Budget airlines have been promising cheap flights for decades, but in 2026 the gap between the advertised fare and what you actually pay at checkout has never been wider. A £12 Ryanair fare that ends up costing £80 once you’ve added a bag, a seat, and checked in at the airport is not a bargain it’s a trap. This guide cuts through the headline fares and tells you exactly what each airline actually costs for a typical UK traveller, which routes offer genuine value, and which airline is worth booking depending on how you travel.
We cover five airlines that UK passengers use most: Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2, Wizz Air, and TUI. For each one, we break down the real cost of a standard trip, their best routes from UK airports, and who they’re actually best suited for. There’s also a full baggage comparison and a set of tips at the end for getting the lowest possible total price not just the lowest headline fare.
If you’re planning a city break this year and need to sort accommodation once you land, our guide to the best hotels for UK city breaks by budget tier covers London, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Bath in detail.
Ryanair
The Reality in 2026
Best Budget Airlines for UK Travel in 2026: remains Europe’s largest low-cost carrier by passenger numbers, serving 229 destinations across 37 countries as of 2026. The headline fares are still occasionally extraordinary genuinely cheap flights do exist, particularly to Central and Eastern European destinations that other airlines don’t serve. The problem is everything that happens after you click “book.”
In a Which? survey of over 9,500 UK passengers published in early 2026, Ryanair scored the lowest customer satisfaction rating of any major airline at just 55%.
The full Which? airline survey, based on responses from over 9,500 passengers, is one of the most comprehensive independent assessments of UK carriers available.
The most consistent complaints were around how the airline handles delays and disruptions only 67% of passengers said staff were available at least some of the time during a delay, compared to 92% at Jet2. Over a third of Ryanair passengers in the survey said something went wrong with their journey.
Ryanair’s baggage enforcement has also tightened considerably in 2026. The free personal bag is small 40 x 30 x 20 cm, underseat only and gate agents are known for aggressive bag sizer checks. If your bag doesn’t fit cleanly in the sizer, you’re looking at a gate fee of around £70. The Priority add-on (which includes overhead locker access and a 10 kg cabin bag) typically costs £20–£40 return and is close to essential for anything beyond a genuine day trip.
Real Cost of a Typical Trip
Base fare from London Stansted to Barcelona: from £15 one-way. Add Priority (overhead bag + boarding): £20–£40 return. Add a 20 kg hold bag if needed: £20–£60 at booking, up to £80 at the airport. Seat selection: £8–£10.50 if you want to choose. A family of four with hold bags can easily add £150–200 in extras to a supposedly cheap base fare. Always calculate the total, not the headline.
Best Routes from UK Airports in 2026
Ryanair’s biggest strength is the sheer breadth of its network, particularly to destinations that easyJet and Jet2 don’t serve. For summer 2026, Ryanair has expanded aggressively into Central Europe and North Africa new bases in Tirana (Albania) and Rabat (Morocco), plus 10 new routes from Bratislava. From UK airports, the strongest Ryanair value routes in 2026 include:
- London Stansted to Krakow —consistently one of the cheapest European city break routes. Krakow remains excellent value on the ground too.
- London Stansted to Faro — gateway to the Algarve. Ryanair dominates this route and fares are competitive.
- Manchester to Malaga — solid value for Costa del Sol breaks, especially mid-week in May and September.
- Edinburgh to Dublin — the cheapest consistent short-haul route from Scotland, useful for a long weekend.
- Bristol to Lanzarote — winter sun at a low price, particularly November through February.
Best For
Solo travellers with minimal luggage going to a destination Ryanair serves exclusively. If you can genuinely travel with the free underseat bag only, the base fares are hard to beat. Not recommended for families, couples who want to sit together without paying extra, or anyone who values reliable customer service when things go wrong.
easyJet
The Reality in 2026
Best Budget Airlines for UK Travel in 2026: easyJet sits in an awkward middle ground in 2026 it’s more expensive than Ryanair on headline fares but has spent recent years copying Ryanair’s playbook on fees. The free bag allowance is an underseat bag (45 x 36 x 20 cm, up to 15 kg), and the large cabin bag now costs extra on most fares anywhere from £6 to £80 return depending on the route and demand. A Which? investigation found the average fee for a cabin bag on easyJet was £30 considerably higher than the advertised starting price.
