Ryanair flight change fee waived but prices hiked

mak999

Hi all,
I want to know if anyone else has noticed this, I was supposed to fly out to Belgium this Sunday 22/03/20 via Ryan air from Manchester for a new job, however this is being delayed due to Covid-19. As most of us might already know Ryan Air have waived the fee to change your flight in March and April. So I logged into the Ryan Air web site and attempted to change the flight to later in April and noticed all flights out are coming up to £135.84, I moved further into the future and although initially the flight cost shows less as soon as I click on a date it changes to £135.84. I then tried checking the cost of these flights from another website (ie Opodo, skyscanner, expedia) and they show the cheaper low cost flight cost. This to me sounds like Ryan Air are passing on the flight change fee to the cost of the flight, which is very sneaky. I presume I am going to have to wait as close the flight out date as possible and hope it gets cancelled so I can get a refund, otherwise I will have to pay the extra to change the flights even though I still don't know when I will be flying out. Alternatively I suppose I could ring them and see what they say???

Regards
Ayaz

heatherw_01

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RedDwarf82

Not only from another website. If I search for the flights from the Ryanair main website they are £38.99 + £40.98. When searching from the flight change page those same flights are £81.99 + £81.99!

I have been waiting on the live chat "queue" (with no queue position shown anywhere) for half an hour and they close in one minute. I will try again tomorrow, but I have the screenshots ready to send them to Trading Standards.

Also, even if there is no flight change fee there is still a £30 "Change bags fee" for the 20 Kg bags that originally did cost £50.

See also https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76941490

mak999

Yes that's right I did that too by just searching for flights. Its scandalous. Also good point, I should take screenshots too.
Many thanks 

Usualsuspect_3

I've just tried to change my flights from Edinburgh to Seville from April to December and am being asked for an extra £62 despite it being cheaper to book from scratch. And I lose the priority costs as well! Insurance excess scuppers me cancelling. The only problem holding off might mean the ticket price will rise as time goes by.

Ladyday_2

Exactly the same thing. My flights originally close almost £300. The flights I want to change to cost £168 according the website (same regular fare, same baggage) however when I go to manage booking apparently I would owe £38 as a fare difference. Tried the call centre twice was hung up twice after I explained my issue. Surely this is illegal? Any ideas? 

mak999

Yes they are so difficult to contact too. If possible cancel the flights get a refund and re-book, not the best way to do it, but better than spending hours on the phone trying to get someone to deal with it.

In my case Ryan Air offered a voucher or a refund. They emailed the information and stated the refund could take time as they are very busy. I knew I had to book some flights out anyway so accepted the voucher, I have used the voucher for 7 flights so far, so it has worked out OK for me.

I'm not sure about the legalities, hopefully someone from the site admin may do