Ryanair - Ticket change cost £70

Steve_xx

The following extract is from The Guardian's Capital Letters section dated 21 July 2007.

Please note the advice that is given to the complainant which looks rather interesting:


Abbreviated ticket row heads for small claims Question:
I took a party of 24 children to Spain on Ryanair in March. One of them had put down an abbreviation of her name on the ticket. As this did not match her passport, she had to have the ticket changed. This cost £70, although it took less than a minute to do. I have complained to Ryanair in writing four times but no reply. Is this fair?
PH, Cambridgeshire

Answer:
Leaving aside you had no problem over Tom/Thomas and Katy/Katherine on previous flights, you did breach the contract - for which Ryanair is entitled to charge. But legal judgments say the cost of repairing such a breach should not be a profit opportunity - as banks have found out over unauthorised overdrafts fees - whatever the terms and conditions might say. Companies can charge their real costs only.
Ryanair says £70 is less than buying a new ticket. But, vitally, it admitted it is a penalty to deter travel agents from bulk booking its "free" flights and then altering the ticket name. Your remedy is to take Ryanair UK, a company based at Stansted, to the small claims court. Ryanair says it replied to your first letter with an email to the online address you gave in your booking. It remains silent on the other letters.

dmg24

Interesting response.

I can see both sides to the argument. In the case of a simple error such as an abbreviated name, £70 does seem an excessive charge. However, the £70 charge does act as a deterrent for those bulk buying tickets and selling them on.

I suppose it is a case of where do you draw the line? If you let one person make a change FOC or at a low cost, then do you let the next?

Certainly an interesting point for discussion.

notakid

I booked the free tickets for my parents but used my Dads middle name as thats what he has always been known as but his passport says different. Only realised when my Dad pointed it out the day before they flew! I rang the helpline and they said it would be okay and it was. The booking in person queried it but my parents played dumb and she let it pass.

I thought it was only surnames that were the problem not the first names! It would be interesting to hear more stories.

I've just done another booking for my parents and got their postcode wrong:rolleyes: I hope that won't be a problem.

dmg24

You'll be fine with the postcode, they don't check addresses. I regularly book flights for other people but always put my address (why don't Ryanair do Airmiles?!!).

I flew with Emirates with a bit of a dodgy name. My ticket had my first and middle names down as my first name only (no spaces - all joined together), and no one queried it.

Steve_xx

notakid wrote: »

I booked the free tickets for my parents but used my Dads middle name as thats what he has always been known as but his passport says different. Only realised when my Dad pointed it out the day before they flew! I rang the helpline and they said it would be okay and it was. The booking in person queried it but my parents played dumb and she let it pass.

I thought it was only surnames that were the problem not the first names! It would be interesting to hear more stories.

I've just done another booking for my parents and got their postcode wrong:rolleyes: I hope that won't be a problem.

Generally the name on the ticket does have to correspond with that on the passport. The incorrect postcode will not cause you any problem.

Dylanwing

I once made a small spelling error with Easyjet, and on the same ticket, put my wife as Mr. No problem at check-in at all.
Tip - Book flights when sober!
From the tales I have heard, much depends on the Airline and the attitude of the check-in staff.

sparklygirl1

After four years of working in travel, I would advise just check in as normal its only when you point it out to the airline the error that they make you amend it.

sparklygirl1

Also it may seem that an airline just changes the name on the ticket but that isn't the case, the ticket has to be cancelled and then rebooked with correct name. It is annoying as I have been through this many times.

Steve_xx

sparklygirl1 wrote: »

Also it may seem that an airline just changes the name on the ticket but that isn't the case, the ticket has to be cancelled and then rebooked with correct name. It is annoying as I have been through this many times.

Annoying it may well be. But £70 per ticket is a lot to pay for you to be annoyed every now and again.

budgetflyer

I think there is a case for "minor" name changes (mistakes etc) at a more reasonable charge however the £70 does stop the touts who would definately snap up all the penny bargains en mass.

The problem is, if someone takes an airline to court over these charges, the likely outcome will be a change in t&cs where there will be NO CHANGES ALLOWED. Get it wrong or want a change - make a new booking

basill

On Sunday night my wife bought two return tickets for a girly weekend in Dublin, online at Ryanair. Just after the booking went through her friend texted her full name details, it turned out she uses her middle name not first name day to day. This meant the tickets would not match her passport.

having read the website change details we thought this would result in a £70 alteration charge.
Fortunately, when she rang on monday 0900 the helpdesk were very helpful and as the person travelling was the same they altered the booking for just £7.

Much better than I was expecting from Ryanair, maybe there have been changes?

B