Budget Travel - RyanAir airport check-in fees

RyanAir charges airport check-in fees for those who don't have a EU citizen/travel document...and they stand it clear in their website. What they don't explain in detail is that if you're not a EU citizen they can not charge you for that service, and all the fees you pay for airport check-in have to be reimbursed. They menction this fact in a far away corner of their website, and if in the check-in counter you menction it, the employee will look at you wit a reprobation face and will give you the instructions to ask for the refund (I just discovered it myself last week).

The procedure is easy: You have to send by fax to their customer service department a copy of your booking confirmation, a copu of the receipt of the fees you paid and a copy of your passport. They'll reimburse the money to the CC used in booking...

I just wanted to share this, maybe it's usefull for someone!

You mean the following which is hidden in the "on line checkin" section of their "travel questions" which is accessed from their home page

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=chk&quest=whoco

But of course it's typical Ryanair who may make the process look simple, but then making it as hard as possible to actually do it

exactly!

RyanAir charges airport check-in fees for those who don't have a EU citizen/travel document...and they stand it clear in their website. What they don't explain in detail is that if you're not a EU citizen they can not charge you for that service, and all the fees you pay for airport check-in have to be reimbursed. They menction this fact in a far away corner of their website, and if in the check-in counter you menction it, the employee will look at you wit a reprobation face and will give you the instructions to ask for the refund (I just discovered it myself last week).

The procedure is easy: You have to send by fax to their customer service department a copy of your booking confirmation, a copu of the receipt of the fees you paid and a copy of your passport. They'll reimburse the money to the CC used in booking...

I just wanted to share this, maybe it's usefull for someone!

Some time ago I asked my MEP to take this up with Ryanair. Following their reply that it "is necessary for all non-EU/EEA travel documents to be verified prior to check-in to ensure that passenger meet the immigration requirements for entry to the county (sic) of destination" I wrote to my MEP again:

"I don’t understand why Ryanair makes the distinction between EU and non-EU as other airlines (BA, KL for example) allow online check in irrespective of nationality. I suspect it’s yet another nice little earner for Ryanair.
What they don’t mention is:
- the procedure for obtaining a refund of fees charged is convoluted. If you do check in with a non EU passport you have to send by fax to their customer service department a copy of your booking confirmation, a copy of the receipt of the fees you paid and a copy of your passport. Ignoring the fact that very few people have access to a fax, this seems onerous
- if a group of EU and non-EU passengers are travelling together they cannot check in online. Each must pay the airport check in fee of £UK4.75 per person per journey. Only the non-EU passenger qualifies for a refund
- this policy also extends to (amongst others) disabled people. Is this not discriminatory?"

Let's see what Ryanair say...

Honestly, are you really surprised?

It is part of Ryanairs policy to announce a flight that costs almost next to nothing and charge you for (almost) everything. This way, many of their flights are - if you include the travel costs to/from their rather remote airports - as expensive as the flights of any other carrier (e.g. BA, AF, KL, LH, ...). The whole fee structure nothing else than good hidden customer rip off - at least to the ones not knowing the facts and rules. :td::td::td:

Some time ago I asked my MEP to take this up with Ryanair. Following their reply that it "is necessary for all non-EU/EEA travel documents to be verified prior to check-in to ensure that passenger meet the immigration requirements for entry to the county (sic) of destination" I wrote to my MEP again:

"I don’t understand why Ryanair makes the distinction between EU and non-EU as other airlines (BA, KL for example) allow online check in irrespective of nationality. I suspect it’s yet another nice little earner for Ryanair.
What they don’t mention is:
- the procedure for obtaining a refund of fees charged is convoluted. If you do check in with a non EU passport you have to send by fax to their customer service department a copy of your booking confirmation, a copy of the receipt of the fees you paid and a copy of your passport. Ignoring the fact that very few people have access to a fax, this seems onerous
- if a group of EU and non-EU passengers are travelling together they cannot check in online. Each must pay the airport check in fee of £UK4.75 per person per journey. Only the non-EU passenger qualifies for a refund
- this policy also extends to (amongst others) disabled people. Is this not discriminatory?"

Let's see what Ryanair say...

While some of the above is true, I have to correct you just a little, since I book quite often for a non-EU person/disabled person. You neither need to send a copy of your booking confirmation, nor a receipt of fees, just a copy of your passport.

