Ryanair flights cheaper when booked through Skyscanner...

Tunstallstoven

Hi all

I am booking some flights for the summer, as I'm going to a festival I've been to for the last 5 years. Every other year I've just gone direct to the airline's website and booked there (it's always been either Ryanair or Easyjet). This year I thought I would just try Skyscanner on the off chance. It turns out that the exact same flight is £10 or so cheaper per person.

Is this normal?

I just want to make sure I haven't missed anything. I always get a bit nervous when booking flights!

Cheers

PS - and if it is normal, this thread may help others save money if booking flights

leylandsunaddict

All the flights I've looked at have been exactly the same price once you click through to RYR website. How can they be different when you've still got to select the flights once you're transferred on to RYR site? Ryanair have to pay to advertise on Skyscanner so they're hardly likely to give any special discount to people who click through.

Which flight is it?

Voyager2002

No: it cannot possibly be cheaper.

Skyscanner might be showing you a cheaper flight at a different time/day than the one you had seen previously. Or it might be showing you the price advertised by a travel agent (eDreams?): a price that may not be up-to-date; that perhaps leaves out some mandatory fees; or perhaps is the sterling equivalent of a fare in Euro that will turn out not to be available to you. In any case: do by all means use Sky-Scanner to identify the flight that offers you the best value-for-money, but then book it on the Ryanair / Easyjet website.

bertiewhite

I know Easyjet flights appeared to be cheaper through a 3rd party website when I booked earlier in the year but then it was apparant that the 3rd party prices were "FROM £...." and when I actually booked, the extras were added on such as choose a seat, hold baggage etc.

Tunstallstoven

Hi

Thanks for the responses. I think it might have been a case of strange timing and "crossed wires". I checked the flight this morning and it was £54.99. Then I used the comparison sites more or less straight away afterwards and it came in at £45.99. Hence why I thought the difference...

I've just now checked again directly on Ryanair and the flight is £45.99. So I would imagine that in the few minutes before my first check this morning and using the comparison sites, they dropped the price. I just presumed it was cheaper, and should have checked on Ryanair first before posting here. Sorry about that. I thought perhaps I'd been missing a trick all these years and felt that same pleasing feeling I got the first time I discovered cashback sites. Wrong o this occasion though.

Thanks and apologies once more.

eDicky

Seagull27 wrote: »

Thanks and apologies once more.

No need to apologise, people go ahead and book Ryanair through third party OTAs all the time, because it looks cheaper, then come on here to ask advice about the various problems they are stuck with. At least you asked first...

It could be that the Skyscanner price you saw was from an earlier moment, before it rose to the one you saw on Ryanair, then it dropped back later. Or some other timing or IT event. In any case, Ryanair in particular should always be booked on their own website (unless perhaps it's part of some reliable holiday company deal).

Westin

One favoured trick that some of the more doubious online 3rd party sites use is to show a lower price but that price is only available if you pay using an obscure credit card that few people have. That is the price that gets displayed through the booking flow until the last section when you add payment details. If you then change to (for example) a Visa credit card or Visa Debit card, the price is recalculated and jumps up.

Ryanair flights lowest price will be on their own website.