British Airways' hand luggage-only fares: Do they beat Easyjet and Ryanair?

Budget airlines, which charge extra to store bags in the hold, are often thought of as offering the cheapest short-haul air fares (use our FlightChecker tool to find cheap air fares).

But a MoneySavingExpert.com investigation looking at fares (inclusive of all fees and taxes) to eight short-haul destinations from London found little difference in the prices offered by BA, Easyjet and Ryanair.

BA says its new one-way fares are £9-£15 cheaper than the lowest one-way fare for those who put bags in the hold.

Competitive prices

In our snapshot sample of 20 flights, BA offered the cheapest hand luggage-only flights in six of the routes. Easyjet and Ryanair were cheapest on seven routes each.

For example, you'll be charged £110 for a return flight to Malta with BA next July, compared to £173 with Easyjet and £188 with Ryanair, proving BA's prices can compete with no-frills airlines.

MoneySavingExpert.com travel expert Jenny Keefe says: "Whether you're taking hand luggage or not, don't assume budget airlines are automatically cheapest.

"If you know when and where you want to go, check flight comparison websites such as Skyscanner, TravelSupermarket and Kayak.

"You can squeeze more in hand luggage than you think. Use home scales. If you're near the weight limit, put on your heaviest clothes and shoes then stow them under your seat on the plane. To push it further, look for a big coat with lots of pockets and cram it with books, socks and pants."

How do BA's hand luggage-only fares compare?

Here's a full breakdown of what we found. We picked flights with departure times close as possible to each other both time-wise and which airports they flew to and from.

Return hand luggage-only fares: 5-12 Jan 2014

Return hand luggage-only fares: 6-13 Apr 2014

Return hand luggage-only fares: 6-13 Jul 2014

Cutting costs

If you're flying hand luggage-only, you can also avoid paying high fees for extra luggage by only taking essentials, and packing well. Roll clothes instead of folding them, and stuff smaller items inside shoes to free up space elsewhere. See MSE Archna's How to pack for a two-week holiday with hand luggage only blog post for more tips.

If you're flying with luggage in the hold, remember to compare how much this will cost and factor that into the overall ticket price.

Easyjet charges a flat fee of £20 per bag (up to 20kg) to check luggage into the hold for a return journey. The same luggage weight costs between £25 and £45 each way with Ryanair (it also offers a cheaper 15kg allowance), depending on the route and whether you are travelling in high or low season.

You should also take into consideration other factors. For example, with BA you get complementary snacks and drinks on every flight, along with a free newspaper and more legroom.

Whether or not you'll be charged to pay for your booking should also be taken into account. It's free to pay by debit card at all three of the airlines, but if you pay by credit card, Ryanair and Easyjet will charge you 2% of the transaction and BA will charge you £4.50.

See our Budget Airline Fee Fighting guide for more help cutting flight costs.