Avoid these two sneaky airline rip-offs!

Unreasonable airline debit and credit card fees and hefty baggage charges may seem unavoidable, but there are ways to dodge these rip-offs...

I had a real dilemma while booking my holiday to Spain this summer.

Do I fly Ryanair, or easyJet?

Fellow writer Alison Hunt chose to steer well clear of both. She ditched the budgets for good old British Airways which, after taking into account all the exorbitant add-ons budget airlines charge, she actually found was cheaper than Ryanair.

More competition, higher fuel prices and less people travelling because of the recession has led many airlines to cut costs and raise charges in an attempt to recoup losses.

But there's a fine line between 'budget' and 'rip-off' these days, and sometimes you can't help but get the feeling you're being squeezed for every penny you've got.

Here are two rip-off charges that really get my goat. And the measures you can take to ensure you don't get caught out by them.

Exorbitant card fees

My personal gripe about airlines is the extra charges levied for paying for your ticket with a credit, and even a debit card. And the charges just keep going up.

Here's what a range of budget and non-budget airlines charge you to book a ticket:

According to Which? Holiday, Ryanair now charges 614% more than it did 18 months ago for debit card transactions.

This means a family of four who book a return trip with Ryanair have to fork out an extra £40 for the pleasure of paying by debit card. Not that £1 advertised fare after all eh?

But Ryanair is not the only offender. Both BMI Baby and Flybe impose similar fees, per person, per one way flight.

In addition, Thomas Cook now charges £10 per booking if you use a debit card, and First Choice customers will have to fork out an extra £2.50. 18 months ago, neither levied a fee.

There is one small mercy. All the airlines mentioned above do not charge a fee for paying with a Visa Electron card.

So, the next question is, where can you get your hands on one?

If you want to open a bank account with a Visa Electron, the Halifax Easycash account is your best bet. Abbey also issues Visa Electron cards, so you could ask them to issue you one.

But the Visa Electron solution I'm most keen on is the Travelex Cash Passport.

The Cash Passport is a prepaid Visa Electron card available in seven currencies including US dollars, euros and British pounds.

That's right, you can load it up with British sterling (minimum £100), and hey presto - you have a Visa Electron card, which you can use to pay for your airline tickets.

Then you can load it up with another currency and use it while you're abroad to ensure you avoid any card charges and get a good exchange rate. Plus, Travelex recently abolished ATM charges, so you can use the card to take cash out from ATMs abroad fee-free.

Just bear in mind that if you use the card to buy something in a currency other than the one loaded on it, you'll be charged a hefty 5.75% conversion fee. So don't forget to load the right currency for your country.

Nobody knows how long this grace period for Visa Electrons will last, and if you read the wording on Ryanair's website carefully, it says that:

As a special offer to Visa Electron card holders, Ryanair, for a limited period only, will not apply a Debit Card charge.

This cleverly worded clause makes me think that it won't be long before this small mercy finally disappears.

Still, for now at least, using a Visa Electron can be your way of telling Mr. O'Leary to kiss your blarney stone.

Baffled by the baggage

One other way airlines are increasingly making money from you is baggage fees. Here are some of the restrictions imposed by airlines when it comes to what you can take away with you:

Measurements and weight restrictions quoted for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are for economy passengers.

There's not much between the airlines when it comes to baggage weight and size restrictions.

However, there are some interesting observations to note.

The first is while many airlines place a weight restriction on hand luggage of 10kg, both British Airways and easyJet do not. This can come in handy - provided you're an expert at packing,

On the other hand, long haul carrier Virgin Atlantic has a hand baggage allowance of just 6kg.

It's a rule that caught me out last year when I flew back from America. Faced with either having to repack, or wear five extra layers of clothes and waddle onto the plane like the Michelin man, I chose the former.

To save embarrassing moments such as these, it helps to know what you can carry on board, so you won't get caught out.

So, in the end did I go for Ryanair, easyJet, or neither?

In the past, I would have picked Ryanair, but this time I chose easyJet. 

To be frank, after watching Ryanair introduce fee after fee over the years, then justify it with a smug response on breakfast TV, the thought of lining Michael O'Leary's pockets was enough to put me off booking with them - no matter how cheap the flight was.

Give me Stelios any day!

More: Camp for less than £50 / Avoid these six holiday rip-offs!