Airline Charges Rip Off Discussion

lufcgirl

barafear799 wrote: »

Couple of general Ryanair questions to ask please? (well one question is kinda-related)


First: I notice Ryanair have extended their latest £1 sale - and as we all know there are gonna be lots more sales - my question is this? Are the special offers ever relevent on ALL of Ryanair's routes - I looked at their map today and it highlights the special offers in red - but cities such as Prague and Riga are not included - are they ever included??


Second: Do Halifax do a credit check to open an easycash account - I know there is not supposed to be an O/D facility or cheque guarantee card - so in theory not - but just wanted clarification just in case???


Many thanks

First: It's not all routes. The easiest way to find out where the £1 sale is flying to from your airport is on the Ryanair homepage, where it says £1 flight sale, it will say in small letters under 'Click here for more routes' if you click it'll show a list of airports with where they fly and their prices from.

Second: Theres no credit check, just an ID check

Sorry don't know how to multi-quote!

Dick_here

I recently had to switch flights with TUIfly (the foreign part of Thomson). Not only did it cost £150 for the three of us, they said they "don't accept Visa Delta" so I had to pay another £10 for the credit card fee. How can it be an add-on fee when there is no other way of paying ???

Sooler

Driver8 wrote: »

Go back to the start of the thread and read post 38 and you have PROOF you can get flights for £1 each way no taxes nothing.

Promotional flights and regular flights cause a lot of confusion.

A regular £1 (or any other price 1p, £5) flight will likely be subject to extra cost for taxes and check in.

A promotional £1 flight will often have free taxes and check in.

omeyas

northernmonk wrote: »

Why has no one mentioned the fact that as far as I can see you HAVE to pay £10 for online check in each way? Surely no one can claim that is a fair cost to enforce? Has everyone who claims its easy to book a £1 fair for £1 actually booked a flight recently??

I never said anything, as I normally fly with BMIBaby (no choice living where I do!) but the same thought occoured to me, how do these experts avoid that check in fee? A £1 flight seems impossible to me. I know when we go to Spain, two check ins, two suitcases cost £52.

lufcgirl

omeyas wrote: »

I never said anything, as I normally fly with BMIBaby (no choice living where I do!) but the same thought occoured to me, how do these experts avoid that check in fee? A £1 flight seems impossible to me. I know when we go to Spain, two check ins, two suitcases cost £52.

£1 is possible, like said previously as long as you don't book any extras. If you just book your flight, no additional luggage in addition to hand luggage and check in-online and pay with Visa Electron, you'll pay £1 each way. I just got two returns to Dublin for £2 each.

Sooler

barafear799 wrote: »

but cities such as Prague and Riga are not included - are they ever included??

found Birmingham - Prague

Adult 1.00 GBP
Wed, Oct 7
Flight FR1255
13:10 Depart Birmingham (BHX)
16:15 Arrive Prague (PRG)


Adult 1.00 GBP
Mon, Nov 23
Flight FR1256
15:45 Depart Prague (PRG)
16:50 Arrive Birmingham (BHX)

Going Out (Web Fare)
1 Adult @ 1.00 GBP 1.00 GBP
Taxes/Fees 0.00 GBP
Coming Back (Web Fare)
1 Adult @ 1.00 GBP 1.00 GBP
Taxes/Fees 0.00 GBP
2 x (Free Web Check in) 0.00 GBP
Total Cost of Flight 2.00 GBP

barafear799

thanks for the reply about cheap prague flights - altho it's an awfully long stay in Prague to take advantage of £1 each way!!!! But thanks anyway.......

Chester85

!!!!!!_here wrote: »

I recently had to switch flights with TUIfly (the foreign part of Thomson). Not only did it cost £150 for the three of us, they said they "don't accept Visa Delta" so I had to pay another £10 for the credit card fee. How can it be an add-on fee when there is no other way of paying ???

Visa Delta is a UK brand credit card, infact banks don't even issue it now. It should be Visa Debit and TUIFly do accept Visa Debit cards as I use mine

Don't know why TUIFly charged you £10, I travel regularly with them (from the days of them being HLX Express) and the add on over the past few years has only been £4 on any route.

