Airport Extortion

hammy_the_hammer

ynot2005 wrote: »

it does seem harsh , there is no doubt about that, but 50 or so travellers on that flight either ignored ryanairs request for API or just failed to book their flight correctly, and they paid the price with the harshest sentance ryanair could have imposed, i have sympathy for those who were stitched up but on the other hand why should ryanair let dozens and dozens of spanish bound passengers ignore the rules probably on a daily basis on every flight.

i wonder what happened to those web check n go people with ryanairs glitch in the system 01/01/200 IRELAND printed incorecctly on the boarding card ?

i don't really have a problem with them cancelling someones flight for not abiding by the terms and conditions as in this case.
the point being that they were quite happy for them to fly on the same flight as long as they gave them loads of money.

Zebra

I don't understand what information Ryanair are claiming that they need to know that hasn't already been supplied to them when making the booking.

ynot2005

API requires your date of birth, where you passort was issued, and its expiry date

they wouldnt have been allowed on the flight hammy if they still didnt give them the API information, loads of money would have made no difference

i suspect the motive was to get as much publicity as possible especially locally so that future travellers know the score

it was a nasty trick by ryanair thats for sure

hammy_the_hammer

ynot2005 wrote: »

API requires your date of birth, where you passort was issued, and its expiry date

they wouldnt have been allowed on the flight hammy if they still didnt give them the API information, loads of money would have made no difference

i suspect the motive was to get as much publicity as possible especially locally so that future travellers know the score

it was a nasty trick by ryanair thats for sure

ynot my point is that the passenger still couldn't have provided the API info to meet the time requirements of ryanairs T&C's....and if they could they could have more easily added it to the original booking.
i'm surprised they didn't sell a new ticket and then tell the passenger they were out of time for the API again
that's probably next weeks money making idea

hammy_the_hammer

Zebra wrote: »

I don't understand what information Ryanair are claiming that they need to know that hasn't already been supplied to them when making the booking.

the API info required is.. document type ...id card or passport
document number
date of birth
nationality

and that's it

Overthetop

Iam flying with XL airways and this is what they advise re travel to Spain or the canaries.

"
Dear Customer
Please be aware that from the 13th of June 2007, Spanish Authorities require Advanced Passenger Information (API) for flights originating from Non-Schengen countries destined for Spanish controlled airports. All passengers departing from UK & Ireland will therefore have to supply this information.
The new security measures make it compulsory to provide the following personal information for the purposes of ensuring aviation safety and security:
Full given name
Nationality
Date of birth
Passport number

In order to comply with the requirements, airlines will be required to collect this information from every visitor travelling to Spain. Visitors that refuse to submit this information on or after the 13th of June 2007 will be barred from flights.
Effective from Wednesday 13th June 2007, our handling agents will collect the data by swiping passenger passports through a reader on the check-in agents keyboard."

symonds

Ryanairs mistake is that they were willing to allow people to pay a punitive amount for them to board what was the last flight of the day to Spain.

It strikes me as the sort of thing companies start doing when the black holes in their accounts doesn't look like being filled by a percentage of the turnover. Are we seeing the first desperate attempts to squeeze cash from their business model before they go to the wall?

Forgive me for trying to rationalise such mystifying consumer abuse!

exel1966

symonds wrote: »

Are we seeing the first desperate attempts to squeeze cash from their business model before they go to the wall?
quote]

NO, absolutely no chance ! Ryanair are one of the most profitable airlines in the world and will continue to be for the forseeable future. There'd be more chance of the mis-managed BA going to the wall than Ryanair !

I think we all agree with you 100% about the charges being excessive/extortionate etc, but you can't keep using phrases such as "missing the small print" or "Ryanair appear to make it as easy as possible to fail to enter these details" when that is clearly not the case.

In your shoes I would also be damn annoyed, but moreso with myself rather than Ryanair by chosing to put myself in that position and ignoring their requests.

LesD

[quote=exel1966;10384597

In your shoes I would also be damn annoyed, but moreso with myself rather than Ryanair by chosing to put myself in that position and ignoring their requests.[/quote]

Yep, quite agree. That's how I felt some years ago when they charged me for the extra 5kg on our 20kg baggage!

Always double check T&Cs now!

hammy_the_hammer

LesD wrote: »

Yep, quite agree. That's how I felt some years ago when they charged me for the extra 5kg on our 20kg baggage!

Always double check T&Cs now!

how would you have felt if they'd told you you couldn't fly with the excess luggage and so cancelled your ticket .....they then offer to let you buy another ticket for the same flight with a huge premium attached to it ?