Flew airBaltic from London to St Petersburg via Riga. Really rude and unhelpful staff. Unbelievably strict and inflexible baggage policy. Punitive charges for going even a kilogram over (£38 flat fee for anything more than 20kg). For the first time ever, staff weighed everything I owned, both checked, cabin and shopping bag. They probably would have asked me to empty my pockets if they could have. All this after a disingenuous booking process that didn’t properly reveal that checked baggage wasn’t included in the price (buying allowance at the gate cost 80.) In total, I paid 126.43 on top of tickets that were not cheap to begin with. Worse than Ryanair.
EDITORS COMMENT: The website does clearly state that baggage needs to be a certain weight or you will be charged. Low cost carriers make their money through ancillary charges like this .
