Europeans taxing foreign tourists

Seeing Berlin's iconic landmarks will soon cost you more.

Cash-strapped European governments - at all levels - are hoping new "tourist taxes" will help them get out of their hopeless debt situations.

As if Europe wasn't already too expensive!

Berlin is the latest city in Europe to be "considering" a tourist tax which would add about $10 CDN to a tourist's hotel bill.

Last month, Venice added a $10 per night tax to a tourist's room charge and that followed similar moves by cities in Ireland, Greece, Great Britain - actually, almost every city in Europe now has new tourist taxes!

Which is why I think it's ironic that the European Commission - the world' s most useless and expensive government body - is bitching because the United States has introduced a new surcharge for travellers arriving from Europe.

The U.S. now collects $14 from Europeans as well as Australians, New Zealanders, Koreans and Japanese upon arrival - Canadians, so far, have been spared the expense.

Ryanair gouging the public again

Ryanair, maybe the worst airline in the world when it comes to gouging passengers, will start charging customers $160 per check in bag starting next summer, according to British media reports.

That would be the highest baggage fees in the world and you know if people pay it, other airlines will soon up their fees.

So, let me get this right - Ryanair charges $10 for a flight from London to Paris but with bag fees and taxes the fare quickly jumps to well over $300 - about what British Airways charges its customers.

During the low season, from October to May, Ryanair says the cost of the first bag will go up from $50 to about $95 and in the summer it will rise to $160. A second checked bag will cost you as much as $215.

The airline, which also plans to remove bathrooms and give passengers a plastic bag just in case, says they are introducing the new fares to discourage people from bringing too much luggage.

If this latest stunt by the world's worst airline doesn't discourage people from flying it, well then, the Irish and Brits who keep it in the air deserve what they get.