[QUOTE=kryten22uk]
I dont see any reason why they shouldnt charge a ticketing/admin fee when you book online, as you are covering the costs of maintaining the system. And when you consider that this involves all the new online functionality, there is a lot of work and cost there /QUOTE]


But the problem appears to be the fact that the airlines are tending to use their new online fees as another cash-raising opportunity.

Otherwise how can you explain how the online fees vary from country to country, class to class ?

BA's Euro 5 online fee for all flights/classes is one of the cheapest. By comparison, book online with LH in Germany using lufthansa.com and you pay a fee of Euro 10 for a short-haul flight. But book a long-haul business class flight online and the fee jumps to Euro 23. Surely, there's no extra work involved ?

Or how about Swiss, which has different online fees depending on the country where you book online.

Use Swiss.com in Portugal and your online fee is Euro 6. But use Swiss.com in Italy or France and you then pay Euro 10, in Germany Euro 15, in Belgium and Luxembourg Euro 20.