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By Martin Lewis Published: 7:12AM BST 20 Aug 2009

How on earth can "paying for the flight" or "checking in" be deemed added extras? It's time to take a dogfight to the budget airlines.

Book the wrong way and a family of four's £1-each-way Ryanair flights could cost up to £448 and the rest aren't much better. That total is made up from £8 for flight tickets, debit card payments of £10 per person, plus two suitcases not pre-booked costing £80 and airport check-in of £80 per person.

It's not about the cost itself, but the way it's presented. Sadly, political action to prevent consumers being treated this way doesn't seem likely, so let me take you through first how they manage to do this, and then how to beat it.

The methods range from just sly to those where it's hard to see how they're legally justifiable. The EU law governing this says, "the final price paid shall at all times be indicated… including the applicable air fare, taxes, charges, surcharges and fees which are unavoidable." Now admire the budget airlines' sheer chutzpah with these clever work-arounds.

When you buy the flight, there's no cash option, yet all budget airlines charge extra to pay by credit or debit card. They get away with this policy by making it free to pay via Visa Electron debit cards.

Now don't assume that means it's any cheaper to process Electrons than any other debit cards. My nose tells me this is a bit of marketing genius; there's a mere fraction of the number of these cards than the other types as few banks issue them, so saying "it's free on electrons" means they can list their flights at a much lower amount than most will actually pay.

And it gets worse. While some industries do charge extra, at least for credit card payments, it's usually done as 1pc or 2pc of the total cost, reflecting what they themselves are charged. But for credit and debit cards, BMI Baby, Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Flybe and SkyEurope charge a fixed sum per person, each way.

So with Ryanair your flight may be just £2 return but you then pay a disproportionate £5 each way to pay on top. Yet as you'll see below, a recent chink of light's opened up allowing us to volley back this ridiculous pricing policy.

As you can buy annual travel insurance policies for £15, any budget airlines that automatically opt us into their pricey policies are being duplicitous. Plus EU rules clearly state passengers must now actively select such insurance. Yet some airlines constantly thumb their nose at this by having their insurance boxes auto‑ticked.

Some budget carriers charge big fees for checking in at the airport rather than online. Yet as most can only be booked on the web anyway, this isn't too arduous. Do ensure you print the boarding cards for both legs before you go though.

Curiously, Ryanair charges a staggering £80 return fee for airport check-in, and £10 return for online. Yet there's generally no other option, so how is this an add-on? Admittedly, on its promotion £1-type fares, online check-in is included; can its argument really be that the ''option'' is to always go for a promo fare even if it is at a different time and place from that required?

While it is listed on the page, surely the £10 should be incorporated into the ticket price and then airport check-in listed as £70 extra?

OK, Thi one has stumped me: do get in touch if you know how it works. This low-budget central European carrier will take you to Bratislava and Prague but charges €5 when you pay by credit and debit and Visa Electron payments. How can this be called ''unavoidable''?

Someone, somewhere needs to grab hold of these companies. The pan-European approach isn't working; the rules may be in place, but they're flouted in spirit if not in law.

It's time for legislative change. Online check in and debit card payment charges should always be included in the price shown. All other main charges including baggage, credit card payments and more, should – as with mortgage annual percentage rates (APRs) – be forced to be listed in the same font size.

Self-protection is the only current option. Serious budget airline bargains are possible, but you need to work it. It's like an electric buzz-wire game – successfully gently guide yourself around the fee to get the cheap deal.

Super-cheap budget airline sales tend to only last a couple of days, so monitor and be quick. Then check the details and focus your search; sales are always for fixed times and specific destinations.

Then, while a million seats may be on sale, try to find them and often full-price deals appeal.

This issue annoyed me so much, a few years ago I had the free www.flightchecker.co.uk built.

There you simply opt to ''find any £10-and-under inc. taxes & charges (but not added extras) Barcelona flights in August'', or set a price and pick "I'll go anywhere".

However, for specific dates, use comparison websites like www.kayak.co.uk, www.travelsupermarket.com and www.skyscanner.com.

To beat the up-to-£10 return per-person charges for paying by debit or credit card, you need to pay on a Visa Electron debit card. In the old days, this was tough as few bank accounts issued them.

Yet now anyone can get the prepaid Travelex Cash Passport, which is a bit like plastic cash, just load it up and use to spend. It's available online or from Thomas Cook or Co-Ops. You pay 2pc to put the cash onto the card, but that's still a fraction of airlines' charges. See www.moneysavingexpert.com/flightextras for full info.

The best option is only take hand luggage; special cases have been designed to fit in the space, and most airlines give you 10kg allowance.

If not, you'll pay £10 to £40 to put baggage in the hold providing you book it in advance, if not, the cost jumps.

The most important thing to remember, though, is that more bags don't usually mean more weight. You're still restricted to the allowance, you can just spread it over more cases. Go above the weight limit and you'll pay between £10 and £15 per extra kilo.

So pack carefully and adopt some cunning. Wear your heaviest shoes, coat, a couple of jumpers as you get on the plane, then dump them under your seat for the journey.

If you're over on the return, be prepared to throw anything that costs less than £10 per kilo – like beach towels and books – as it's cheaper to rebuy when you get home.

Since ''no-frills'' means exactly that in the air, avoid their eye-popping prices for a sarnie and drink by taking your own grub, and it's also canny to stock up on plastic bags, too: if you're carrying make-up or liquids, they need to go in a clear plastic bag.

If you don't have one, you may be charged £1 for getting one of those, too. For a full airline-by-airline fee-beating guide, see www.moneysavingexpert.com/budgetairlines

Television money guru Martin Lewis is the creator of the Consumer Revenge website www.MoneySavingExpert.com, which is packed with info on how to get more money in your pocket

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assistant: Beat the hidden fees: how to fly on a budget