Wizz Air Charges New Fees for Ad Blocker Users
Budget airlines are notorious for tacking on strange and surprising additional fees during the purchasing process. Recently, a customer of one low-cost European operator reported an unexpected fee due to the use of ad-blocking software.
Hungary-based Wizz Air is charging a €10 ‘System Surcharge Fee’, reportedly applicable to bookings made by automated systems. However, travel writer Noel Philips experienced this fee and noted on Twitter that it only applied while an ad blocker was enabled. A slightly lower ‘Administration Fee’, typically around €8, is charged on Wizz Air’s mobile site, which requires users to log in. Consequently, it appears that ad blockers on the desktop site could interfere with the airline’s fraud-detection software.
According to Wizz Air: “AdBlockers are not explicitly forbidden, nor triggering our protection to be detected as a robot. However, in very rare instances, bugs in the AdBlockers may cause browsers to behave unexpectedly, leading to flags by our security tools as suspicious. Therefore, we recommend disabling AdBlockers in case of any issues. The use of automation for booking (robots) necessitates additional hosting efforts, and for such activities, Wizz Air applies a system surcharge fee.”
The statement continued: “This incident is an edge case that could not be replicated by other users or the airline. We apologize if this has caused any inconvenience for our customers.”
Charging additional fees is a common practice among budget airlines to maintain profitability. They typically offer an attractive low base price, which then gradually increases by the time a customer reaches the payment portal. However, most of these fees are linked to optional services such as checked luggage or seat selection. For instance, Ryanair, known as one of Europe’s low-cost airlines, generates approximately $2 billion annually from extra charges and commissions, equating to nearly 30% of its revenue. Meanwhile, US airlines have also explored similar fees, including the introduction of luggage-free Basic Economy fares, yet have more recently shifted towards eliminating change fees for domestic tickets instead.
