What you see is often not what you get. Ask air travellers, who invariably end up paying much more than the rock-bottom fares advertised by airlines.

Broadly, there are three reasons why the price does not match the pitch. First, genuinely cheap air tickets come in a very limited edition and are used to fill empty seats, or grab eyeballs.

Next, the low fare advertised is usually not all-inclusive. The airfare you cough up has some components which do not go to the airline.

One cannot be generous with other people’s money. So the airline can take a cut only on its share of the pie.

Finally, the airline may agree to a lower fare to take you from point to point, but can charge for the extras that you want on the flight — food on the plane, preferred seating, excess luggage, etcetera. Here’s a list of the many costs to take to the sky.

Base fare: It’s the basic price of the ticket that the airline charges its passengers. The primary building block of the ticket price, the airline is free to tweak the base fare.

Fuel charge: Introduced in India about a decade back, fuel charge allows airlines to adjust the ticket price in line with volatile fuel prices. Some airlines, such as SpiceJet, IndiGo Airlines and Jet Airways have in recent times added the fuel charge into the base fare.

Prices advertised by airlines usually refer to the base fare and the fuel charge. Airlines are allowed to price their base fares and fuel charges within the band they inform the airline regulator each month. These bands can vary across routes, passenger classes and time periods.

CUTE Fee: An impish mind must have coined this oxymoron. CUTE is short for Common User Terminal Equipment. It is the charge for using the software system that simplifies check-in of passengers at airports from a common terminal. A relatively small amount, some airlines include this as part of the base fare while others charge it separately.

Passenger service fee (PSF): This fee is levied by all airports, whether run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) or private players. It covers the cost of security and passenger facilitation at the airports.

User development fee (UDF): It costs a lot of money to build those swanky new airports. And you, dear air passenger, also are made to foot a part of the bill. So, in select airports of the country, UDF is levied on passengers who use the airport for departure.

Development fee: Some airports also charge a development fee. This is to bridge the funding gap for infrastructure development at these airports.

Tax: The government charges taxes (service tax at 14 per cent and Swachh Bharat Cess at 0.5 per cent) on the base fare and the fuel charge.

Thankfully, only a part of the cost — 40 per cent of the base fare and fuel charge for economy class passengers and 60 per cent for higher class passengers — is taxed.

Ancillary service charges: With fare unbundling allowed in India, airlines are breaking up their fares into more service components to allow passengers to pick and choose from the extras. So, be ready to pay up when you pre-book meals on the flight, carry excess baggage, opt for spacious or vantage view seats, or choose the flexibility to cancel and reschedule your ticket.

Besides, services like faster check-in at the airport are charged extra. Travel insurance is also an additional cost. All these can easily add up many more hundreds to the total fare.

Convenience charge: Seeking ‘convenience’ and booking tickets online? Get ready to inconvenience your pocket by a few hundreds more.

Ironically, this charge is levied even if you book tickets directly on the airline’s website and save it the commission payable to the agent. Some airlines also charge you for taking a printout of tickets at their counters.

The bottom-line: Do the math, adding up all that goes into your final ticket price.

In 2009, the civil aviation regulator directed airlines to list the break-up of their fares. Use this welcome move to good effect.

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