Why airline ticket prices triple at checkout

Category: Travel
Contexts: Booking a flight, Booking a hotel
Reading time: 3 minutes · Published

What it is

A headline price that excludes the fees you cannot avoid. Baggage, seat selection, payment surcharge, taxes. The full price only appears at the last step of booking. The practice is called drip pricing.

Where you will see it

Budget airlines, online booking sites, event ticket sites, holiday packages. Anything with a "from" price. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has acted against drip pricing across travel and ticketing since 2015.

What the regulators say

In 2015, Jetstar and Virgin Australia were ordered to pay a combined $750,000 in penalties for misleading consumers by drip pricing. The Federal Court found they breached the Australian Consumer Law by revealing mandatory fees only at the end of the booking flow. The ACCC has since acted against other operators using the same pattern.

How they trap you

They say
Flights from $45 one way.
It is actually
$45 plus baggage, seat, payment fee, taxes.
What to do
Always compare total prices, not headlines.

The story

Lucy sees Sydney to Melbourne from $45. She clicks. The base fare is $45. Then $30 for cabin baggage. $15 for a seat. $8.95 booking fee. $5 payment surcharge. Total $103.95, more than double the headline. The competitor airline's $89 all-inclusive fare was actually cheaper.

Frequently asked questions

Is drip pricing illegal in Australia?
Yes. Under the Australian Consumer Law, businesses must include all mandatory fees in the advertised price. Failure to do so is misleading and deceptive conduct. The ACCC has fined multiple airlines for drip pricing.
What is the difference between drip pricing and a base fare?
A base fare is the cost of the seat. Drip pricing is when extra mandatory or near-mandatory fees only appear later in the booking flow, making the advertised price misleading.
How do I find the real price of a flight?
Use a comparison site that allows you to include bag and seat fees in the search. Or click through to checkout on the airline website and look at the final total before payment. Compare like-for-like.
Are budget airlines always more expensive than they look?
Not always, but often. A budget airline's $50 fare with $40 of fees may still be cheaper than a $99 all-inclusive fare from a full-service carrier. Calculate the total each time.
Can I get a refund if the airline added fees I did not see?
Possibly, under the Australian Consumer Law. If the fee was hidden or only revealed after you committed to buy, you may have a right to compensation. Contact the ACCC or your state consumer affairs body.

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About the author

Enrico Scha spent 25 years inside the design industry that creates the patterns documented on this site. After leaving in 2025, he writes about how the patterns work so consumers can spot them in 10 seconds, not after the money is gone.

Former 25-year insider in the design industry that creates these patterns

Sources