Where easyJet genuinely wins over Ryanair is on the overall experience. It scored 67% in the Which? passenger survey versus Ryanair’s 55%, with better ratings for booking process and customer service. It doesn’t charge airport check-in fees, cancellation rates have improved (0.9% short-notice cancellations versus Ryanair’s better 0.2%), and the overall in-flight experience is considered more comfortable. The main airports it uses Gatwick, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh are also considerably more convenient than Stansted or Luton for many UK travellers.
For summer 2026, easyJet has launched 16 new routes from 8 British airports, opening connections to Southern and Eastern Europe. Particularly notable is the new Edinburgh to Ljubljana route (the only direct Scotland-Slovenia connection), plus new links to Rome, Thessaloniki, and Reus from various regional airports. These new routes often have promotional fares in the early months of operation — worth checking if the destination appeals.
easyJet publishes its full route map and current promotional fares directly on its website, which is worth checking if any of the new destinations appeal.
Real Cost of a Typical Trip
Current fares from London Gatwick: Strasbourg from £21 one-way, Milan from £25, Palma de Majorca from £26, Amsterdam from £31. From Bristol: Faro from £23. From Birmingham: Fuerteventura from £20. From Liverpool: Milan from £21. These are one-way fares for a single passenger with underseat bag only. Add a large cabin bag (£6–£80 return), seat selection (£8.52–£12.93), and you’re typically looking at a realistic total of £60–£120 return per person for a European city break fare.
Best Routes from UK Airports in 2026
- London Gatwick to Amsterdam — competitive pricing on one of Europe’s most popular city break routes. Gatwick is easier than Stansted for most of London.
- Manchester to Palma de Majorca — strong summer value from the North, particularly May and early June before peak season pricing kicks in.
- Edinburgh to Ljubljana — new for 2026 and often heavily promoted in launch months. Ljubljana is a genuinely underrated city break destination.
- Bristol to Faro — easyJet’s Bristol base makes it one of the better options for South West England travellers going to Portugal.
- London Luton to Marrakech — from £26 one-way, one of the most interesting value destinations in the current easyJet network.
Best For
Couples and small groups who want a step up from Ryanair in terms of experience, fly from a major airport, and are willing to pay a modest premium for a more reliable journey. Also the best budget option if you’re flying from a regional airport that Ryanair doesn’t serve well.
Jet2
The Reality in 2026
Best Budget Airlines for UK Travel in 2026: Jet2 is the standout story of UK budget aviation in 2026. In the Which? passenger survey, it led the rankings ahead of every other budget airline and ahead of many full-service carriers thanks to strong reliability, fewer cancellations, better customer service during delays (92% of passengers said staff were available, the highest of any airline surveyed), and a genuinely more generous product than its rivals.
The headline figure that matters most: Jet2 includes a proper large cabin bag (56 x 45 x 25 cm, 10 kg) in every fare, for free. On Ryanair, the equivalent locker access costs £20–40 extra in Priority fees. On easyJet, it’s a paid add-on. On Jet2, it’s just included. The practical implication is that Jet2’s headline fares, while sometimes appearing higher than Ryanair’s, are often cheaper in total once you add a bag to the competitor’s fare.
For package holiday bookings through Jet2holidays, every passenger also receives a free 22 kg hold bag the most generous checked luggage inclusion in UK budget aviation. Jet2 operates over 570 routes from 13 UK airports, connecting to more than 75 destinations across Europe, and has a strong presence from airports like Leeds Bradford, East Midlands, and Birmingham that Ryanair and easyJet frequently underserve.
There are currently promotional fares valid through May and June 2026, with 49,000 seats available for £49 or less one-way and over 20,000 last-minute seats at £39 or less. One-way fares from London Gatwick to Faro, Alicante, Lanzarote, Majorca, Paphos, Reus, Rhodes, and Verona are currently available for £28–£29.
