Ryanair: why can't I simply surrender an unused £20 booking?

halopino

I have a Ryanair flight booked for 30 August which I now know I won't be taking. The fare was only £20, so I'm not looking for a refund and I'm quite happy to write the £20 off.

What I find strange is that there doesn't seem to be any way to simply cancel/surrender the booking so that Ryanair can make the seat available to somebody else.

If I want to transfer the booking to another passenger, Ryanair charges a name-change fee of around £115. Obviously that makes no sense for a £20 ticket.

It got me wondering about the environmental side of this. Governments and aviation regulators talk about making efficient use of aircraft capacity and avoiding unnecessarily low passenger load factors. So why isn't there a simple option along the lines of:

“I won't be travelling. I don't want a refund. Please release my booking so the capacity can be resold.”

Even if Ryanair charged a small administration fee, that seems more sensible than effectively locking the booking to me unless I pay a fee many times the value of the ticket.

I'm not suggesting Ryanair should refund me. I'm just curious whether there is a genuine commercial, regulatory or technical reason why this isn't offered.

Has anyone on MSE come across this before, or found a way of surrendering an unwanted Ryanair booking without paying the full name-change fee?

Woodstok2000

It seems obvious, but I don't think there's a way to do this.

RyanAir don't care once they've sold a seat - they don't want to pay for the hassle of implementing a whole system to manage resale. Im sure they've run the numbers based on their cancellation rates and resale predictions.

p00hsticks

I'm not familiar with the airline industry, but know that budget hotel chains will sometimes take more bookings that they can actually cater for on the basis that there will be a certain number of no-shows - perhaps budget airlines do the same ?

la531983

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82110298#Comment_82110298

Ryanair famously do not. Easyjet, however, do.

flaneurs_lobster

If Ryanair thought that there was even a teeny bit of extra revenue to be squeezed out of punters by re-issuing surrendered tickets then they, of all people, would have been doing it years ago.

Seems the spreadsheet says not.

mr_stripey

I've had the same issue but it's not possible with Ryanair. Wizz, EasyJet etc you can cancel. I had an unused flight from Basel to Stansted. It was only £15 and I wasn't looking for a refund or anything - just wanted to "tidy up" my inbox/calender by cancelling it!

My unused ticket could have been purchased by someone else, but there's no mechanism for this to happen with Ryanair

Worried_fool

This is strange.

As matters stand, so far as Ryanair are concerned you are travelling and so the APD that you have paid must be handed over to HMRC. If you surrendered your flight and it remained unsold then in effect that APD becomes Ryanair's property.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82110463#Comment_82110463

No.

APD is only payable by the airline if you actually fly, properly boarded the plane.

You can check in, check your bags, go through security and then miss the flight because you were enjoying Wetherspoons too much and the APD is not payable.

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82110677#Comment_82110677

So what happens to the APD in the cases like this one, effectively a no-show?

Ryanair can't keep tax money collected on behalf of HMRC, and don't have a mechanism for returning it to the no-shower. Is it somehow 'not APD' until your backside actually rotates into the air?

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82110686#Comment_82110686

Yes, it is not APD until your backside elevates.

The customer can claim back the APD from the airline. The airline is permitted to apply an admin fee for processing the refund. If it is not claimed by the passenger, it is increased bottom line profit for the airline.

The tax is not due unless you actually fly.

A bit like any other tax. No income tax unless you actually get income. No VAT unless you actually buy the product / service - hence why so many online services declare the "invoice date" as the date of dispatch. If the triggering event does not occur, the tax is not due.

TheShape

Quite often when I book a Ryanair flight the invoice states something like 'you do not pay government taxes'.

Their webpage (there are three seperate pages depending upon which Ryanair company you are flying with) states the info below. This suggests they are not collecting any APD on their cheapest tickets and there is perhaps nothing to refund.

In any case, their fee for a refund of governement taxes is £20

4.2 Taxes, fees & charges

4.2.1 You must pay any government taxes (including but not limited to air passenger duty) which may be included in your ticket price. Our higher ticket prices generally include government taxes, while our lower ticket prices do not. If your ticket price includes government taxes, they will be displayed in the price break-down at the time you make your booking. Please click here for more details on government taxes that may apply.

Our ticket prices do not include any other third party fees and charges for costs we incur to provide our services (such as airport and security charges, maintenance fees etc.). We bear the costs for these services.

If you do not travel, you can apply in writing for a full refund of any government taxes you have paid. However, you would need to pay the government tax refund administration fee set out in our table of fees. You must make your claim within one month after the date of the flight you did not take. We cannot refund any other monies paid.