Ryanair's online ticketing and pricing policy

[whole diary]

[w]

shut down




_{Edit note: I have amended the heading of this original post to more accurately reflect the content of subsequent posts. C.}

[Timmer]

Just think of all that wasted space on the wings. Get a few passengers to sit on those. Might be a bit cold though! 

[smithy]

i bet that o'leary bloke will try and charge the cabin crew to use the jump seats next.
is there nothing he will not try in order to exploit people?i for one would not fly ryanair let alone standing up on one.

[moonrakerz]

George "Dubya" Bush did actually say some something quite perceptive - which actually applies perfectly to Mr O'Leary.

"You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on"

[inspector_blakey]

Despite appearances, O'Leary is no fool. Every time he makes one of these ridiculous pronoucements in the media it generates publicity for Ryanair (remember the free planes on which all the revenue would be raised by on-board casinos, or more recently the charge for toilets).

Half the time I don't think anyone has any intention of implementing these suggestions, they just produce a mass of free publicity for the airline.

[moonrakerz]

O'Leary is no fool.

I didn't say he was !

I see he has just jacked up his card charges again: "good day to bury bad news" tactics ? debit card from 70p to ^5; credit card from ^2 to ^5 - nice work if you can get it !

[The Grecian]

Ryanair seem to have a standard tactic that when they want to implement a new charge, they announce a ridiculous charging proposal instead. This a) generates publicity b) they can pretend they've backed down and implement their original idea as a charge instead. It seems to work for them.

I suspect the original FGW^▸ (First Great Western) timetable for December 2006 was similar - go for the harshest cuts to begin with, then put back a few of the most ridiculous cut trains. Of course, that wasn't the case for every line though...

[Mookiemoo]

Ryanair seem to have a standard tactic that when they want to implement a new charge, they announce a ridiculous charging proposal instead. This a) generates publicity b) they can pretend they've backed down and implement their original idea as a charge instead. It seems to work for them.

I suspect the original FGW^▸ (First Great Western) timetable for December 2006 was similar - go for the harshest cuts to begin with, then put back a few of the most ridiculous cut trains. Of course, that wasn't the case for every line though...

Classic new Liebour tactics - announce something so ridiculous that when the watered down version comes in everyone is grateful - of course the watered down was what they intended all along   

[John R]

O'Leary is no fool.

I didn't say he was !

I see he has just jacked up his card charges again: "good day to bury bad news" tactics ? debit card from 70p to ^5; credit card from ^2 to ^5 - nice work if you can get it !

Ryanair do the same in Germany, and a court case there last week ruled that it was illegal, as the only cards they accept for free are not readily available for the majority of the population (a bit like Solo here). I would say, let's hope it happens here and he gets his come-uppance, but he will only go and load it on somewhere else.

[JayMac]

O'Leary is no fool.

I didn't say he was !

I see he has just jacked up his card charges again: "good day to bury bad news" tactics ? debit card from 70p to ^5; credit card from ^2 to ^5 - nice work if you can get it !

Ryanair do the same in Germany, and a court case there last week ruled that it was illegal, as the only cards they accept for free are not readily available for the majority of the population (a bit like Solo here). I would say, let's hope it happens here and he gets his come-uppance, but he will only go and load it on somewhere else.

I believe it is Visa Electron that remains free to use on Ryanair's website (and other budget airlines) and this is available to all the population. You would of course have to open an account with a bank that issues Electron. It is usually tied to a 'Basic' bank account, that is one with no overdraft faciliites. An ideal account for young 'uns and those with a poor credit history. I know that Alliance and Leicester and Co-operative currently offer one. I opened an account with A&L, specifically to get the card to buy airline tickets! No additional cost to me (except a bit of time online) and I avoided the airlines' card charges. I refuse to bash 'Ryanair'. Their charges are easy to to see on the website, not hidden in the small print, and Mr O'Leary may be a bit of a card, but he certainly knows how to get headlines.......no such thing as bad publicity.

