Ryanair have ripped me off!!!

shrimp47

Yesterday I tried to book flights from Murcia to Stanstead at a cost of £351 for 2 people. When it came to paying it wouldnt let me and when I returned to the site the return flight had increased! Worrying that they would increase further I paid £459. I have been on today and the flights have reverted to the original cost of £351, so there were obviously seats still availble! I called customer service and they said they could help and could not issue a refund for the difference and that I should use the contact page if I wanted to made a complaint (which wont allow me to type anything on, only use drop down boxes) or write to head office. Am I right in thinking I'm fighting a losing battle or is it worth writing as by the time they get my correspondence the fare will have probably gone back up!

Bob_the_Saver

shrimp47 wrote: »

Yesterday I tried to book flights from Murcia to Stanstead at a cost of £351 for 2 people. When it came to paying it wouldnt let me and when I returned to the site the return flight had increased! Worrying that they would increase further I paid £459. I have been on today and the flights have reverted to the original cost of £351, so there were obviously seats still availble! I called customer service and they said they could help and could not issue a refund for the difference and that I should use the contact page if I wanted to made a complaint (which wont allow me to type anything on, only use drop down boxes) or write to head office. Am I right in thinking I'm fighting a losing battle or is it worth writing as by the time they get my correspondence the fare will have probably gone back up!

The more bookings/interest in a flight the more the price goes up.
You paid the price they offered so the deal's done, just enjoy your trip.
They have not ripped you off, you were offered a price and you paid it.
Things also go up and down in Tesco, that's the way it is, accept the price or wait in the hope of a lower price or go elsewhere.
I'm watching flights to the UK now but won't book until they're £15.99 all-in or less but I don't put in the date I'm looking for (just random dates that week and then view the prices on the flights I want).

Don't know what dates you were looking at but this price is for August 9th
that's less than £40 per person IN AUGUST inc Taxes & charges if you have the right plastic. No sign of a rip-off there.

Murcia 22:15
Arrive
London-Stansted 23:55
1 x Adult 40.74 EUR

Fare: 40.74 EUR
EU 261 Levy: 2.00 EUR
Web Check in: 6.00 EUR
ETS Levy: 0.25 EUR
Taxes/Fees: 0.00 EUR
Total Price: 48.99 EUR

jpsartre

Prices go up and down all the time with Ryanair. I fail to see what the rip-off consists in.

zzxxcc1122

hardly ripped off. i go into morrisons one day buy food next days its half price. they cahnge constantly.

NFH

When searching for flight prices on Ryanair, always enter the dates either side of your required travel dates. You will still see the prices of the dates you want as it shows all dates in the same week. Ryanair's algorithm will take account of every search for a specific date when deciding whether to increase the fare. Therefore avoid repeatedly searching for the specific date you want. All clear your cookies between each visit to Ryanair's web site.

Although this problem is not specifically covered, read this:

Ryanair’s Business Model 2011
A peek into the airline’s recipe for success

jpsartre

NFH wrote: »

Ryanair's algorithm will take account of every search for a specific date when deciding whether to increase the fare.

An urban legend. Wouldn't make sense anyway, much better to base price on fares sold.

Mr_Wang

jpsartre wrote: »

An urban legend. Wouldn't make sense anyway, much better to base price on fares sold.

Actually true - And proven.

Amazon does it too.

Called Dynamic Pricing iirc.

jpsartre

Proven where?

Amazon did it and have since apologized. Dynanic pricing does not necessarily mean basing prices on web searches. No doubt airlines use dynamic pricing but doing it based on seats sold is undoubtedly more effective.

Bob_the_Saver

jpsartre wrote: »

Proven where?

Amazon did it and have since apologized. Dynanic pricing does not necessarily mean basing prices on web searches. No doubt airlines use dynamic pricing but doing it based on seats sold is undoubtedly more effective.

Have done this myself with repeated searches in the past to prove the case.

jpsartre

Proven how? I'll bet you I can go to any Ryanair flight and look at it 50 times right now and the price won't change. And why would it? The fact that certain flights get many searches may as well mean that the price is too high and that people are waiting for it to come down. That's why seats actually sold is a superior indicator of actual interest.

Bob_the_Saver

jpsartre wrote: »

Proven how? I'll bet you I can go to any Ryanair flight and look at it 50 times right now and the price won't change. And why would it? The fact that certain flights get many searches may as well mean that the price is too high and that people are waiting for it to come down. That's why seats actually sold is a superior indicator of actual interest.

Just done it again now,

Rodez - Stansted 12th Sept was showing 21.99 Euro now showing
28.99 Euro ON MY COMPUTER

Maybe they had a rush of bookings in the last 5 mins.

Update, another 5 mins later a few more searches now showing 36.99 euro ON MY COMPUTER, how much do you see for this flight out of interest?
I suspect I'll see 21.99 euro again by morning.