Ryanair name change fees

toshwriter

Hi guys,

I recently went to Ireland with my girlfriend; she is Taiwanese and like many Asians has adopted a western name which she generally uses in the UK. On her passport, however, is her name in Mandarin... and you can probably work out where this is going.

We turned up at the airport and discovered the mistake. We had a chat with a Ryanair employee, who was extremely rude, and demanded to know exactly how this mistake had been made (presumably he was unfamiliar with the meaning of the word 'mistake'). All the evidence backed us up; my girlfriend's family name was correct on the ticket, and it was clear that we just wanted to change it to the Mandarin name - we were not trying to change who was taking the flight.

The guy then charged us £150, telling us that the alternative was to pay £300 for a new ticket and that he was 'doing us a favour'. I am aware that Ryanair does this sort of behaviour regularly, but I was wondering if it is actually legal?

Weren't bank charges supposed to be illegal, regardless of what detailed paperwork the bank sent you, because they amounted to fining you far more than it actually cost them? In this case I do not believe that it can have cost Ryanair anywhere near £150 and it is clear that they are just using this to make a profit. It's not like the mistake somehow renders the seat on the flight unusable; it just needs someone to change the name on the computer system.

In this case, we'd got hire cars, trains and hotels all booked and paid for, so Ryanair could totally exploit the situation we were in; it would have cost far more to just walk away. It seems to be immoral (at the very least) that they can do this.

I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts.

alanrowell

Ryanair are very rigorous on people who make mistakes - it's how they make their money so others can have a £5 flight.

Take your lumps and remember that Ryanair (and EVERY OTHER AIRLINE) require the name on the booking to be the name in the passport.

Caz3121

It is unfortunate but they do make it clear on the website
"All passenger names must match those in the passport/accepted travel document"

The reason the charges are so high is to make it not worth while for people to buy up the cheap tickets then sell them on for a profit - often it is cheaper to just buy the new ticket....the fact that yours was a genuine error does not really get any special treatment

Some airlines do not permit any name changes and it would have been a case of purchasing a new ticket

spiro

alanrowell wrote: »

Take your lumps and remember that Ryanair (and EVERY OTHER AIRLINE) require the name on the booking to be the name in the passport.

Agree they must always match for flights.

Caz3121 wrote: »

It is unfortunate but they do make it clear on the website
"All passenger names must match those in the passport/accepted travel document"

The reason the charges are so high is to make it not worth while for people to buy up the cheap tickets then sell them on for a profit - often it is cheaper to just buy the new ticket....the fact that yours was a genuine error does not really get any special treatment

Some airlines do not permit any name changes and it would have been a case of purchasing a new ticket

Agree, nearly all airlines charge it just the amount of the penalty that varies. I think Ryanair is a fixed amount whereas Easyjet is a fixed amount PLUS the difference in fare between when you booked and when you change the name, therefore sometimes Easyjet are cheaper and at other times they are more expensive in terms of changing names.