Ryanair vs easyJet: Which Is Cheaper After Baggage Fees?

You see a flight for £25. You feel like you’ve won. Then you add a bag, pick a seat, and the price jumps to £90. Sound familiar?

That is how budget airlines work. The ticket is cheap, and the extras are where they make their money. So the real question is not “which airline has the lower fare?” It is “which airline costs less once I add what I actually need?”

This budget airlines guide answers that for two of the biggest names in the UK, with simple examples you can follow on a calculator.

Ryanair vs easyJet: Quick verdict

People often ask which are the cheapest airlines in Europe. The honest answer is that it depends on what you pack. But between these two, if you travel with only a small backpack, Ryanair is usually the cheaper one. Its base fares tend to be lower, and you don’t need to pay for anything else.

If you want to bring a bigger bag, the gap shrinks. easyJet lets you take a slightly bigger free bag, and it doesn’t charge you at the airport for checking in. Those two things can save you real 

*Average cabin bag prices come from a Which? check of hundreds of flights. The cheapest price each airline advertises was almost never available in that check.

So Ryanair often wins on price, and easyJet often wins on being easy and fair. That is the main idea of this budget airlines guide. The next section shows what it looks like in real money.

Total Trip Cost: Worked Examples

A good budget airlines guide should use real numbers, so let me show you three trips. I’m using made-up base fares so the maths is easy: £30 each way on Ryanair and £38 each way on easyJet. Your real fares will be different, and on some routes easyJet is the cheaper one. Swap in your own numbers and the method still works.

All three trips are return flights for one person.

Trip 1: Weekend away, backpack only

You carry one small bag that fits under the seat. You don’t pay for anything else.

Ryanair wins by £16. One thing to remember though: Ryanair’s free bag is smaller. If your backpack is a bit big, you may not fit, so measure it first.

Trip 2: Five days away, one bigger cabin bag

You want a proper small suitcase that goes in the overhead locker, both ways.

Ryanair is still ahead, by £35. Ryanair’s overhead bag comes bundled with Priority Boarding, so check that price carefully when you book. Sometimes Priority costs less than a bag by itself.

Trip 3: A week away with a checked bag and a seat

You check in one suitcase each way and pay for a seat each way. I’m using £30 per checked bag on both airlines and about £9 for a Ryanair seat and £11 for an easyJet seat. These are example prices only, because checked bag fees move a lot with route and date.

Ryanair is cheaper by £20 here. But look at how the gap shrank from Trip 1. The more extras you add, the less the base fare matters, and the more the extras decide the winner.

The trap that changes everything

Now imagine you forget to check in online on Ryanair. You turn up at the airport, and you are charged £55 per person for checking in there. That one mistake can wipe out all your savings from the trips above. easyJet doesn’t charge this.

So if you tend to be a last-minute person, the real cost of Ryanair is higher than the table says.

Ryanair vs easyJet: Baggage and Fee Comparison Table

Airline baggage rules are where most people lose money, so this is the most important table in the article. Here is a fuller list of fees side by side. Prices are typical UK figures from recent consumer research and airline pages. They are not fixed, so use them as a guide and check the live price when you book.

Airports and Route Networks

Price is not everything. You also need to be able to actually get where you want to go, from an airport that works for you.

Ryanair flies a lot to smaller and secondary airports, which are often a bit further from the city. That is one reason its fares are low. Remember to add the cost of getting from that airport into town, because a cheap flight to a far-away airport can cost you a £15 coach ride each way.

easyJet uses more main airports. For example, it flies to places like London Gatwick, and to many big city airports across Europe. This often means shorter, cheaper trips into the city and better connections.

Who Each Airline Suits

This budget airlines guide comes down to one question: how do you travel? Choose Ryanair if you can travel light, you are happy to follow the rules closely, and you check in online every single time. It really does win on price for these people, and it wins by a fair amount.

Choose easyJet if you want a slightly bigger free bag, you don’t want to worry about airport check-in fees, or you are travelling with family and want fewer rules to remember. You will usually pay a bit more, but you will get fewer nasty surprises.

Conclusion

So, which airline is cheaper after baggage fees, Ryanair vs easyJet? For most people, Ryanair still comes out ahead on price. In all three of our example trips, it beat easyJet by between £16 and £35, even after bags and seats were added. But that win comes with conditions. You need to travel light, follow the bag rules closely, and check in online every single time. One missed check-in and the £55 airport fee wipes out your savings.

easyJet costs a little more, but it offers a bigger free bag and fewer nasty surprises. Before you book, add up your real extras, check the airport location, and compare the final price, not the headline fare.

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