Ryanair to start charging a fee for payments using cash passport

NotSoFast_2

Got the email today and a bit miffed. What gets me the most is that should I now wish to cancel the card I would supposedly have to pay their cash out fee?

The card's inactivity fee kicks in after 6 months of not being used (£2.50) or 50p for the privilege of buying something in the UK - so basically the main point of the having the card has now gone.

Does anyone know if the cash out fee can be avoided as I guess everyone bought it to avoid the Ryanair admin fees?

Louisdf

It will still be useful for saving £6 on flights from other countries to the UK ie. Rome to Manchester, Dublin to Stansted etc.


There are flights at the moment from Liverpool to Warsaw (Modlin-45 minutes away) for £2, when paying by cash passport and taking hand luggage only. I doubt it will be possible to pay that much after December though.

prowla

I_like_saving_money wrote: »

It looks like they have interpreted the rules as charging everyone £6 for booking a flight, but unless they advertise the flight as including the charge, then surely this is a breach of the regulations as it's still an extra charge for something not included in the advertised price.

It looks like i'll be tearing up my card. Do I have to use up the credit or can I transfer it back to my bank account?

If they sell the product and they charge a £6 fee for their product, then that is simply part of the price, not an add-on.

Therefore the £14.99 flights that are now £20.99 have just had a 35% price hike.

MarkBargain

Louisdf wrote: »

It will still be useful for saving £6 on flights from other countries to the UK ie. Rome to Manchester, Dublin to Stansted etc.

Are you sure that's right? If so, everyone could simply book their outward and return journeys separately and avoid the fee on their return leg.

Ryanair only allowed discounts with previous cards for a short period of time as when enough people got the Visa Electron and subsequently the Mastercard Prepay cards they stopped letting those cards escape the charge. So, one could argue the ruling is quite convenient for Ryanair, especially as they will make money on all the charges to use / get money back on the Cash Passports.

Chaykin

oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/consumer-enforcement/consumer-enforcement-completed/card-surcharges/
oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consumer-enforcement/surcharges/Ryanair-undertakings.pdf

callum9999

MarkBargain wrote: »

The OFT are right to prevent companies charging higher prices to customers who do not possess the card that is flavour of the money with an airline (remember to avoid the charge we previously needed a Visa Electron with Ryanair, then it changed to Mastercard Prepay, then it changed to Ryanair Cash passport...).

My bigger question though is why the £6 'admin fee' is legal at all. Surely it should just be incorporated into the ticket prices that are advertised at the beginning of the process?!

Why on earth shouldn't it be legal? If you don't like it then go elsewhere...

I'm personally sick to death of things like this being removed because the ignorant masses need their hand holding all the time... As soon as you get an initial quotation you're told that there is a £6 admin fee. Or you could just use your initiative (do people not still have that anymore?) and click the "fees" button at the top of the page to see what fees there are before you go through the stressful process of getting a quote that takes all of 3 minutes...

callum9999

MarkBargain wrote: »

Are you sure that's right? If so, everyone could simply book their outward and return journeys separately and avoid the fee on their return leg.

Ryanair only allowed discounts with previous cards for a short period of time as when enough people got the Visa Electron and subsequently the Mastercard Prepay cards they stopped letting those cards escape the charge. So, one could argue the ruling is quite convenient for Ryanair, especially as they will make money on all the charges to use / get money back on the Cash Passports.

Short period of time? I think you'll find the Visa Electron discount went on for years, the pre-paid Mastercard went on for at least a year (pretty sure it was at least 2) and the Cash Passport is only being stopped because of government interference...

And they probably would have made even more money if they'd been allowed to keep offering the discount on the Cash Passport. Now no-one in their right mind is going to buy one.

headpin

callum9999 wrote: »

Why on earth shouldn't it be legal? If you don't like it then ...

My understanding is that if any part of a charge is unavoidable by all, then it must be incorporated in the advertised price. Ryanair have been very cute in using what to all intents and purposes are loop holes. It's not really a case of moaners spoiling it, but Ryanair continuing to take the pi5! What have they got against just advertising the cost of the flight in full, rather than in odds and 5ods that bear little semblance to their large headline prices?

jayok

headpin wrote: »

Ryanair have been very cute in using what to all intents and purposes are loop holes. It's not really a case of moaners spoiling it, but Ryanair continuing to take the pi5!

Actually, I found it quite easy to arrange my affairs such that I avoided the charge. Quite clearly, other people cannot therefore they whinge. That whinging has led to the OFT investigation.

callum9999

headpin wrote: »

My understanding is that if any part of a charge is unavoidable by all, then it must be incorporated in the advertised price. Ryanair have been very cute in using what to all intents and purposes are loop holes. It's not really a case of moaners spoiling it, but Ryanair continuing to take the pi5! What have they got against just advertising the cost of the flight in full, rather than in odds and 5ods that bear little semblance to their large headline prices?

The charge has always been avoidable for all - there is no screening process to get a Cash Passport. As long as they are satisfied you are who you say you are, you can get one. And I'm not sure that's specifically right anyway, because Easyjet advertise their fares excluding a fee that I have absolutely zero option of avoiding as a solo traveller.

To fool idiots? Though Ryanair rarely advertise - the only reliable indication you can get for what a Ryanair flight will cost you is when you input the dates and places and get a quote - at which point it specifically tells you that there is a possible £6 admin fee.

And, as I said before, those who didn't know the fees could use common sense and read the list before they decide to book - if finding them out 5 minutes into the booking process is that big a deal to them.