Avoid Ryanair currency exchange

dr_bluestone

I just booked a Ryanair flight from mainland Europe and got the usual 'guaranteed rate' message. It looks like the option to untick the box and opt out of their conversation rates has now been removed. Their Terms and conditions now say..

If anyone knows of a way around this please update the thread.

NoodleDoodleMan

Certain UK credit cards have no commission fee for goods and purchases made in € - Halifax Clarity and Nationwide and others.

We have Santander Zero, unfortunately no longer available to new applicants.

fifeken

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81938793#Comment_81938793

It's still there although you have to open up this box using the arrow in the top right. It probably won't appear until you enter your card number.

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fifeken

Certain UK credit cards have no commission fee for goods and purchases made in € - Halifax Clarity and Nationwide and others.

The poster would still get the Ryanair exchange rate which is what he's trying to avoid.

highlander58

It’s the same currency conversion scam with all the airlines. Treat flights from abroad the same as any foreign purchase: pay in local currency.
So if you book return flight with a different airline, it’ll be priced in departure currency. Don’t let them convert it to your currency - their rates are atrocious.

Above all - BEWARE flight comparison tools like Skyscanner, where split-airline return flights are displayed in sterling. Skyscanner will happily display both flights in £s - but you’ll never get that return price, if you actually pay for both flights in £s. Skyscanner use a competitive exchange rate (XE) to convert & display the return flight in £s, but the return airline will apply their own poor exchange rate instead.
On a simple Stansted - Malaga return flight, (Ryanair out, Jet2 return) i found the Jet2 flight price was £20 more if paid in £s.

NoodleDoodleMan

"Certain UK credit cards have no commission fee for goods and purchases made in € - Halifax Clarity and Nationwide and others.

The poster would still get the Ryanair exchange rate which is what he's trying to avoid."

Is the Euro not Ryanair's default payment option - therefore if the customer opts to settle in € using a credit card that authorises his/her bank to calculate the exchange rate, is that not a better deal than allowing Ryanair to do so ?

Using a "user friendly" credit card (like my Santander Zero) would give the better £ amount on the bottom line ?