprint their boarding pass at the airport. Since 2010, the Spanish government has been monitoring these low-cost airlines for unfair practices starting from when they tried fining them for not making checked-in luggage free. Now, these practices have resulted in a €150 million fine on the four companies from the Spanish Minister of Consumer Affairs under the Department of Social Rights. 

Timeline

• 2024: Members of the European Parliament are calling for a ban within the European Union on fees on carry-on baggage. MEPs are also realizing the danger these extra charges pose and thus are taking action now throughout Europe to prevent further harm to consumers. 
• 2024 (May): The Spanish Minister of Consumer Affairs under the Department of Social Rights fines RyanAir, EasyJet, Vueling, and Volotea €150 million for their abusive business practices. For charging customers extra for hand luggage and placing fees on both reserving seats next to minors and reprinting boarding passes, the Minister of Consumer Affairs placed a penalty on these four airlines. They declared these charges as abusive and unfair as they prevent transparency in the decision-making process. 
• 2023 (Summer): The Spanish Directorate General of Consumer Affairs begins their investigation into the companies. After receiving numerous complaints from various consumer associations, the Spanish government begins looking into the issue further.  
• 2019: A Spanish court declares RyanAir’s fee abusive. This marks the first warning that RyanAir has received from an official government agency about their business practices and it is declared abusive.  
• 2018 (November): RyanAir starts imposing a fee for carry-on baggage. RyanAir becomes the first airline to start charging their customers for hand luggage. The other three quickly follow suit but RyanAir being the first resulted in them facing the largest fee. 
• 2014 (September): The European Union rebukes the penalty placed on Vueling. The European Union does not view checked-in luggage as an unavoidable necessity for passengers and thus allows airlines to charge for checked-in baggage. On the other hand, this same decision also declared that cabin baggage was essential and thus should not be charged extra for. This decision was not enforced, however. 
• 2010 (August): Vueling is first fined for charging customers to check in their luggage. The Instituto Galego de Consumo de la Xunta de Galicia imposes a €3,000 penalty on Vueling for charging customers for checking in a bag. This is the beginning of legal action being taken against airlines.

Will there be a compensation?

It’s common for large-scale cases like the airline fee overcharges to result in compensation for affected individuals. The exact settlement amount may vary based on factors like the customer’s location and the extent of the fees charged. 

What To Do?

Think you were hit by unfair airline fees? Whether you’re sure or just exploring your options, use our quick compensation checker to see if you’re eligible. In under two minutes, you’ll find out how much you can claim for those surprise charges. Give it a try and get back what you’re owed! 

Legal Proceedings

There is a great amount of legal action being taken against these airlines to protect consumers beginning with the original penalty from 2010 in which they were fined for charging customers for checking in luggage. This kicked off the first investigation into these airlines for their abusive practices. In 2014, the European Union then declared that cabin bags are essential to customers and therefore can not be charged extra for. However, this was not enforced leading to the airlines establishing this extra charge in 2018. 

However, after consumer associations began raising complaints, the Spanish government launched an official investigation in 2023. As a result, in 2024, a €150 million fine was imposed on the airlines, with Ryanair receiving the largest penalty since they were the first to start the practice. Other European nations seem to be trying to follow suit with many Members of the European Parliament trying to place an EU-wide ban on the carry-on baggage fees to protect the victims.  

How to Claim Compensation

If you want to get compensation for the excess airline charges, you need to join a group lawsuit, also known as a class action. When you do this, you’ll work with a financial litigation partner who handles everything for you. That is us! Your task is just to apply and then wait to get money.

Remunzo handles all the hard work. We set up the lawsuit and take the corporation to court for you. Corporations don’t want to pay money easily, but Remunzo will fight hard to get your settlement payout. When joining thousands of others in a lawsuit like this, the corporation is more likely to pay and the settlement payment amount per person i.e. how much will you get tends to be higher.

Remunzo will keep you updated about the settlement status. But you need to be patient because it can take months till the settlement payments are done and you get paid.

Quickly check your eligibility and compensation amount with our simple calculator. In under 2 minutes, you’ll know how much money you can get and will be able to claim compensation. Give it a try!

Impact of the Airlines’ Abusive Practices on Passengers 

The main concern in this entire debacle is transparency and informed decision-making. The issue with surprise fees like these is that the initial price shown to passengers is never the actual price they will end up paying for their tickets because they will be hit with so many surprise fees for essential services. If the fees were placed on services that were avoidable, there would be no issue but unfortunately, many of these hidden costs apply for services that are unavoidable such as sitting next to a minor that needs accompanying.  

As a result, consumers are unable to make informed decisions about their travel plans due to the companies’ actions. It also prevents price comparison meaning that the passenger may not be picking the best flight option for themselves. Most of all, it lacks transparency in pre-contractual information which is necessary to maintain the integrity of most contracts, which purchases count as. Ultimately, this is an abusive practice that tricks many passengers into booking these “low-cost” airlines because they are unaware of the true price they end up paying at the end.   

Airlines’ Response

Obviously, the airlines rebuke this decision claiming that they have the freedom to set their own prices and that this goes against the European Union’s single market rules. The Spanish Airline Association (ALA) which represents the companies is the main liaison between the companies and the media. The ALA has denounced the fines and called them disproportionate. They are also trying to push the narrative that this would result in the fees simply being added to the price which would force millions to pay more for a service they don’t require. The airlines plan to make an appeal and RyanAir is continuing with their fees citing the company’s freedom to determine the size of their cabin baggage.

Future Implications and Industry Impact

This incident raises huge concerns about the way airlines push their prices and fees on their passengers preventing proper decision-making. While the companies are still trying to make a push for their current business practices, the proper legal action would change the industry to the point where the price you see at the beginning is the price you end up paying. Consumers would receive the proper information to ensure the best decision-making process possible resulting in the best decisions for the consumers. It also ensures that passengers are not paying anything extra for essential services like reprinting lost boarding passes.  

Conclusion

In an increasingly globalized world, companies find more and more ways to increase their profit. For airline companies, that was through these extra charges that place the consumer at a disadvantage and prevent them from properly understanding the options in front of them when booking flights. RyanAir, EasyJet, Volotea, and Vueling’s hidden fees have caused many passengers to pay much more than anticipated leading to the 150 million euro fine placed on these companies for their abusive practices. Ultimately, by seeking compensation, not only are you standing up for yourself and getting compensated for these abusive practices, but also sending a message that we will not take this sitting down.  

Are you missing out on other payouts? Try our compensation calculator and find out now!

CHECK COMPENSATIONS

Sources