Isn’t it funny that cheap fares are not really cheap these days… well actually it’s not funny.

I have got used to the “tax and charges” trick (now I go up to the end to check the real price) and companies are also improving in giving you the perception that everything is included when you select your flight… However these days, progress for a cheap airline company translates into a steady increase in the amount of charges you pay for each flight… So, now you pay if you want to check-in (or you might say that you save if you check-in online by yourself), you pay to check-in hold bags, you pay an extra if you use Amex or Visa instead of Delta cards… In theory many might say that this is good for consumers because airlines are actually carrying out a price segmentation giving you tailored products and services at the right prices…Yet, how come these days I end up paying on average at least 50% more than 2 years ago? Today I bought a ticket and another difference from 2 years ago is that I bought this ticket 5 months in advance! Before I used to get a good deal 2 months in advance. Also I did not check-in any hold bags…And the cherry on top of the cake is that today during a purchase, before confirming my payment, EasyJet was kind enough to tell me that “Some of the seats selected for your booking have been sold and we have no more seats available at the same price. You can still proceed with your booking at the new price“. I could not believe it! After spending so much time searching for a good deal I had no other choice but to buy this bloody ticket…

Anyway, just to check I was not a victim of price discrimination (more info from here and here) after the purchase I disconnected from my company’s intranet, opened up Internet Explorer, cleared the cache and went to the Italian version of EasyJet just to see if I could get a different price… The result was that the price really went up… perhaps only for today