I was told Ryanair would refund taxes paid on unflown bookings. I got a response today to a tax refund request. Ryanair is charging an "administrative fee" to process the refund of tax on unflown bookings-this after keeping the fare and any fees paid for number of baggage items to be checked and "Speedy Boarding" all of which are nonrefundable. They did not state the amount of the administrative fee but it exceeded the tax paid so I get nothing back. Ryanair flies into less used airports with lower fees and taxes so I wonder if the tax charged on any Ryanair ticket ever exceed the tax refund admin. fee?

I believe the fee is relatively new. I did learn that Aer Lingus, chief competitor of Ryanair at Dublin, charges a 25 euro fee for refunding tax but they often fly to higher tax charging airports so there might be a fraction of a ticket's tax refunded.

I had booked a secondary earlier ticket on a segment I had to fly while the fare was 1 euro figuring I would have the flexibility to choose which time to depart and only lose the fare and baggage charge after tax were refunded. It was still worth the price paid for the flexibility I got that day but I will think more carefully in the future knowing Ryanair has found a way to keep the tax.

Ryanair have always charged more than the tax to refund the tax. Well - perhaps not always, but certainly for a long time. My partner tried to claim the tax on an unused ticket about five years ago and found their charge exceeded the taxes then.

Interesting. I only learned of the tax refund from a friend who said his friend books any possible tickets he might want to use during 1 euro fare promotions, then as he skips flying when his schedule does not allow using the Ryanair booking, gets a tax refund and is out only 2 euro per roundtrip. Obvioulsy he is out a bit more if their is a fee to refund tax.

Still, with 1 euro fares plus taxes, Ryanair is a darn cheap way to go and speculatively purchasing a 50 euroish roundtrip, then losing it all if you can't travel beats the $100US fee paid to apply unused domestic US tickets to new purchases.