Jet2’s cheap fare finder tool lets you search by departure airport and month rather than a fixed date, which is the most efficient way to find the lowest available fares across their network.
Real Cost of a Typical Trip
Base fare from Leeds Bradford to Tenerife: from £45 one-way. Large cabin bag: included free. 22 kg hold bag with Jet2holidays package: included free. Seat selection: £13–£16. Total realistic return fare for two passengers with cabin bags: significantly lower than you might assume when compared to a Ryanair fare with the same bags added. Always compare total prices Jet2’s all-in cost is frequently lower than Ryanair’s total once bags are included.
Best Routes from UK Airports in 2026
- Leeds Bradford to Tenerife — Jet2’s flagship northern England route and consistently excellent value, particularly for winter sun.
- Manchester to Malaga — strong pricing on Spain’s most popular route, with good mid-week fares available most of the year.
- Birmingham to Corfu — one of the Greek island routes where Jet2 genuinely dominates, with good frequency and package deals.
- East Midlands to Palma de Majorca — East Midlands is a Jet2 stronghold and this route offers good value for the Midlands and East England.
- Newcastle to Alicante — one of the most competitively priced Spanish routes from the North East, where Jet2 has few direct competitors.
Best For
Families, couples, and anyone travelling with luggage. Jet2 is the recommended choice for anyone who values the total cost of a trip over the headline fare, wants reliable service if something goes wrong, and is departing from a regional UK airport. Which? named it a Recommended Provider the only budget airline to receive that designation.
Wizz Air
The Reality in 2026
Best Budget Airlines for UK Travel in 2026: Wizz Air is the most misunderstood budget airline flying from the UK in 2026. The headline fares are genuinely among the lowest available sometimes startlingly so but the baggage fees are the most complex and the most potentially expensive of any airline in this guide. The free bag is a small underseat item (40 x 30 x 20 cm, up to 10 kg). Anything going in the overhead locker requires the WIZZ Priority add-on or a bundle. The administration fee (£7–£11.50 for booking via the website or app) is a largely unique charge that has no equivalent at other airlines.
In the Which? 2026 passenger survey, Wizz Air scored 59% above Ryanair but below easyJet with recurring criticism around communication during delays and overall service consistency. The airline uses Luton as its main UK base, which is less convenient than Gatwick or Manchester for most of the country.
Wizz Air’s strongest advantage over its rivals is the network it serves: Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, and an expanding Middle Eastern network via Abu Dhabi that now connects to the Maldives. If you’re going to Bucharest, Belgrade, Sofia, or Tirana or anywhere in that corridor Wizz Air is often the only direct option from UK airports and the fares are frequently extraordinary.
For frequent flyers, the WIZZ Discount Club (around £35 per year) delivers a minimum of £10 off every flight and £5 off baggage. If you fly Wizz Air more than twice a year to Eastern European destinations, the membership pays for itself on the first booking.
The WIZZ Discount Club membership and current fees are listed on Wizz Air’s website — worth checking the maths against your planned trips before committing.
Real Cost of a Typical Trip
Current fares from London Luton: Lyon from £16.57 one-way, Barcelona from just over £20, Seville from £24.22, Mykonos from £40.37. These are base fares with underseat bag only. Add WIZZ Priority for overhead cabin bag access (typically £15–£25 return), plus the administration fee (£7–£11.50), and the total rises quickly. A realistic return fare with a proper cabin bag from Luton to Barcelona is typically £70–£100 comparable to easyJet but with more complexity in getting there.
Best Routes from UK Airports in 2026
- London Luton to Warsaw — one of the lowest-cost connections to Poland from London, often cheaper than the equivalent rail journey to Scotland.
- London Luton to Tirana — practically the only direct route from a UK airport to Albania. Tirana is a genuinely interesting and very affordable city.
- London Luton to Sofia — Bulgaria’s capital at some of the cheapest fares of any European capital city flight from the UK.
