Ryanair's E40 boarding pass reprinting fee ruled illegal in Spain
Jan 24, 2011, 7:35 am
#16
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Even though I am not a lawyer, all fees for services that you need to be able to fly are not legal, i.e. payment fee, boarding fee, boarding pass fee, are not legal.
FR is the only european airline I know of that takes luggage fees. So there must be some legal issue with that as well. One has to consider that quite a number of passengers do travel with checked luggage, so for these people the luggage fee is a big surprise as well, i.e. it is not clear in this case how much the ticket will be at time of travel.
FR is the only european airline I know of that takes luggage fees. So there must be some legal issue with that as well. One has to consider that quite a number of passengers do travel with checked luggage, so for these people the luggage fee is a big surprise as well, i.e. it is not clear in this case how much the ticket will be at time of travel.
Jan 24, 2011, 8:48 am
#17
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Jan 24, 2011, 11:14 am
#18
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And FlyBe, bmibaby, jet2, germanwings etc. I don't agree with cost of some of their fees, but I think every one of their fees is implemented by at least one other airline ... in fact, cost aside, their fees are pretty standard for European LCCs.
Jan 25, 2011, 5:07 am
#19
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And they have a single Web page that lists all of them, linked to from the front page of their website. I don't think you can really get any clearer than that. (Other than that the wording of the boarding card re-issue fee implies wrongly that it isn't payable if you booked online - I think I'd removed "booked on" / "booked via" from the column headings to make it clearer).
http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/table-of-fees
http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/table-of-fees
Jan 25, 2011, 5:44 am
#20
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 7,605
Their card charges aren't which are per passenger per flight (ie 4 charges for 2 people doing a return trip) rather than per booking.
And I don't think many other low costs airlines charge to check-in online or have a penalty fee for airport check-in.
And I don't think many other low costs airlines charge to check-in online or have a penalty fee for airport check-in.
Jan 25, 2011, 6:31 am
#22
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Just because it's always been done one way doesn't mean it always has to be in future. A check-in agent provides no useful service to someone who is not checking a bag in. And unless nobody *can* check in online (in which case it means you know at T-40 mins who isn't going to turn up so the seats can be given to standbys), it isn't useful to the airline either.
[1] I reckon it should be set at a level that would put people off *deliberately* not checking in online, but wouldn't be too much of a penalty if you accidentally forgot your boarding card or for some reason couldn't. GBP5-GBP10 per booking per segment (rather than per person, so families aren't unreasonably hit) might be about right.
[2] For EZY you can print your boarding cards far further in advance than FR. At least a month, but I think it's longer. Thus it isn't a problem for a 2-week break.
Neil
Jan 25, 2011, 7:58 am
#24
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The most active discussion of this on FT is going on in the BA Executive Club forum here, with over 120 posts so far. May seem like an odd place for it, but given that we don't have an FR forum, that they're based in the UK, and that its starter labeled it as OT for those who want to focus only on BA issues, not as odd as all that.
Jan 25, 2011, 11:15 am
#25
Join Date: Sep 2004
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). FR charges for everything possible while most LCCs just charge for a (growing) subset.I agree the online check-in fee is nasty ... but they seem to have rolled that into the 'base' fare (so no 99p flights, they're £6.99 due to the online checkin fee). Airport check-in fees are charged by a growing number of LCCs including bmibaby (they seem to keep popping up), Wizz Air, jet2.
Jan 26, 2011, 2:26 am
#26
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Article 23 (1) of Regulation 1008/2008
From the EU rules:
The most interesting part are the words I underlined. How can you fly without a check-in?
Article 23
Information and non-discrimination
1. Air fares and air rates available to the general public shall include the applicable conditions when offered or published in any form, including on the Internet, for air services from an airport located in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies. The final price to be paid shall at all times be indicated and shall include the applicable air fare or air rate as well as all applicable taxes, and charges, surcharges and fees which are unavoidable and foreseeable at the time of publication. In addition to the indication of the final price, at least the following shall be specified:
(a) air fare or air rate;
(b) taxes;
(c) airport charges; and
(d) other charges, surcharges or fees, such as those related to security or fuel;
where the items listed under (b), (c) and (d) have been added to the air fare or air rate. Optional price supplements shall be communicated in a clear, transparent and unambiguous way at the start of any booking process and their acceptance by the customer shall be on an ‘opt-in’ basis.
Information and non-discrimination
1. Air fares and air rates available to the general public shall include the applicable conditions when offered or published in any form, including on the Internet, for air services from an airport located in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies. The final price to be paid shall at all times be indicated and shall include the applicable air fare or air rate as well as all applicable taxes, and charges, surcharges and fees which are unavoidable and foreseeable at the time of publication. In addition to the indication of the final price, at least the following shall be specified:
(a) air fare or air rate;
(b) taxes;
(c) airport charges; and
(d) other charges, surcharges or fees, such as those related to security or fuel;
where the items listed under (b), (c) and (d) have been added to the air fare or air rate. Optional price supplements shall be communicated in a clear, transparent and unambiguous way at the start of any booking process and their acceptance by the customer shall be on an ‘opt-in’ basis.
Jan 26, 2011, 11:38 am
#28
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Originally Posted by Ryanair FAQs
An online check-in fee of €6/£6 is charged per person/per flight
Jan 26, 2011, 12:25 pm
#29
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Optional price supplements shall be communicated in a clear, transparent and unambiguous way at the start of any booking process and their acceptance by the customer shall be on an ‘opt-in’ basis.
In any other situation, this fee would be illegal according the the EU rules & relguations. Nothing more and nothing less.
Jan 26, 2011, 2:07 pm
#30
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That is the point. Just have a look at the last sentence of the rules, I quoted:
Does this mean, that I can opt-out check-in for FR in order to fly? Will I get a seat without being checked in? In any other situation, this fee would be illegal according the the EU rules & relguations. Nothing more and nothing less.
Does this mean, that I can opt-out check-in for FR in order to fly? Will I get a seat without being checked in?
In any other situation, this fee would be illegal according the the EU rules & relguations. Nothing more and nothing less.