codex57

You have to make a distinction between taxes and fees. Taxes go to the gov't agencies. Fees (typically) go to airline, and the airline ones are generally avoidable. May not be pleasant, but you have the option. Like the infamous checked bag fee. Don't like the fee, don't check a bag.

And unreasonable may not be illegal.

alanR

Thus having "taxes" in double quotes. Unavoidable charges - whether government or airline made - must be included in the headline price of airline tickets. If they are avoidable they don't have to be.

Now contrast that with the US situation where "taxes" (ie taxes, fees, charges) do not have to be shown "up front" but are added on after the mark - sorry passenger - has already been hooked.

Seat64A

I have little sympathy for the original poster.

Less than 70 dollars for a flight to Morocco (from?) and he/she is complaining?

From the original post it's unclear which country's dollars he/she paid in. Let's assume it's the USA (since it's most likely that Americans will think that "dollar" has to refer to their currency and forget that it's also other countries' currencies). I think you'd be hard pressed to find such value from a US carrier. In my (limited) experience, "low cost" in the US is nothing like as low as Ryanair.

I only ever fly on Ryanair for peanuts, once for nothing. From memory, recent round trips from the UK to Spain have cost £2, £8, £10 and £35.

The only legitimate complaint concerns the "compulsory" conversion fee. When buying tickets in euros I'd prefer my card to be billed in euros but Ryanair insists in converting it to sterling. As the fares are so cheap I'm not prepared to make an issue of it.

I take the view that it's only the final amount which matters. So what if a £9.99 fare becomes £49.99, say, if you're still paying less than airline employees do for staff travel on legacy carriers?

So, my message to the original poster is: "Quit moaning!".

iahphx

Not complaining about the price -- although the flight is less than 500 miles and this is the most expensive intra-European airfare I'm currently holding (out of more than a dozen rezzies).

I'm complaining about the sales practices. If everyone did business like this, buying ANYTHING on the internet would be a nightmare.

I'm amazed at how many folks condone these practices. It's more than just about price. You need to do business responsibly.

colmc

The point is, they are. You're not forced to purchase the flight if you don't like the end price, and as has been stated, the breakdown is there to be examined. If you like it, buy it, if you don't: walk away.

alanR

If we adopted the US system then O'Leary would (as he used to do) have headline prices of 1p to which he would then add £50 work of compulsory extras.

thegingerman

So, what was the actual conversion rate used?

farci

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/budge...al-result.html

Libenitz

They don't have to include them but if you use kayak.com they show the total fare. of course bags can be extra$. Many nonstops I take only cost like $15 for tax and fees.

TrueBlueFlyer

I was going to book a 9.96Euro fare from Madrid to Alicante, but the credit card fee was $15.41Euro... so I'm still contemplating if I should try someone else.

Their 0.99Euro fare on the same route comes out to about 26Euro before the credit card fees... somehow the first one has less taxes than the second.

Roger

I was a little confused by the card charge (was it dollars or Euros?), so I made a dummy booking MAD-ALC-MAD for 18-20 January 2010.

Cost was €1 each way for the flights (€0.93 for the flight plus €0.07 for 'taxes') plus €5 each way for credit/debit card payment, so €6 each way including online check-in and hand baggage. The payment fee would have been €0 with a Visa Electron card. Cabin baggage costs extra.

Prices fluctuate, so your dates are different. The answer is: if it looks good, after you have checked all the extras, book it. Or book IB at €47 return.

Seat64A

"Should I try someone else".

You're kidding, right?

Have you seen what Iberia and Spanair charge on this route?

(I'm very familiar with this route and am exceptionally pleased that Ryanair has decided to put an end to the Iberia/Spanair high fares duopoly. If you do see an Iberia low fare it's only a spoiler which definitely wouldn't have been there if it didn't have to compete with Ryanair. And one more thing: the last time I flew on this route on Iberia there was a 2 hour delay - for a 35 minute flight! - and I missed an appointment for dinner in Madrid. When I wrote to complain - no response! I later heard from someone who works for Iberia that this particular flight was often delayed and that staff avoided travelling on it, and yet (if true) Iberia management allowed this to continue.)

CityRules

[QUOTE=Roger; Like them or not, and clearly you don't, they are successful and profitable, and I believe are Europe's biggest airline.[/QUOTE]

From a customer's veiwpoint that is irrelevant. I have flown with these since 1993 and seen a massive deterioration in the flying experience with them, and due to the need to compete, other airlines.

Roger

I beg to differ.Does this mean you are still flying Ryanair? Is what you describe based on your current experience?

I've just returned from a £2 all in trip to Switzerland and back. It was worth much more than every penny. Indeed, when the competition are charging around £100 for a similar trip including 23 kg baggage but excluding £4.50 credit card charge with otherwise negligible difference in service levels, I really see no point in discussing further.

Wait, there was a difference. Both outbound and inbound flights arrived early. With the other airline, IME pushback would have been delayed and arrival delayed further because of airport congestion. (That's an advantage of STN over LHR, of course.)

I always compare and make my buying decision based on knowledge, not prejudice.

CityRules

Roger,

Your point on prejudice suggests exactly what?

Clearly your criteria are cost and punctuality. These are not necessarily my reasons for choosing an airline, and maybe there are others like me.