Ryanair's guaranteed exchange rate

MarkBargain

I went to book a flight from Poland to England for a friend and noticed that Ryanair now converts the price from zloty to pounds. They call this the "guaranteed exchange rate" and there is an option to opt out of it. I noted down the Ryanair rate (0.2273350) and opted out, instead paying in Polish zloty. I then checked my Mastercard statement (FairFX Prepaid Mastercard) and found that I had saved 5.6% by doing this. So, I did the right thing not to take Ryanair's rate. I just thought I'd pass this on for anyone else buying Ryanair flights to the UK from another country: their exchange rates are not very good.

carnesure

Hi. I just want to re-iterate what the previous poster said regarding Ryanair's guaranteed exchange rate - it is basically yet another way for them to make money as they cream off the difference between the exchange rate they get and the one they charge you. My advice is if you are paying in a different currency than the price is given, DO NOT accept their exchange rate, or at least compare it carefully with the current rates you get on your payment card.

Here is my example of flights booked on 9th February 2010:

- Total price of flights and charges €859.92. I live in Northern Ireland so am often booking flights from Dublin in Euro, but my cards are all UK Sterling

- Ryanair's guaranteed rate was 0.9361 giving a sterling equivalent of £805

- I opted out of this and paid in Euro, allowing my card company to give me their exchange rate (FairFX pre-paid MASTERCARD)

- Exchange Rate I got was 0.874

- Price I paid in Sterling £751.63 (excluding FairFX commission which is payable in any case)

- TOTAL SAVING OVER RYANAIR'S PRICE = £53.37.

Had I opted for Ryanair's guaranteed rate, they would have pocketed the difference!

MarkBargain

WARNING - I booked a flight today and noticed that Ryanair have changed the booking screens. When booking a flight starting outside the UK it now converts this to GBP for you and there is a small link to click for "more information". Only by clicking this link does the reader find out about the "guaranteed exchange rate" and have a chance to decline it. I guess most people will not notice or click the link, so will take the poor exchange rate and will be none the wiser.

gor964

Well, it's seems to me that Ryanair are masters of deception. Having just read you info on how to avoid their rip-off exchange rate I tried to book a flight from Poland to Italy (currency - Polish Zloty) and I could not see the said small print "more info" at all.
It only appeared after I input the credit card number, name and "valid to"!
And it appeared above the credit card details, so that you're most likely to miss it, and if you have no idea about this scam, there's no chance of avoiding it!
Their cheek is just breathtaking...