Think you've been done there

JimmyTheWig

Sussexlass wrote: »

I'm surprised at the level of support for the 'budget' airlines and their charges which are certainly not transparent.

lindsay2610 wrote: »

I'm confused....what is the problem with Ryanair's pricing being more transparent? How does that hurt anyone?

I'm not totally surprised by this.

Lets take paying by Electron, for example. Lets say Ryanair are doing flights for £1 plus card fee. 90% of people pay £5 card fee and 10% pay on electron for no extra charge. That means the average flight is costing £5.50.
Now, while I appreciate that paying by Electron is cheaper for Ryanair, it is not _that much_ cheaper. The reason they charge so much is so that they can keep the base cost down to shout about how cheap it is.
So if they had to be clearer about their charges, do you think they would give Electron-paying customers such a discount? If they had to advertise the flight at £6, what's in it for them to offer it for £1 if you pay on Electron? Maybe they'd give a £1 discount as it is cheaper for them to process than debit / credit card. Which would mean they could reduce the total price to £5.60 as they're not giving the massive discount to 10% of people.

Now, to me that sounds fair. £5.60 is a good price for a flight you want to take. £4.60 is even better if you've got an Electron card. Everyone knows where they stand.
But to people who know how to play the system (many of whom post on here) this would be a price increase of 360%. Which is why I'm not surprised at the reaction from some.

MrSmartprice

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Yes I must apologise, the words are not MSE Archna's they're mine. She posted them for me late last night as we worked on the tip.

The communication of the extras by budget airlines is inappropriate and must be changed. Its interesting to read the reaction here - and makes me smile to an extent. We've had similar "berating" posts for calling Ryanair £1 flights a pound before (even though we always explained there are extras) - now its the opposite.

I make no apology for calling for payment and checking in to be inclusive costs. I note that the earlier posters - obviously experienced board regulars are those saying "no problem". Yet read down some of the comments - clearly others do find it difficult. The "jump all the hurdles" approach is wrong.

The airlines deliberate use of the electron card to claim paying is free is a farce. Of course there are ways round it - and indeed that's what the entire new guide that prompted this note is about. Remember this comes from the weekly email it isn't a standalone, and the main point is encouraging people to beat the charges.

Yet the point is plain (or plane), if you book a flight, paying by debit card, and checking in online that should be in the main price advertised. Yet at different times with these airlines it isn't so.

Martin

Thanks for the reply, I take your points but cannot agree with all of them.

As a former TSO I am aware of the requirements of S20 of the Consumer Protection Act. That requires clear pricing of goods and services. This is interpreted by the courts as meaning that the goods or services are available at the advertised price. So if Ryanair advertise a flight at £1 then it must be possible to obtain it for that. Failure to make it available would constitute an offence. Easyjet changed their policy after falling foul of this, and Ryanair will need to do the same if some of their 'extras' are unavoidable. For instance, if a check-in charge cannot be avoided it should be included in the headline price. But checked baggage is not compulsory. My observation is that the majority now travel on Ryanair with their 10kg of hold baggage. So checked baggage is clearly only an option, not part of a scam to rip off the majority.

I disagree with your point on Electron cards. Many businesses are willing to charge extra for credit card payment. Entertainment tickets, for instance, often charge card fees (and booking fees, which I hate) which you cannot avoid. I would contend that they are in breach of S20! The fact that many people use Electron to pay for flights is no reason to change the rules. Anyone can get an Electron card, after all.

Let me put it this way. In the past year or so, paying for flights on my Abbey Electron card has saved me in excess of £150, compared to what I would have paid on a credit, or even debit, card. That to me is true Moneysaving, and is what the site is about. Surely on this issue the approach should be to encourage Electron card payment on that basis.

I think people have to choose their battles carefully with Ryanair, and aiming for transparency over check-in costs, for instance, may be fruitful. But I recall earlier in the year when Watchdog's Nicky Campbell was made to look stupid as O'Leary ran rings round him. My preference would be for taking a S20 prosecution against him (or another airline) if there was sound evidence to pursue it. That would maybe sort out the problem once and for all. I suspect no Trading Standards Department has the funds, or the balls, to do it.

What do you think.....?