The cheapest advertised fare from Sydney to Melbourne – $28 on Tiger Airways – costs a further $55 if a passenger pays for add-ons free on the Flying Kangaroo. These include seat selection, food and carriage of luggage such as sports equipment.

Insuring that equipment and paying by Visa costs another $16, bringing the bottom line to $99, which is 253 per cent more than the headline price. A $98 Qantas fare rises to $115.70 with these charges.

So the gap between fares shrinks from $70 as advertised to a little more than $17.

Jetstar customers have their price advantage slashed, unless they fast through the flight and live on their carry-on during their visit to Victoria. Jetstar’s published fares of $39 hit $96 once Qantas inclusions are purchased. Take the bus from Avalon – which at $20 is $4 more than travel from Tullamarine – and Jetstar patrons are left less than a lobster ($20) better off than Qantas customers. That said they have closed the $11 gap to Tiger’s headline offering to just 5c.

Virgin Blue passengers who may have thought they were going to be $17 in front of those on the Flying Kangaroo end up only $7 ahead.

Overall, by the time a leisure traveller with bags and an appetite reaches the Melbourne CBD they will shell out $114.95 on Tiger, $115 with Jetstar, $124.50 using Virgin and $131.70 on Qantas.

Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said the way airfares were advertised made it difficult for consumers to compare. He said many only realised how much they were actually paying when it was too late. “Don’t be fooled by the cheapest possible fare because there are other costs attached,” Mr Zinn said.

“You may find you are being taken for a bit of a ride as well as a flight.”

Tiger spokeswoman Vanessa Regan said: “If you don’t want food, you don’t pay for it, don’t want checked luggage, don’t pay for it. We believe there is no reason your fare should cover someone else’s extras.”

Jetstar’s Simon Westaway said: “We think we are pretty transparent in this space.”

Virgin Blue and Qantas suggested they didn’t consider Tiger and Jetstar as direct competitors.

additional fee Tiger customers do not face is emissions offset – because the carrier doesn’t offer it.

To neutralise carbon on a Sydney-Melbourne Jetstar flight costs 65c, which is only two-thirds what it does on parent Qantas ($1.01). This is mainly because Qantas flies older planes that burn more fuel. Virgin charges more again ($1.09) but said this was because its abatement provider was “highest quality”.

This article sources from http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,26125158-5001021,00.html