Ryanair UNconfirmed booking - not seen one of those in all of ten years - Watch Out!

peterbaker

Last night I had some trouble with booking a flight online - attempting to pay with Prepaid Mastercard, of course!

I am used to receiving the occasional error message that says there has been an error before the payment processing routine completes - it's usually easy to reconcile without calling anyone - you can read about it in many threads here on MSE - either

(a) You simply wait to see if the Itinerary email turns up - if it does, you know you are ok, or
(b) You login to the "Manage My Booking" section of the website using Option 3 using your email address, date of flight and route details and if it shows in there with a booking reference, it's ok ... right?

WRONG!

(a) I think is correct, but if you check (b) then do not rest with a booking reference - you need to check that it is CONFIRMED and that no money is owed.

How did this happen? Well, as I said, I am used to occasionally seeing an error message suggesting that I check as above because the booking may have succeeded, but the error message I got last night was different - it told me that the booking was unsuccessful and that I should try again - it even offered a button to "Try again".

So I did, twice actually.

The third attempt succeeded.

But I now have two booking references - one paid and "confirmed" and itinerary emailed and one not.

I've never seen this before, and as a seasoned Ryanair traveller I am not particularly worried about it but clearly it could easily wrongfoot a Ryanair newbie who might not notice that their flight booking reference was unpaid and unconfirmed until too late - first I am not sure how an unpaid booking would be paid once discovered, and second, if the customer has gone ahead and hit "Try Again" and secured and paid for a new booking, will Ryanair desist from chasing payment for the unconfirmed booking?

With tongue firmly in cheek, have I discovered the latest new ruse from Ryanair? Be careful or you may be forced to pay twice??

Whilst typing this, I have had a look under "Manage My Booking" and whilst 'clicking around' in there (as you do, in case you miss something ) this new error message has appeared:

A duplicate booking has been detected.
Please check your Email, if we are holding a reservation for you, an Email confirmation will be sent to you shortly.
If you need to make an additional booking for the same flight, with the same Passenger Name using the same credit card details please wait 60 minutes or use an alternative form of payment.
Do NOT rebook, duplicate reservations are non refundable.

Hmm ... that last line is very typical of Ryanair ... I have a feeling I need to fix something - anyone seen this before? Can I ignore the unpaid unconfirmed booking?

cactusdust

peterbaker wrote: »

Last night I had some trouble with booking a flight online - attempting to pay with Prepaid Mastercard, of course!

I am used to receiving the occasional error message that says there has been an error before the payment processing routine completes - it's usually easy to reconcile without calling anyone - you can read about it in many threads here on MSE - either

(a) You simply wait to see if the Itinerary email turns up - if it does, you know you are ok, or
(b) You login to the "Manage My Booking" section of the website using Option 3 using your email address, date of flight and route details and if it shows in there with a booking reference, it's ok ... right?

WRONG!

(a) I think is correct, but if you check (b) then do not rest with a booking reference - you need to check that it is CONFIRMED and that no money is owed.

How did this happen? Well, as I said, I am used to occasionally seeing an error message suggesting that I check as above because the booking may have succeeded, but the error message I got last night was different - it told me that the booking was unsuccessful and that I should try again - it even offered a button to "Try again".

So I did, twice actually.

The third attempt succeeded.

But I now have two booking references - one paid and "confirmed" and itinerary emailed and one not.

I've never seen this before, and as a seasoned Ryanair traveller I am not particularly worried about it but clearly it could easily wrongfoot a Ryanair newbie who might not notice that their flight booking reference was unpaid and unconfirmed until too late - first I am not sure how an unpaid booking would be paid once discovered, and second, if the customer has gone ahead and hit "Try Again" and secured and paid for a new booking, will Ryanair desist from chasing payment for the unconfirmed booking?

With tongue firmly in cheek, have I discovered the latest new ruse from Ryanair? Be careful or you may be forced to pay twice??

Whilst typing this, I have had a look under "Manage My Booking" and whilst 'clicking around' in there (as you do, in case you miss something ) this new error message has appeared:

A duplicate booking has been detected.
Please check your Email, if we are holding a reservation for you, an Email confirmation will be sent to you shortly.
If you need to make an additional booking for the same flight, with the same Passenger Name using the same credit card details please wait 60 minutes or use an alternative form of payment.
Do NOT rebook, duplicate reservations are non refundable.