- London Luton to Catania — new for 2026 as part of Wizz Air’s Baroque Sicily expansion. A genuinely underrated destination.
- London Luton to Lyon — currently from £16.57, one of the cheapest France options available from any UK airport.
Best For
Solo travellers or pairs who genuinely understand the fee structure, are flying to Eastern Europe or a Wizz-exclusive destination, and can travel with just the underseat bag or are prepared to add Priority at booking. Not recommended for families or casual travellers who won’t research the baggage rules in advance.
TUI
The Reality in 2026
Best Budget Airlines for UK Travel in 2026: TUI is a different category of airline to the other four in this guide it’s primarily a charter carrier tied to its own holiday packages, rather than a point-to-point seat seller. If you’re booking a TUI holiday package, the airline component is typically included and the experience is considerably more straightforward than any of the pure budget carriers: checked bags are usually included in the package price, seats are booked together automatically, and the overall service level is higher.
Booking TUI flights on a flight-only basis (without the holiday package) is possible but less common and usually less competitive than the pure budget carriers on an apples-to-apples seat price comparison. Where TUI excels is in the overall package value particularly for families where the checked bag inclusion alone represents a significant saving over what you’d pay adding bags to a Ryanair or easyJet fare.
TUI operates from multiple UK airports to over 180 destinations, with flights mostly seasonal and timed around peak holiday periods. The airline is more consistent for beach resort and all-inclusive destinations than city breaks, and the flight-only product is less flexible than dedicated budget carriers.
Best For
Families booking package holidays to beach destinations. If you’re booking a TUI holiday, the flights are simply part of the package. If you’re looking for a flight-only seat, the other airlines in this guide will generally serve you better on flexibility and price.
Full Baggage Comparison 2026
This is where most UK travellers get caught out. The baggage comparison below reflects the current position as of May 2026 rules have tightened across all carriers this year and enforcement is stricter than it was pre-2024.
| Airline | Free Bag | Cabin Bag (Overhead) | 20–22 kg Hold Bag | Enforcement |
| Ryanair | 40x30x20cm underseat only | 10 kg — Priority add-on £20–£40 return | From £20 at booking, up to £80 at airport | Very strict — metal sizer at gates |
| easyJet | 45x36x20cm underseat, up to 15 kg | 15 kg — paid add-on from £6 online | From £9 (15 kg) / £23 (23 kg) online | Strict — enforcement has increased in 2026 |
| Jet2 | 56x45x25cm overhead cabin bag, 10 kg — FREE | Included in every fare — no extra charge | Included free with Jet2holidays packages | Relaxed — no metal sizer at gates |
| Wizz Air | 40x30x20cm underseat, up to 10 kg | WIZZ Priority add-on required — varies | From £20 at booking, higher at airport | Very strict — automated sizer at some airports |
| TUI | Included with cabin bag | Included — similar size to Jet2 | Usually included in package bookings | Relaxed |
The practical takeaway: Jet2’s free overhead cabin bag is the biggest single differentiator in UK budget aviation in 2026. For any trip where you need more than a small backpack, Jet2’s total cost is frequently lower than Ryanair or Wizz Air once bags are factored in despite appearing more expensive on the headline fare.
One important note on cabin bag fees: a Which? investigation found that the advertised starting prices for cabin bags are almost never available in practice. Ryanair advertises bags from £12, but Which? found that price available only twice in over 600 flights checked. easyJet’s advertised £5.99 bag fee was not found once in 500+ flights checked. The real average cabin bag fee was £30 on easyJet, £20.50 on Ryanair, and £28.93 on Wizz Air. Budget on these realistic figures, not the advertised minimums.
The Civil Aviation Authority also publishes official on-time performance and cancellation data for all UK-licensed carriers, which gives a more granular picture than any single survey.
Which Airline Should You Book?
The honest answer depends on three things: where you’re going, how much you’re carrying, and how much the journey experience matters to you.
