Apparently through accident rather than design Tiger Airways is in a communications meltdown today after yesterday’s announcement of check-in charges of either $10 or $15 for passengers travelling with carry-on luggage.

The airline’s spokesperson said this morning that a press release by Wilkinson PR had caused confusion by announcing a prepay check-in fee of $10 for those booking online that no-one would actually need to buy unless they somehow couldn’t access a printer before reaching the terminal.

“It is hard to imagine a reason for anyone buying the pre-pay check in fee,” she said. “We were just trying to draw people’s attention to the benefits of cheap fares if you travel light without checked baggage.

“You must have a printed boarding pass when you reach the terminal, otherwise getting one will cost you $15 at the counter, but if you are checking a bag into the hold that charge is already included in the pre-paid baggage fee (which can be as high as $50).”

The PR shambles even extended to queries to the ACCC about Tiger selling headline cheap fares without disclosing a compulsory extra for the check in process, a bit like a car dealer advertising a price without including the wheels, when in fact anyone buying a fare online, carrying only hand luggage (up to 7kg) and printing out their own boarding pass did not have to pay a check-in fee.

“We created the wrong impression”, the spokesperson said. But it did create headlines.

Tiger’s Australian management says unbundling charges for checked luggage, checking in at airports instead of on-line, for pre-selecting seats, and on-board refreshments were essential elements of offering lower airfares.

But that didn’t work very well either for those who shopped around for domestic fares next week, where Tiger’s fares were in some cases undercut by Virgin Blue and Jetstar, even if flying light with no checked bag, and dearer than Qantas if the $50 fee for a bag weighing between 15-25kgs was taken into account.

Despite the confusion, Tiger’s emphasis on unbundling is something that has spread to full service carriers abroad, particularly in the US, where most full service carriers charge for a checked bag, and refreshments.

Earlier this month American Airlines even began offering a queue fee of $US9 to join its ‘elite’ frequent flyers in a priority boarding line, just to avoid the push-and-shove of other passengers competing for bin space for carry-on luggage.

PR disaster or not, what Tiger is doing is a preview of airlines turning a flight into a series of selling opportunities from personalised check-in and checked luggage fees through to queue fees, seat selection fees, and charges for pillows, blankets and food and drinks off the trolley.

Still missing, mercifully, is any real sign of toilet fees, despite Ryanair’s studiously provocative CEO Michael O’Leary repeatedly threatening to put ‘pee for a pound’ coin-operated doors on his fleet of 737s.