Ryanair DCC Rip-Off

Si67

Well, I finally received a response from Ryanair, kindly taking the trouble to guide me through the additional steps necessary to pay in the currency in which I’d been quoted.

Polite, but not very helpful, as it only showed me the steps that I’d already taken, as I’d explained to them in my original correspondence (that they obviously didn’t read!).

They finished of by saying that they "can’t help me any further" (why do people say “can’t” when they actually mean “won’t”?).

Not really sure what to do now. Do I take It up with FairFx, Mastercard or the OFT and risk annoying Ryanair to the extent where they cancel my flight altogether just because they can (that phrase sounds familiar!)?

The difference is less than 20 quid, so maybe I should just leave it. After all, the flights themselves have always been fine (apart from the chaotic boarding policy and resulting disorderly scramble for seats of course).

What would other people do?

peterbaker

This airline (not just Ryanair apparently) DCC scam got a full airing (again?) on BBC Radio 4's Moneybox programme over last weekend - did anyone else catch it? You might listen here to the whole six minutes worth if you missed it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xgr11/Money_Box_15_01_2011/ (jump to about 13:30 in if you want to skip the other stories). Paul Lewis says that the cost can be as much as 5% higher than without DCC. We know from MSE'ers own examples that there seem to have been cases of it being even higher! Moneybox also fail to realise that the comparison by merchants that theirs is a guaranteed rate whereas the FOREX at Mastercard's own rate for example might change for the worse over some supposedly indeterminate period after the purchase but before the the transaction is processed by Mastercard simply isn't true in the case of Prepaid Mastercards used for airline ticket purchase at least. With a typical Prepaid Mastercard (which is what Ryanair have shepherded hundreds of thousands towards using in the last 14 months) one can instantly see the GBP cost on Neteller' website for example moments after the ticket is purchased with one of their Prepaid Mastercards.

Moneybox first warned about DCC as long ago as 2006: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4932114.stm

I am flabbergasted that despite the protests being documented so well in the media that governments have permitted the practice to continue (and in Ryanair's case get progressively worse percentage-wise and currently sneaky in its clear attempts to mislead) for at least 5 years now.

And here Moneybox were again 2 years ago: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/8110793.stm

I don't think Moneybox are being critical enough given the evidence.