It is true that a mixed group of EU and non-EU passengers travelling together on the same confirmation cannot check on-line, which is already known during the booking process, or did you overlook it? It is quite obvious, since you have to check-mark the following:

Please Confirm you are an EU/EEA citizen and will present a valid EU/EEA passport or National Identity card at the airport (Driving Licence not accepted)

during the booking process.

Why not book separately? It does not cost any more, but saves the counter check-in fee for EU passengers!

Yes, the policy extends to disabled people, but, again, through the same process as I mentioned above, that fee will be returned. (no copy of passport required for disabled, just the fax, stating the required information).
Also, of course when you mention disabled passenger, I am guessing that you did register them as such..., and booked them separately from the rest of your group!

Honestly, are you really surprised?

It is part of Ryanairs policy to announce a flight that costs almost next to nothing and charge you for (almost) everything. This way, many of their flights are - if you include the travel costs to/from their rather remote airports - as expensive as the flights of any other carrier (e.g. BA, AF, KL, LH, ...). The whole fee structure nothing else than good hidden customer rip off - at least to the ones not knowing the facts and rules. :td::td::td:

I have to agree with you , but only partially. I have taken many flights with Ryanair in the past and just booked another group for €0.00 to Berlin. While that airport is approx. 20 km from the city, it is accessable with local transportation (cost €0.90 more for the day ticket for Berlin). I also have flown to Madrid, Palma, Dublin, Goteborg, Luebeck, Jerez de la Fonterra, Murcia and Valencia, Wroclaw and Danzig, which are all airports not in remote areas. So your general statement is not quite correct. There are some airports out in nowhere, but others are the main hub and used also by your example airlines BA, AF, KL, LH, ...). Also, I disagree with the fee structure being a rip off. As mentioned above I have flown to all of the above airports with Ryanair for usually €0.01, the most I paid was Luebeck for €0.12. (granted I do have a Visa Electron CC, so I save the €5.00 fee).
But I for one, much more prefer the cost structure of Ryanair, which really gives me the opportunity to travel for "nothing", all I need to do is click on the right places, which I believe is easy enough and much easier and "see-through" than the established high costs airlines which I have found add an * to their prices which adds i.e. LH *10 € Lufthansa Ticket Service Charge and/or *airport fees, which are also added at the end of the total amount of the flight and not part of their original offer/special.
I also do not understand how someone can have a problem with the Ryanair Webpage, but than I am also someone who reads the fine print on all and every contract I sign prior to giving my signature/money, which includes clicking on all "click here for information" on the Ryanair WEB page.
I would therefore disagree with your statement that Ryanair is a rip-off to all who do not know the facts and rules, but for the ones who think they know all the facts and rules, and do not check again!

But that is of course only my opinion.

I would therefore disagree with your statement that Ryanair is a rip-off to all who do not know the facts and rules, but for the ones who think they know all the fasts and rules, and do not check again!

But that is of course only my opinion.And mine. ^ Well said!

Ryanair has taken us to a number of places we wouldn't have visited otherwise, normally at 1p per sector. For those prepared to abide by the rules, which as you point out are available before purchasing, it's a no-brainer for anybody on a budget or anybody wanting to explore.

The current offer is expensive - £3.75/€3.75 :eek: per sector all in for a number of destinations and dates for those prepared to OLCI, take max 10kg hand baggage, no hold baggage, pay by Visa Electron.

There'll be another in a few days.

FR staff told me to just choose online check-in (the Mrs. is not EU/EEA citizen) and check-in will be free at the airport given you satisfy the other requirements. We rarely fly FR but it worked fine on the three occasions we did.

FR staff told me to just choose online check-in (the Mrs. is not EU/EEA citizen) and check-in will be free at the airport given you satisfy the other requirements. We rarely fly FR but it worked fine on the three occasions we did.


That has been true at some airports, but not all of them. We, for example, had to pay the fee in Hahn, Luebeck, Breslau and several others, while for example in Madrid it was not necessary. We therefore are now walking up to the check-in counter, and if they want the fee, we pay and request it back later, if not, just as well. It is a hit and miss situation, so do not count on it. I DO always though book the non-EU persons as EU persons with on-line check-in, avoiding the initial fee, I rather pay it at the airport, if necessary. And always the non-EU person(s) on a separate booking. It does not cost more, but avoids, at those airports where you do have to pay the fee, to have all of them pay, simply because there is one non-EU person in the group and you can't do on-line check-in for the others.

