Baggage charges an unwelcome surprise

However, they have now employed a new tactic that I feel prospective customers should know about. Recently a family member booked a Sunday morning flight for me to visit family in Guernsey. On Sunday 10 June I went to the Aurigny desk to check in and was told that I had to pay £40 extra for my baggage. I asked why and was told that my bought ticket was the ‘Light’ option and not the ‘Smart’ or ‘Flexi’ option. What transpired is that Aurigny now charge their customers to carry luggage on their flights. If you do not pay the baggage charge then you will have to pay an inflated charge at the check-in desk, which I had to do. If you refuse to pay the extra charge I was told that my luggage would not be permitted on the flight and it would be left with airport security and may be destroyed as it could be classified as a security risk.

To highlight the additional expense I have looked on Aurigny’s website for a return flight for one adult to Manchester departing on Saturday 30 June and returning Wednesday 4 July. If the ‘Light’ option is selected for both legs of the flight it will cost £160. However, if the ‘Smart’ option is selected, the one that you have to choose if you want Aurigny to carry your big/heavy luggage, then it will cost £240 return, which is an increase of £80. This is for one adult, so as the summer holidays are fast approaching can you imagine the extra costs local families will have to incur for our ‘local airline’ to carry your luggage.

I have one simple question that I would like Mr Darby or someone with authority to answer: Why do you constantly target your loyal customers to try to balance your finances, because it is clear, with the examples provided in this letter, that is exactly what you are doing? Why not look into other areas of your failing business model instead of using your customers as an easy target?

However, not all of this letter is negative. The Sunday morning that the flight took off was when Guernsey was enveloped in quite a lot of fog. On the approach to Guernsey I could barely see the runway or the actual island. Yet, with the minimum of fuss, the plane landed safely at Guernsey airport. I was surprised that the flight was not diverted and I would not have been shocked if we were diverted. I think there should be praise directed towards Aurigny staff that the plane landed without incident and the professionalism that they demonstrated. Thank you to all involved in making sure that there was no disruption to my and other travellers’ future holiday plans. It is a shame that the majority of this letter is negative, which detracts from the positive comments that I have about Aurigny.

Name and address withheld.

Editor’s footnote: Malcolm Coupar, commercial director for Aurigny, replies: We are sorry to hear that your letter writer was unaware of the recent changes to our new fare structure.

Over recent months, we have tried our best to promote our new fare options, particularly through local media channels and on our Facebook page. We have also tried to make the fare options as clear as possible throughout the booking process.

We do appreciate that quite a bit has changed over the last couple of months with the new website and introduction of the new fares, so we have put together a guide to help customers understand the baggage options. This has been shared in our latest email to customers and I’m happy to provide a brief summary below:

Light fares are our lowest fares and include a hand-baggage allowance of one piece with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 36cm x 20cm and one handbag or essential bag measuring 35cm x 25cm x 20cm. The maximum combined weight of hand baggage must not exceed 10kg. Up to three items of hold baggage can be added to your booking at the time of making it or later through the ‘Manage’ section of the website. Bags can be added at weights of 20kg or 23 kg.

The Smart fares provide you with a bundle of extras. Included as part of the fare is a hold baggage allowance of 23kg per person and a pre-booked seat in our Priority or Standard seating on the aircraft. In addition, we waive the fees to change your dates and the flight is free to change on the day of departure, subject to availability. A Smart fare must be selected at the time of booking; it is not possible to book a Light fare and then upgrade to a Smart fare at a later date. It is possible however to add extra bags to your Smart fare should you require them, this can be done during the booking process or at a later date through the ‘Manage’ booking section of the website.

The Flexi fares are the most expensive, but most comprehensive of the options, and offer maximum flexibility with your travel plans. With the Flexi you can carry two pieces of hold luggage at up to 23kg each, have flexibility to change your flight without paying any extra (up until an hour before the original departure time), and you can reserve any of the seats on the aircraft, including extra legroom. It is also fully refundable up to an hour before departure.

The Smart and Flexi fares feature the same hand baggage allowance as the Light fare.

It’s important to remember that the introduction of the new fares has been designed to offer customers more choice in the way they travel.

It’s also allowed us to offer cheaper lead-in fares than ever before, and as a consequence of this, a majority of customers have paid less than they would have under the old system.

Looking at the dates and route the letter writer quotes, we do have Light fares available for £141.98 and Smart fares at £197.98 return – this is five days before travel.

Later in the year, we have fares available on the Manchester route from £20.99 (one way).

I would like to reassure your readers that we do keep our prices under constant review and have special deals and promotions planned throughout the year.

Currently, we are running our Summer Savings promotion, with more details available on our website or Facebook page.