Hmm ... that last line is very typical of Ryanair ... I have a feeling I need to fix something - anyone seen this before? Can I ignore the unpaid unconfirmed booking?

The message at the bottom clearly states the issue and what has happened.

And, in all fairness, I'm pretty sure most airlines wouldn't refund a duplicate booking.. so no need to particularly dog Ryanair.

Not seeing the point in your topic really.. Ryanair could of easily been rung and this topic settled without having to post here.

Louisdf

cactusdust wrote: »

The message at the bottom clearly states the issue and what has happened.

And, in all fairness, I'm pretty sure most airlines wouldn't refund a duplicate booking.. so no need to particularly dog Ryanair.

Not seeing the point in your topic really.. Ryanair could of easily been rung and this topic settled without having to post here.

Not in my case with easyjet two years ago. I tried to book a flight to Germany, but I got a cannot find server error, and didn't get an e-mail so it looked as if the booking failed. So I made a booking again, which went through as booking confirmed. However, I then recieved 2 e-mails with two different reference numbers. So I phoned up the call centre, and the woman agreed that the first booking was made in error and refunded me immediately.

StuieUK34

Yes, there is a need to dog ryanair, always is! I fly with them a few times per year, but always carry a pound in my pocket...
Why ?
Cos if the plane lands in water, there most likely gonna charge for life jackets!!
A costly phonecall to there customer services should see you straight..

dmg24

StuieUK34 wrote: »

Yes, there is a need to dog ryanair, always is! I fly with them a few times per year, but always carry a pound in my pocket...
Why ?
Cos if the plane lands in water, there most likely gonna charge for life jackets!!
A costly phonecall to there customer services should see you straight..

So you have never had a problem with you, you choose to use them, yet you are criticising them because ...

peterbaker

The message at the bottom clearly states the issue and what has happened.

And, in all fairness, I'm pretty sure most airlines wouldn't refund a duplicate booking.. so no need to particularly dog Ryanair.

Not seeing the point in your topic really.. Ryanair could of easily been rung and this topic settled without having to post here.

Oh well, clearly I was unclear about the point I was making which is this:

I have in the past lauded Ryanair's website and booking system generally as "bombproof" in terms of its robustness and reliability - I have very recently discovered it isn't.

I am one of THE most experienced Ryanair bookers you will find here on MSE, so I thought that Ryanair newbies might benefit from a heads up on one of Ryanair's flakey bits.

I made no mistake. I have lost no money, nor do I intend on losing any by calling Ryanair at my own cost to tell them their current booking system has a technical glitch or two. I do however have evidence that indicates that a newbie could end up with a booking reference and then find that it was useless in the final hours before their flight.

The Ryanair website message I quoted at the bottom of my original post DID NOT "clearly states the issue and what has happened." We (that's you and me) have no idea what happened because I have yet to hear of anyone who has ever before ended up with a Ryanair booking reference which is an UNCONFIRMED Ryanair booking reference and upon which not a bean has been paid to Ryanair.

Have you?

StuieUK34

DMG24 - You really need to lighten up a little! I know not everyone has a sense of humour and all
Ryanair get you from A to B at a cheap price sometimes, but they still suck for the rest of it... overall, a great business model, but they do mess up
and peterbakers post is proof of that
hope u get it sorted dude

ask66

cactusdust wrote: »

The message at the bottom clearly states the issue and what has happened.

And, in all fairness, I'm pretty sure most airlines wouldn't refund a duplicate booking.. so no need to particularly dog Ryanair.

Not seeing the point in your topic really.. Ryanair could of easily been rung and this topic settled without having to post here.

As an occasional Ryanair customer, I appreciate hearing about other customers' experiences with the company, and I thank peterbaker for bothering to share his experience with a wider audience. Surely that is the whole point of these forums? It was the reason I visited them today! cactusdust, with respect, who are you to decide which posts are useful and which are not (and have you ever tried telephoning Ryanair? Last time I did, it was anything but "easy"...)

peterbaker

Glad that some people appreciated hearing about this ... you might also be interested in reading the final twists in the tale here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2765778