Hi Ross and welcome to HT.

I have moved your post to our flight and airline forum.

Mark

Hold baggage costs, APD, fuel surcharges ....

Okay Mark, thanks very much!
Ross

Thanks for that alascienne
Do you know where i would be charged for this - would it be when buying the tickets online or at the airport at check in?

Depends entirely on the airline. Some charge for one bag, others up to a certain weight, some you can pool your allowance between several passengers. And you will ALWAYS pay more at the airport than in advance when booking even for 'overweight' baggage.

But it depends on the airline!! (And your route ... long haul, short haul, transcontinental etc)

I'm pretty sure it'll be easyjet to amsterdam in easter.
hand luggage will probably suffice as it can be up to about 55cm X 45 CM X 25 CM.
i selected the times and extras we want and got up to the stage before payment, do you know if this price is including all of the taxes that you mentioned, or will they be extra?
Thanks again.

Taxes will all be included - unless there is government legislation in the meantime - and if you've decided to travel with hand baggage only that's fine* - just be aware that there's a small kickback linked to your method of payment .... but Easy shows that on the screen.

* don't forget the 'liquids' rule ... and that hand baggage has a maximum SIZE even if Easy are generous on weight.

Have a great time!

and don't forget, some airlines charge for checking in.

The "best" charge I've seen recently was with Brussels Airlines (ex-Sabena) who offered Manchester-Brussels with a £20 fare but the add ons took it over £100, when I looked at the breakdown there was £56 for fuel!!

If you see a fare advertised in a newspaper or side of a bus then it has to be possible for someone to get there at that price on a reasonable number of flights - but it doesn't mean that you can, will probably require booking early and almost certainly won't cover busy holiday weekends like Easter.

If the fare is quoted in a link on their website it does not have to include any add ons at that point. But the final price will have to be shown before you put in your card details and there's no reason why you can't go through the booking process and stop if it gets too high - just close the window to crash the process.

Also make sure the airport is where you think it is. Certain low cost airlines use odd airfields miles away which then cause added significant expense getting back to where you thought you were in the first place. Amsterdam and Berlin are OK but Brussels, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Milan are a few places that have that problem.

okay thanks for all of the input everyone, its been really helpful!!!
Have done a little more research and it will be cheaper (and probably easier) to get the eurostar to amsterdam.
its £70 return which includes eurostar to brussels and a connecting train to amsterdam.
I take it this will still require a passport at the train stations as they are going to different countries?
Thanks again, Ross

Stop being so British!

As far as passports go there are only three "countries" in Western Europe - UK, Ireland* and Schengenland. You normally pass through Schengen controls (in the form of French police) at the security check at London St Pancras station and that's it. Coming home you should pass through UK controls at Brussels.

But do Eurostar actually have any seats available at that price at Easter weekend? They price and advertise just like the airlines (but without the add ons). And check exactly which trains from Brussels to Amsterdam they are valid on. They aren't normally valid on Thalys services and may not be on the new Fyra services - both are "high speed" brands like French TGV.

* the reason Ireland didn't sign up to Schengen Agreement is that the UK is between them and it made it too complicated.

ahh okay, that should be pretty easy then!!

yeaa there is on the website, cheaper because not classed as an adult until your 25 or 26.

If you put on the website London St Pancras to 'Amsterdam (any dutch station)' it says you can travel from brussels midi to any dutch station for free within 24 hours with your eurostar ticket each way.

you'll probably find the ticket is marked not valid Thalys. The Fyra service has been put back to the summer anyway but even so there is a direct InterCity train every hour you can definately use (18 minutes past the hour from Brussel, 7 minutes to the hour from Amsterdam, takes just under 3 hours). Allow 15 minutes connection at Brussels going out , coming back allow 30 minutes on top of whatever checkin time they state.

There is a bottle neck at Eurostar arrivals in Brussel so it helps if you're in the first few coaches when the doors open otherwise it takes ages to get down stairs - the online reservation system should let you choose seats so try for coach 17 or 18 (and hope the train is the right way round!). The station is called Zuid or Midi depending on language used. Map at http://www.b-rail.be/nat/E/assets/downloads/plan_b_midi_angl_2008.pdf Eurostar use platforms 1 or 2, Amsterdam IC trains should use 17-20.