So rather than getting an unpleasant surprise on future Ryanair flights and joining the anti-ryanair group in this forum, I would suggest you book yourself and the Mrs on separate bookings. Just in case!

While some of the above is true, I have to correct you just a little, since I book quite often for a non-EU person/disabled person. You neither need to send a copy of your booking confirmation, nor a receipt of fees, just a copy of your passport.

It is true that a mixed group of EU and non-EU passengers travelling together on the same confirmation cannot check on-line, which is already known during the booking process, or did you overlook it? It is quite obvious, since you have to check-mark the following:

Please Confirm you are an EU/EEA citizen and will present a valid EU/EEA passport or National Identity card at the airport (Driving Licence not accepted)

during the booking process.

Why not book separately? It does not cost any more, but saves the counter check-in fee for EU passengers!

Yes, the policy extends to disabled people, but, again, through the same process as I mentioned above, that fee will be returned. (no copy of passport required for disabled, just the fax, stating the required information).
Also, of course when you mention disabled passenger, I am guessing that you did register them as such..., and booked them separately from the rest of your group!

Thanks for the extra info following my post.

The point I want to make is that Ryanair makes it unecessarily difficult. Why not, for instance, issue a voucher at the airport for a refund?

I've no problem with baggage charges, even credit card fees but - like the wheelchair tax - some people have no choice but to pay simply because of their nationality. It's an international airline, for goodness sake.

But Ryanair's philosphy is to load up the fare with extras in an attempt to keep the headline 'no surcharge' fare low - and then to hope that it's too much bother to claim it back. The proportion of Ryanair's revenues from 'ancillary charges' is 16% and they are targetting to reach 20%.

you are right ... but why be only (or so) critical of Ryanair (I am neither owner, married or in any way related to that airline, just enjoying the benefits). As I stated in an earlier post in this thread, Ryanair is not the only one with hidden or hard to find additional costs.

What I like about Ryanair - you actually can find the prices advertised, which the higher priced airlines promise, but usually do not deliver with their extra charges of fuel costs, service charges, etc.
I cannot avoid those and a €250 advertised flight in the end costs €100 more. Just check the advertisement on the right side of this thread from Alaskan Airlines. The advertised price is $94*. The * (fine print) is as follows, and I am just showing the additional costs:

Terms and Conditions: Passengers may check one bag for free. A second bag may be checked for $25. A fee of $100 will be assessed for each additional checked bag. Additional fees apply to check overweight and/or oversized items. Changes made through an Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Reservation Call Center or Airport Ticket Counter incur a $100 per person change fee plus applicable fees and any difference in fare. Changes made at alaskaair.com incur a $75 per person change fee plus applicable fees and any difference in fare. Traveler is responsible for the following taxes and fees, as applicable: Airport Passenger Facility Charges of up to $9 (amount depends on itinerary), Federal Segment Tax of $3.60 per segment (take-off and landing), U.S. Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement. All taxes and fees shown are based on one way travel and may be doubled if traveling round trip. All fares, taxes, and fees are in U.S. dollars and are subject to change without notice, and other restrictions apply.


As for a voucher - yes that would make things easier, but, you than would have people complaining that they will now have to fly Ryanair again since they have a voucher rather than cash and therefore the airline is cheating them again. Getting rid of that silly policy would certainly help, but until than, I really don't think that one (1) fax is all that much trouble. But I also have experienced with non-EU and disabled persons during the last year, at many airports the fee is no longer required. This might be exceptions to the rules, but again, it might be a change in policy. I always book everybody as on-line check-in, for disabled I than call their help desk, and both, non-EU persons and disabled go to the check-in counter for their boarding passes. Sometime they have to pay/sometimes they don't.

What I like about Ryanair - you actually can find the prices advertised, which the higher priced airlines promise, but usually do not deliver with their extra charges of fuel costs, service charges, etc.
I cannot avoid those and a €250 advertised flight in the end costs €100 more.

You're obviously way behind the times here... European airline sites are now required, by law, to show the final price right from the outset. You will NOT pay an extra 100 Euro with any airline.

