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Ryanair charged for flight in sterling

I've just booked a one-way flight from Ireland to the UK, with both the credit card and user registered/resident in Ireland. Ryanair have charged in sterling rather than euro which makes the flight about €10 more than it should be. Has this happened to anyone before?

The return flight was booked from a different UK airport which I expected to pay in sterling and the credit card provider convert in to euro but I note Ryanair have done the conversion at an none preferential rate. Can they do this?

What is the best way to rectify the above-mentioned?
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Comments

  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 21,686 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Chutzpah Haggler
    Assuming you weren't told about the currency conversion on the website when you booked the flight, you are within your rights to demand a chargeback. But probably best take the flight first otherwise they'll probably cancel it!

    So when you get back, phone your bank and say "I agreed to pay xxx Euros, but they charged me yyy pounds" or whatever. They might just chargeback the difference, or the whole amount and put RyanAir to the hassle of recharging the amount you agreed to pay in the correct currency.

    That's what I'd do. Not sure if it'd work - it should do as they charged you a different amount to what you agreed to pay.
  • Debbie_A_3
    Debbie_A_3 Posts: 146 Forumite
    Yes, same thing happenned to me a while back. When you typed in your credit/debit card number, Ryanair's system spotted that it was a UK card. At that point the GBP equivalent (using Ryanair's exchange rate) appeared next to the EUR figure on screen. You probably didn't notice it because it is in something like 2-point text whilst the EUR figure remains in 16-point (I am exagerating here, but only slightly). There is also a tiny hyperlink to click on. Doesn't look like a hyperlink unless you choose to hover the cursor over it. Anyhow, if you click on that you can then tell Ryanair that you really do want to pay in Euro.

    Try going through the booking procedure again and you will see what I mean.

    I was really annoyed at the time but I decided to put it down to experience.

    Debbie
  • Bob_the_Saver
    Bob_the_Saver Posts: 5,610 Forumite
    Yorky1 wrote: »
    I've just booked a one-way flight from Ireland to the UK, with both the credit card and user registered/resident in Ireland. Ryanair have charged in sterling rather than euro which makes the flight about €10 more than it should be. Has this happened to anyone before?

    The return flight was booked from a different UK airport which I expected to pay in sterling and the credit card provider convert in to euro but I note Ryanair have done the conversion at an none preferential rate. Can they do this?

    What is the best way to rectify the above-mentioned?
    progress.gif

    Even with a duff conversion rate if it cost you €10 more the flight must have been VERY expensive!
  • SaveTheEuro
    SaveTheEuro Posts: 994 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    zagfles wrote: »
    Assuming you weren't told about the currency conversion on the website when you booked the flight, you are within your rights to demand a chargeback. But probably best take the flight first otherwise they'll probably cancel it!

    So when you get back, phone your bank and say "I agreed to pay xxx Euros, but they charged me yyy pounds" or whatever. They might just chargeback the difference, or the whole amount and put RyanAir to the hassle of recharging the amount you agreed to pay in the correct currency.

    That's what I'd do. Not sure if it'd work - it should do as they charged you a different amount to what you agreed to pay.

    A few years back Ryanair charged me in sterling for a fare quoted in euros. I complained to my bank who immediately refunded the entire sum until the dispute was settled. I don't think Ryanair wanted to waste time and energy communicating with my bank. In the end I travelled free.

    So, my advice is to complain to the bank or financial institution that issued your debit/credit/mastercard pre pay card.
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 21,686 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Chutzpah Haggler
    A few years back Ryanair charged me in sterling for a fare quoted in euros. I complained to my bank who immediately refunded the entire sum until the dispute was settled. I don't think Ryanair wanted to waste time and energy communicating with my bank. In the end I travelled free.

    So, my advice is to complain to the bank or financial institution that issued your debit/credit/mastercard pre pay card.

    Excellent - hopefully if people start doing this whenever DCC is imposed on them without consent, the merchants that do it will soon realise the the small commission they get simply isn't worth the hassle.
  • Yorky1
    Yorky1 Posts: 111 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks for the replies. What's DCC?
  • Debbie_A_3
    Debbie_A_3 Posts: 146 Forumite
    Yorky1 wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies. What's DCC?

    Hi Yorky: it's Dynamic Currency Coversion
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_currency_conversion

    Debbie
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