The formula
true cost = tickets + airline extras + transfers and airport
Where it comes from
Low-cost airlines do not sell cheap flights: they sell cheap base fares and charge separately for everything else. A checked bag, choosing seats so you can sit together and getting to the secondary airport can double the figure that appeared in the search. Putting the two columns side by side is not pessimism: it is the only way to compare two offers that do not include the same things, which is exactly what the search engine will not do for you.
How to work it out by hand
- Multiply the fare by the number of passengers
- Add the bags, the seats, priority boarding and booking fees
- Add the transfers, the parking and what you spend at the airport
- Divide by the passengers for the true cost per person
What is worth knowing
Counting your time is optional but worth doing at least once: a one-hour flight with two hours of check-in margin, two of transfers and one of waiting is six hours door to door. If you value your hour at fifteen, that is ninety of cost the search engine never shows, and it is what sometimes makes the train win even with a dearer ticket. The surcharge figure says how much the advertised price rises once everything is added: above fifty per cent, the base fare was advertising.