Ryanair "cancels bookings through screenscrapers." The FlightChecker ISN’T affected

MSE_Martin

meester wrote: »

That's not true now is it?

I just searched Skyscanner for flights from UK to Spain, and it gave me this set of results:

Gerona Ryanair£15.67

Reus Ryanair and First Choice£19.98

Palma Ryanair, bmi, bmibaby, ...£24.98

Valencia Ryanair, clickair, easyJet, ...£29.89

Granada Ryanair£29.98

Valladolid Ryanair£29.98

Madrid Ryanair, Air Europa, bmibaby, ...£34.35

Murcia Ryanair, bmibaby, easyJet, ...£35.55

Alicante Ryanair, bmibaby, easyJet, ...£37.59

Bilbao easyJet and clickair£38.76

Barcelona Aer Lingus, bmibaby, British Airways, ...£38.90

Jerez Ryanair£38.90

Santander Ryanair£38.90

Santiago de Compostela Ryanair£38.90

Zaragoza Ryanair£38.90

Yes it is true, or I wouldn't have said it?

Quite simply both legally and practically you can't spider Ryanair any more. It has sent dissist legal notices to search sites, and blocked access.

Now its important to note this is for multiple searches not a single search. So a comparisojn can check a price just like a normal user does, but it can't multilply search, that's blocked.

If anyone is doing it I would question the reliability, we have turned Ryanair off quite simply as we cannot get enough accurate data. I should also point out I don't see Skyscanner as a competitor, I think its a great site and its one of my picks in the Cheap Flights article. If they have got a way round this that's great, but i think we're perhaps only at the beginning of seeing this kaiboshed.

As I mentioned I had a long chat with a very senior member of the Ryanair team the other day - and at the moment this is a blanket ban.

Martin

RaspberryFool

Let me get this straight. According to the rumours, Ryanair are objecting to bookings made via screenscraping sites because they object to the extra charges imposed?

Phrases involving pots and kettles readily spring to mind. I'm readily expecting a box on their booking screen for 'tick here if you would like to breathe onboard the aircraft' and to be charged for the privilege!

RF

19nine78

When a flight is booked via a screenscraper, ryanair only get the flight booking with no opportunity to upsell the higher commision items such as insurance, hotels, car hire and transfers which would normally be sold by the online travel agent.

The also miss out on the marketing information, since all of the screen scraped bookings will use the card & contact details of the online travel agent behind the scenes to complete the bookings.

Couple that with the fact that most online travel agents sites don't show the logos of the flight operators until after booking, it appears from ryanairs point of view that they do all the hard work for none of the more lucrative benefits (brand awareness, high commision sales and marketing information).

note: I used to work in travel technology and spent nearly three years developing and managing numerous online travel sites, many of which used aggregators and scrapers to provide low cost airline booking.

OAP_3

Can someone confirm that our holiday to Malta flying by ryanair will not be cancelled as we booked through Teletext and they have said it is ok but can't find any info on sites. Just want some reassurance please.

dmg24

Which company did you book with OAP?

doctorfixit

I am constsntly amazed by the complaints people make about Ryanair and the guys who run it. The management treat their passengers as dirt and appear to have nothing but contempt for anyone who doesn't like the way Ryanair operates. Provided you do not question anything Ryanair does they are quite happy to take your money theur way. However if you fly with them you know they are cheap in everything they do. YOUR CHOICE

enneivivsnibor

:mad: I recently booked flights for my son and his friend via the Ryanair website. They gave me their flight details on the phone at the same time so I used autofill for my email address. It also entered my name as first passenger. I did not notice this until I printed out the confirmation. I tried for days to get through to customer services by phone and email. Eventually I was quoted £120 to change the first name with the customer services advisor or £80 online. I paid £80 to change the first name and £10 to take out another insurance in his name (plus £5 card fee). So if you have to book direct with Ryanair do take care!

kilrail

We all have lots of opinions of Ryanair but I still say you are not forced to use them. Play by their rules and you get a cheap no frills flight, fast turnaround, new planes and OK expensive coffee.

But the big question really is still "Has anyone actually been refused a flight who booked via 3rd party site?". I know we had one mentioned but was it genuine or someone with a gripe against Ryanair.

Martin said he had a chat with a Ryanair official, maybe he could have clarified the position so people who have booked elsewhere would know what to do!

mystic_trev

iwantitnow wrote: »

Ryanair no longer display a range of dates either side when you tick the "My dates are flexible" option.

You will also find they restrict the number of times you can display the "Next Day" or "Previous Day" when searching for the cheapest flights.

Looks like they are trying to make it harder for those of us who don't care where and when we go but just want a free/chesp flight

I agree, it's quite bizarre!

pottytspot

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Last week, the BBC and papersRyanair would cancel flights booked through screenscrapers. Actually its more about sites which add booking fees, a rarity in the UK. Specifically for those worried who’ve used this site’s FlightChecker, don’t be, all it does is provide info, you can’t book through it, we just link you to Ryanair’s home page to book.

Sadly a by-product of Ryanair's attempt to block booking fee websites is it’s blocked access to ALL flight comparisons, including the FlightChecker. I’ve been talking to a member of its Board to try and sort this, and it may take some time, but here’s hoping.

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Can anyone out there help me with my problem with ryaniar.......My son and i tried to make a booking, via the internet, ryanair site..... We had problems when it came to the payment, on screen instructions saying....error with card, wrong information given, etc. [ we knew all was correct ] after lots of new attempts we gave up and tried another airline. Successfully...... we now find that the payment for the attempted booking of the flights has been taken out of my account...FLIGHTS we didnt know we had paid for.....at no time was there any on screen intructions saying payment being processed, or completed ?????? A phone call to a Ryanair operator told us they were experiencing site problems !!!! We are now waiting to hear from Ryanair, has this happened to anyone out there, if so any tips.....