Best overall for most UK travellers: Jet2. The Which? Recommended Provider designation is deserved. The bag inclusion alone saves most travellers money versus rivals, the service is consistently better, and the regional airport network is excellent. If Jet2 serves your departure airport and destination, it should be your default choice.
Best for city breaks to major European airports: easyJet. The main airport locations (Gatwick, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh) and improved reliability make it a better bet than Ryanair for a city break where you’re carrying a normal cabin bag. The new 2026 routes are worth exploring.
Best for Eastern Europe and exclusive routes: Wizz Air. If you’re going somewhere Wizz Air flies that no one else does — Tirana, Sofia, Catania, or anywhere in the Eastern European corridor — the base fares justify the baggage complexity. Join the Discount Club if you’ll use it more than twice.
Best for absolute lowest headline fare (minimal luggage): Ryanair. If you are genuinely travelling with just the free underseat bag and you don’t care about the experience, Ryanair’s fares to their exclusive routes are still sometimes the lowest available. For everyone else, factor in the real total cost before assuming it’s the cheapest.
Best for family package holidays: TUI or Jet2holidays. Both include checked bags in the package price, seat families together, and provide a service level that makes the overall holiday experience significantly smoother than piecing together a Ryanair booking for four people.
How to Find the Lowest Real Price
Always search with bags included. When comparing fares on Google Flights, Skyscanner, or any search tool, add your bag requirements before comparing prices. A £15 Ryanair fare with a £35 bag add-on is not cheaper than a £40 Jet2 fare with the bag already included.
Use the airline’s own website to book, not always a comparison site. For Jet2 especially, booking directly gives you access to the best fares and the clearest breakdown of what’s included. Comparison sites sometimes display base fares that look cheaper but don’t reflect the realistic total.
Fly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. These are consistently the cheapest days to fly across all UK budget airlines. Friday evening and Sunday flights carry a significant premium often 30 to 50 per cent above the midweek equivalent on the same route.
Book 6 to 8 weeks out for the best balance. The very cheapest fares are typically available either very far in advance (6+ months) or last-minute (under 2 weeks). The sweet spot for most travellers is 6–8 weeks ahead, where there’s still good availability and promotional pricing before peak demand closes in.
Watch for easyJet and Jet2 flash sales. Both airlines run regular promotional periods where routes are deeply discounted for 24–48 hours. Sign up for email alerts from both airlines’ websites and set a Skyscanner price alert for your target route. Jet2 is currently running a promotion with 49,000 seats at £49 or less through May and June 2026.
Avoid checking bags in at the airport. Every airline charges significantly more for bags added at the airport compared to the same bag added at time of booking. On Ryanair, a bag that costs £20 at booking can cost £80 at the airport. Always add bags when you book, not later.
Consider timing around school holidays and bank holidays. UK flight prices spike predictably during school half-terms and the main summer holidays. If you have flexibility, flying in the week before or after a half-term saves a meaningful amount. For more on timing, our guide to cheap flights during school holidays covers UK school dates and the cheapest windows to fly around them.
Skyscanner’s price alert tool is the most reliable free option for tracking fare movements on a specific route set it to ‘cheapest month’ rather than a fixed date for the broadest view.
Check the departure airport carefully. A Ryanair fare from London Stansted looks cheap until you factor in the train from central London (£15–£25 each way) or parking. A slightly more expensive easyJet fare from Gatwick can be cheaper in total depending on where you live. Always include the cost of getting to the airport in your comparison.
For families, always run the full numbers. A family of four with hold bags on Ryanair can add £150–200 in extra fees to a headline fare. Running the full calculation base fare, bags for all passengers, seats next to each other, airport transfers both ways often reveals that Jet2 or TUI is considerably cheaper as a total trip cost, even if the headline fare looks more expensive.
All prices quoted are approximate fares available as of May 2026. Flight prices change daily always check current fares directly with the airline before booking. This guide is for informational purposes and is not affiliated with any airline. All comparisons are based on publicly available pricing and independent consumer research.
Last updated: May 2026 | Written by George, TheYear2026.com