[moonrakerz]

I believe it is Visa Electron that remains free to use on Ryanair's website (and other budget airlines) and this is available to all the population. You would of course have to open an account with a bank that issues Electron. It is usually tied to a 'Basic' bank account, that is one with no overdraft faciliites. An ideal account for young 'uns and those with a poor credit history. I know that Alliance and Leicester and Co-operative currently offer one. I opened an account with A&L, specifically to get the card to buy airline tickets! No additional cost to me (except a bit of time online) and I avoided the airlines' card charges. I refuse to bash 'Ryanair'. Their charges are easy to to see on the website, not hidden in the small print, and Mr O'Leary may be a bit of a card, but he certainly knows how to get headlines.......no such thing as bad publicity.

I have an Electron card, but I wonder how long it is going to be before it is withdrawn by all the banks and replaced with the much "better" debit card. There does seem to be a move by many (most, all ?) of the banks to get rid of the Electron card. I was lucky to escape with my wallet when I asked in Barclays - Electron was "out" and I shouldn't bother with something that old fashioned - was the message, loud and clear !
I believe the reason that the budget airlines do no charge for this card is that the charges between the banks for handling Electron payments are much lower than conventional debit cards. In view of the the parlous state of the finances of most of the banking sector it would seem logical that the banks will replace the low earning "services" with those providing a much better boost to their profits.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Ryanair payment policy is 'puerile', says OFT

Budget airline Ryanair has been accused of being "puerile and childish" over its payment policy by business watchdog the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

OFT chief executive John Fingleton attacked the company for fees that Ryanair adds when customers use all but one type of credit card to pay online. He told the Independent newspaper that the firm used a legal loophole to justify charging the extra fee.

Ryanair said their payment policy model allowed passengers "to avoid costs".

The law says that if an airline offers at least one free payment method, it is allowed to advertise cheap fares that do not include extra credit card charges.

Mr Fingleton said Ryanair had chosen a rare payment method to get around the rules.

Currently, the airline only offers a free booking service to customers who pay for tickets with a Mastercard prepaid card.

According to Ryanair, compulsory fees and charges are included in all the airline's advertised prices. But Ryanair argues that payment handling fees are discretionary.

According to a BBC Money Box report in November, Ryanair charges ^5 per person per flight, even if all the passengers are paid for on the one card, in a single transaction.

Mr Fingleton told the Independent newspaper: "Ryanair has this funny game where they have found some very low frequency payment mechanism and say: 'Well because you can pay with that'. It's almost like taunting consumers and pointing out: 'Oh well, we know this is completely outside the spirit of the law, but we think it's within the narrow letter of the law'."
 
He added: "On some level it's quite puerile - it's almost childish."

Mr Fingleton also questioned the automatic addition of insurance to flights by airlines such as Ryanair, unless customers opted out.

Ryanair disputes this claim, saying in a statement that its insurance services are purchased by customers on an opt-in not opt-out basis.

Ryanair Head of Communications Stephen McNamara said: "Ryanair is not for the overpaid John Fingletons of this world but for the everyday Joe Bloggs who opt for Ryanair's guaranteed lowest fares because we give them the opportunity to fly across 26 European countries for free, ^5 and ^10. What the OFT must realise is that passengers prefer Ryanair's model as it allows them to avoid costs, such as baggage charges, which are still included in the high fares of high cost, fuel surcharging, strike-threatened airlines such as BA^» (British Airways - about)."

According to the Money Box report, the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Cards Association estimates for credit cards, banks charge airlines between 1.5% to 2.5% of a payment in transaction fees.

It believes it is significantly less than ^1 to process a debit card transaction.

That means a family of four on a return journey paying on one debit card should pay about 30p, if they were just covering the airline's costs, but would be charged ^40 by Ryanair.

[JayMac]

Good job I got a Mastercard Prepaid as well!!

[caliwag]

No No...it is most interesting...bu++er quality, we'll just pack em in...when will the railway companies start this? OK you could say it has started...(Nat XP especially)
Seems to me the very thin of the wedge...but maybe I'm elitist. The notion of service is dissolving plainly.

EG...I always enjoyed Monarch air, but apparently they are now struggling...any news? I blame the private equity companies...absolute preditory bast+++s

[John R]

Pax had to use the chutes to evacuate a Ryanair flight at Liverpool today. Wonder whether the cabin crew were standing at the top charging a fiver each for the privilege? 

(Actually given that it had just been parked at the airport I'm surprised they found the chutes were there at all....)