Every destination was going to be just a few euro away. No one mentioned anything about paying extra to sit beside your friends. Or forking out 60 to bring your fishing rod on holidays. Or handing over 15 for the luxury of booking your flight over the phone. No one said that the price of oil would soar, and the airlines were going to panic.

Hidden charges, extra charges, added charges; duties and costs that are not included in the initial price of the flight. This, it appears, is how the travel companies plan on getting more money from passengers while appearing to keep their prices down.

It is, perhaps, the travel agents who are imposing the most outrageous extra costs. If you book a family trip with Falcon Holidays, you shouldn't take it for granted that you'll be sitting beside each other. This is why Falcon offers a 'Sit Together' option, at the price of 10 per adult and 5 per child.

If you'd like the luxury of a little extra leg room, Falcon offers a seat beside an emergency exit for just 42 extra per person. And unless you specify otherwise at the time of booking, Falcon will automatically charge you for an in-flight meal . . . 14 on a short-haul flight.

There's also the small matter of paying for the fuel to get you there and back. Expect to pay 48 for a short-haul flight, unless you decide to travel with Aer Lingus or Ryanair, both of which have managed not to pass on the increasing oil prices to the customer.

Indeed, on the face of it, both of the Irish airlines appear to be offering more low-fare options now than ever before. Ryanair, in particular, continues to shout loudly about its 'free flights' and one-cent offers. But is there really any such thing as a free flight?

The Sunday Tribune compared the fares and extra charges imposed by Aer Lingus and Ryanair for a roundtrip flight for a family of four, including one infant, to Poland, in the first week of July.

On the home page of its website, Ryanair was offering flights to Krakow for as little as 99 cent. However, the total cost of the family flight came to 889.12.

The Aer Lingus website offered Krakow flights for as low as 49. The total cost of this trip came to 904.83.

Both airlines charged extra for the infant to travel on an adult's lap. However, Ryanair had a flat fee of 10 each way for the baby, while Aer Lingus charged 10% of the adult's ticket price.

In this instance, this came to 21.

Both airlines also charged extra to carry sports equipment, such as skis, snowboards or surf boards. In this case, Aer Lingus charged 60 for the transportation of golf clubs, in comparison to the Ryanair cost of 45.

(The Ryanair price would increase to 60 if the golf clubs were not prebooked online).

There was no cost for check-in luggage with Aer Lingus, while Ryanair charged 7 per suitcase. Insurance for the family with Ryanair came at 39, while Aer Lingus offered a price of 44.50 for the four travellers.

The credit card handling fee was 6 in total from Aer Lingus, while Ryanair charged 20 for the same service. However, a spokesman for Ryanair said that if a passenger used a debit card there would be no charge.

If the family had booked their tickets over the phone, they would have been charged an extra 15 by Aer Lingus and an extra 10 by Ryanair.

The chief executive of the Consumers Association of Ireland, Dermot Jewell, said the extra charges meant there was no transparency in the airline business, making it increasingly difficult for consumers to shop around for the best price.

"To suggest to anyone that they can get from A to B for 99c is quite blatantly misleading, " he said. "If you were to take the majority of the prices quoted on low-cost airline websites and multiply those prices by four, you still wouldn't be anywhere near the real price of the flight when all the charges have been added. It's extortionate. There is just no transparency here."

EXTRAS, EXTRAS READ ALL ABOUT IT What the airlines are charging for. . .

>> /10 for an infant on Ryanair
>> /60 for carrying golf clubs on Aer Lingus
>> /6 credit card booking fee with Aer Lingus
>> /4 for a pillowand-blanket kit on American Eagle flights to and from Los Angeles
>> /0.79 for soft drink and /0.79 for cashews, also on American Eagle
>> /1.50 for bags checked at the kerb for American, Northwest, United and Alaska Airlines
>> /60 for exit-row seats on Virgin Atlantic
>> /126 for the carriage of scuba-diving gear with Delta Airlines
>> /199 to transport a dog to and from the United States on USA Aer Lingus flights.
>> /8 for a paper ticket at an airport ticket counter when flying with US Airways
>> /5.50 for a boxed breakfast or a light, cold lunch or dinner, and /4 for a snack box, also with US Airways
>> Northwest Airlines is also considering charging extra for aisle and window seats.