In fact Ryanair was one of the last airlines to comply with the law when it was brought in. You may remember that they had to shut down their web site for a couple of days to rewrite all the cose so as to bring themselves into line with the law.

You're obviously way behind the times here... European airline sites are now required, by law, to show the final price right from the outset. You will NOT pay an extra 100 Euro with any airline.

In fact Ryanair was one of the last airlines to comply with the law when it was brought in. You may remember that they had to shut down their web site for a couple of days to rewrite all the cose so as to bring themselves into line with the law.


That is wishful thinking. Many airlines are still not in compliance with that law and the EU has warned those airlines to comply or they will shut down their WEB sites. And that is not old, but rather new. Google it and you'll find the airlines that still do not comply and argue that point and yes Ryanair is one of them, but only one of quite a few. The "compliance" you mention was last year and did not really comply with the directive given for EU standards.

To verify the above, I just went on the WEB site of an airline from the capital of Germany and guess what I found after I went for the advertised special and klicked on the flight, not one but actually two **:

** The price includes the fare, taxes and charges per person; however, the service charge is not included. For online bookings the service charges is max. 15 € per person and booking

That is wishful thinking. Many airlines are still not in compliance with that law and the EU has warned those airlines to comply or shut down their WEB sites. Google it and you'll find the airlines that still do not comply and argue that point and yes Ryanair is one of them, but only one of quite a few.

Give me some examples then!

I have booked lots of flights with lots of different airlines this past year, and not one of them has advertised anything other than the end price. If you know of airlines that are still non-compliant then why not list them instead of referring people to Google?

Give me some examples then!


Both Air Berlin and Aer Lingus sneak a compulsory 'Handling fee' onto the total price well into the booking process, after you've chosen your flights, and unlike Ryanair you can't avoid it by paying with an Electron card!

It's an additional £8 with Aer Lingus, and even more with Air Berlin.

Give me some examples then!

I have booked lots of flights with lots of different airlines this past year, and not one of them has advertised anything other than the end price. If you know of airlines that are still non-compliant then why not list them instead of referring people to Google?

If you can read German go to the following :
http://www.vzbv.de/go/presse/1111/7/59/index.html
It is from 22 Jan 2009 Here an excerpt from the article:
Tuifly hat seine Seiten inzwischen geändert, Condor will dies bis Ende Januar tun, EasyJet bis Ende März. Germanwings hat nur einige Voreinstellungen geändert. Gegen Intersky Luftfahrt, Ryanair, eDreams und Air Malta laufen die Mahnverfahren noch. Reagieren diese Unternehmen nicht, droht ihnen wie Air Berlin eine Klage

The airlines are named!!

If you can read German go to the following :
http://www.vzbv.de/go/presse/1111/7/59/index.html
It is from 22 Jan 2009 Here an excerpt from the article:

Tuifly hat seine Seiten inzwischen geändert, Condor will dies bis Ende Januar tun, EasyJet bis Ende März. Germanwings hat nur einige Voreinstellungen geändert. Gegen Intersky Luftfahrt, Ryanair, eDreams und Air Malta laufen die Mahnverfahren noch. Reagieren diese Unternehmen nicht, droht ihnen wie Air Berlin eine Klage

The airlines are named!!

For the non german readers:

Tuifly changed their web page, Condor will do so until end of January, EasyJet until end of March. Germanwings had changed a view pre-settings. The EU warning is still in place for Intersky Luftfahrt, Ryanair, eDreams and Air Malta. If they don't react, then they will be sued - such as AirBerlin.

Well the airlines have been named, but only 5 out of all EU airlines are left. And - as to be expected - Ryanair is one of them. And I personally would be very surprised if Ryanair will act before taken to court.

Well the airlines have been named, but only 5 out of all EU airlines are left. And - as to be expected - Ryanair is one of them. And I personally would be very surprised if Ryanair will act before taken to court.

Thanks for the translation!.. It is not 5 out of all EU airlines, since this article is from the German Consumer Watchdogs, only those airlines which fly in/out of Germany would be named, since they are the ones the German Consumer watchdogs will sue. The other EU airlines are of no concerns to them. A newspaper article a few weeks ago, and I can't find it right now, spoke of over 20 airlines not in compliance. In a previous post above, Air Lingus was also mentioned, an Irish Airline which does not service Germany, but does business within the EU, is i.e. not mentioned in the German article.

