British low-cost carrier (LCC) easyJet has been told to stop saying passengers can add carry-on baggage to their ticket for as little as £5.99.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) warned that claims passengers could add carry-on bags ‘from £5.99’ were misleading and could no longer be used without caveat on the easyJet website. ASA said this was because easyJet did not provide enough evidence that a £5.99 carry-on fare was widely available across its routes.
UK consumer group Which? found that the airline’s typical cabin bag fees were around five times higher than this advertised lowest price. easyJet’s website now carries the disclaimer: ‘[Baggage] fees vary with demand, route, flight date and time of booking. You’ll see exact price at time of purchase.’
In a statement, the airline added:
We always aim to provide clear information to our customers on pricing and the purpose of this page was to display factual information on fees and charges to customers. We always have some large cabin bags available for the lowest price. In light of the ASA’s feedback we have made some changes to the page to ensure the information is as clear as possible for consumers.
Are policies around baggage fees about to tighten?
The LCC policy of advertising low fares while raising costs for add-ons including seat reservations and baggage has come under increasing criticism in recent years. speaking to the BBC , Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, described the ‘culture’ of low fares with ‘exorbitant’ extra costs as ‘astonishing’.
The EU, meanwhile, voted in 2025 that all air passengers should be allowed to bring a cabin bag of up to 7kg at no extra charge. The law is yet to be approved by member states and has been criticised by the aviation industry, who claim the move would limit customer choice and force them to pay for services they may not need.
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