Ryanair and Norwegian could be overcharging families up to £140 extra to fly together
The price of booking as a family as four might not be the same as booking as two pairs. Here's the real reason why booking as a family last minute can cost you more
FAMILIES could be charged hundreds of pounds more for flights because of a quirk in airline booking systems.
Prices vary drastically based on the number of people on a booking, an investigation by The Sun has found.
It means a family of four could end up paying £140 more if they book together, rather than two separate fares for one adult and one child.
The Sun compared prices on three low-cost airlines - Ryanair, Norwegian and EasyJet - across ten popular routes from London to Europe for both a family of four and two one adult and one child fares booked separately.
We found that Norwegian was cheaper on four occasions for a family of four to book two flights (for one adult and one child) separately.
On the remainder of the examples it was the same price.
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The biggest difference we found was on the Gatwick to Lanzarote route with the low-cost carrier where it would add an extra £140 to a family of four.
For Ryanair it was cheaper on half of the flights - with the biggest difference on the Stanstead to Malta route adding on an extra £65 for a family of four booking together.
In all the cases where it was cheaper to fly as a family of four on one booking it was only £8.17 cheaper.
With Easyjet it was always the same price, regardless of whether you book as a family of four or separately.
We choose to compare prices for flights in March and April.
Airlines say they base prices depending on the number of seats left on a flight.
The fewer the seats, the higher the prices.
But The Sun understands that some airlines use a system to allocate seats based on different sized groups of people.
For example, there will be a certain amount of seats allocated for two people booking together and a different amount allocated for groups of four.
This can mean that it is families or larger groups end up paying more.
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A spokesperson from Ryanair said: “Ryanair’s average fare in the UK this year is £35. Our fares rise only as the lowest fare class is sold out.
"We do not charge more for families booking together and we offer great value for families including free seats for kids."
"Our Family Plus bundle offers huge savings for families on reserved seats, luggage and priority boarding.”
A spokesperson from Norwegian told The Sun Online: “We believe in providing affordable fares for all to allow as many people to travel as possible."
"As with all airlines, our seats are priced into different fare classes and once a fare class sells out, seats priced in the next higher fare class become available to book."
"When flights are popular, and dependant on the number of passengers on a single booking, it’s possible that the number of seats required exceeds the number available at that particular fare.”
Earlier this month we took a look at whether airlines hike prices if you keep looking at them.
If you want to save even more money on flights, Norwegian air are now offering points towards flights just for filling out surveys.
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