That has been true at some airports, but not all of them. We, for example, had to pay the fee in Hahn, Luebeck, Breslau and several others, while for example in Madrid it was not necessary. We therefore are now walking up to the check-in counter, and if they want the fee, we pay and request it back later, if not, just as well. It is a hit and miss situation, so do not count on it. I DO always though book the non-EU persons as EU persons with on-line check-in, avoiding the initial fee, I rather pay it at the airport, if necessary. And always the non-EU person(s) on a separate booking. It does not cost more, but avoids, at those airports where you do have to pay the fee, to have all of them pay, simply because there is one non-EU person in the group and you can't do on-line check-in for the others.

So rather than getting an unpleasant surprise on future Ryanair flights and joining the anti-ryanair group in this forum, I would suggest you book yourself and the Mrs on separate bookings. Just in case!


can you please comment this a bit more...
i have bought some 0.01 tickets and stated that all the passengers have EU passports (just so i can get many tickets, even if i dont know if i will use them), when in fact ALL of use carry passports of Ukraine (not EU)...
i have no problems paying the check in fee, my main concern would be that they allow me to fly if i pay this fee, and not claim that i have cheated them by stating we have EU passports (if they dont take the check in fee from me, that would be of course great, but not my primary aim).
I was happy to read your message... so you are sure this wont be a problem for us ??

thanks a lot

one more thing to mention... it actually sometimes PAYS YOU to book people separately !!!

for now i only bought (not counting the 0.01p tix) tickets for one flight (Girona - Paris) for 6 people.... when i tried to book 6 people at once.. the price was 10 euro more for EACH !!! with a hit and miss system i found that there are 3 tix at 10e lower, so i bought those 3, and the other 3 at that higher price.. so 30e was saved by actually splitting the reservation (of course it could have been 1 out of 6 at a lower price... or even 5 of 6)....

so my rule of thumb would be to check the price for 1 ticket always, and then (if you travel in a group) check to see what prices you get when booking together....

one question i have (as i have never traveled with Ryanair yet), if i have 6 people on a ticket, and only 4 travel, i wont have any problems ??

Nope, none.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/allBreakingNews/idUKLL53874020090221

http://uk.reuters.com/article/allBreakingNews/idUKLL53874020090221

So much for "Non-EU citizens MUST check in at a desk because we MUST check their documents" (when no other airlines discriminates against non-EU citizens in this way). Looks like all of a sudden this alleged "requirement" has been conveniently forgotten...

What is the plan if online check-in fails, as it does for me periodically? Admittedly, I haven't tried with Ryanair, but I know with other airlines, online check-in unpredictably does not work.

What is the plan if online check-in fails, as it does for me periodically? Admittedly, I haven't tried with Ryanair, but I know with other airlines, online check-in unpredictably does not work.

Even now, at least at the airports I flew from, you would not go to the check-in counter to get the boarding pass if you have a problem with on-line check-in. They would sent you to the information desk.

I usually go to the information desk, get a stamp and/or receipt on the failed print-out of the on-line check-in, and than proceed to the check-in counter and get the boarding pass. So that perhaps will be the same after the installation of the check-in machines!!??

Weird, I was in London Stansted (STN) and I had a flight ticket to Oslo TORP (Sandefjord) and my norwegian friend bought 2 online tickets of course separated tickets, we didnt have any problem with our tickets only showing printed and passports. And when I had to go back to America my norwegian friend bought online tickets like before but I dont remember same booking or separated but yes we had problems with luggages because one of them was heavy so we had to pay.
One thing, I dont understand why EU citizens cant refund their tickets? I thought passagers's ticket from any country could be refunded, there is any exception? Sounds like discrimination.
should I tell my bf to buy one online ticket for him and one for me in separated way?

Im confused O_o

DulcePaola could you repeat that with some punctuation please - and preferably not in txtspk .

Ryanair allow everybody holding a passport or ID card issued by an EEA (note not EU) country to use on-line checkin IF THEY DON'T HAVE CHECKED LUGGAGE.

As non-EEA folk can't check in online they are allowed to reclaim the airport checkin fee IF THEY DON'T HAVE CHECKED LUGGAGE.

So don't know why your Norwegian friend could check in online - assuming that's what you were asking