aroundtheworld76

While I'm sorry you had such an experience, I think I'll continue to risk it. When I'm on Ryanair, my travel isn't really that time sensitive, and the fees add up when your home currency is worthless. Though I probably won't try it from RIX.

ClimbGuy

Someone told me that only Visa Electron accounts based on GBP are accepted. Does anyone have any experience with this?

xanthuos

Not firsthand experience, but IIRC, my girlfriend has booked trips on Ryanair with her Euro-denominated Electron card.

ClimbGuy

So i entered my US address, and entropay won't let me open an account because they don't accept US customers.

B747-437B

I have Visa Electron cards denominated in USD and GHS (Ghana Cedis) and neither has been accepted by Ryanair.com

xanthuos

Turns out that I was incorrect. She hasn't booked any trips on Ryanair with her Electron card because she doesn't have an Electron card! LOL...my mistake.

xanthuos

It doesn't seem as though it's a Visa Electron, however. Simply a regular Visa Debit.

ClimbGuy

that is true, but if you read what everyone else has posted if you open the account in GBP, ryan air considers it to be electron

penchant

Thought I'd share a nasty experience my husband and I had with RyanAir. We checked in online and when we went to the counter to check in our baggage, they refused to issue us our boarding tickets. They said that we were not E.U. citizens and had to go to the special ticket place and pay 20 euros each before we could get our boarding tickets (with the exchange rate, it's over $55 USD). Well, this was nearly as much as the cost of our flight! If I hadn't paid this fee, I would have lost my flight and certainly wouldn't have been refunded for it. I wish I had booked with a competitor that does not have such crazy policies... I would have saved money in the long-run.

I am upset for multiple reasons, and cannot believe that RyanAir is getting away with this. How "clever" that they don't have any way to get in touch with them that doesn't cushion their pocketbooks (you have to pay to call and there's no publicized customer service contact info. like e-mail addresses in this day and age). Just because they say, "Without Prejudice" (see below) doesn't mean they aren't. In fact, to charge a last-minute fee expressly based on someone's nationality - a fee that none of the competitors are charging - solidifies the fact that they are as unscrupulous as everyone makes them out to be. If I had known what I know now, I would have booked with another carrier; there is no warning of this fee when you go to buy your tickets. By the way, my bank tells me there is no way to contest this because I didn't have it in writing that they would refund this fee to me.

My message to RyanAir that was not replied to:

I was informed at the airport desk that we would not be given permission to board our pre-booked flight without paying this fee because my husband and I are not E.U. citizens. However, if we did pay this exhorbitant fee (nearly as much as one of our flight tickets), we would indeed receive a refund as long as we sent in the necessary paperwork. I mailed you all of the paperwork in less than a week after being charged and followed instructions from the Ryanair representatives to a ¨T.¨ However, I am now receiving your e-mail that our booking was not made prior to the 19th of March 2009, and there´s no recourse despite us providing you with all the paperwork (e.g. completed refund request form, boarding passes, a copy of our flight confirmation, etc.) that was initially requested of us for a refund.

I am totally annoyed that I had to do any of this for a number of reasons. Firstly, and most importantly of all, no warning of this hidden charge was on your web site (see below) when I booked and confirmed our tickets; it was especially a total shock to us that we had to pay any fee because we had self-checked in online before coming to the airport. When we were charged, we were told we´d receive a refund if we followed the instructions, and now you´re telling us that this isn´t the case. Secondly, no other discount airlines charge this fee. We flew return on Aer Lingus and did not have to deal with the hassle or expense of this. I´m sure this is a hidden fee only for Ryan Airlines in a scheme to boost profits. I noticed your ¨Without Prejudice¨ in the e-mail response to the paperwork we submitted - your corporation´s actions should be a criminal offense! Thirdly, this took time away from our vacation and I had to spend money out of pocket for postage of all these papers and copies of the documents. I hate that I am still spending time on this nonsense, but will continue to pursue this until I am refunded the money based on principle. Let me know when I can expect a refund for the $55.28 to my bank account.

_____

Below I´ve pasted the terms and conditions copied verbatum from your website (http://www.ryanair.com/site/IE/conditions.php). I spent a deal of time reading the details and the only charge that was remotely close to ours that I could find was that passenger(s) will be charged a boarding fee for not checking in online in advance of the flight and having an online boarding pass. As aforementioned, this was not the case for us. As evidence of this, your system probably captured the fact that we checked our selves online hours prior to our flight. What´s more, there is absolutely NO mention of non-E.U. citizens having to pay this fee at the airport within your Terms and Conditions where one would expect to find this. We certainly weren´t informed of this during the booking process or else I would have booked with one of your competitors.

This was RyanAir's reply to my refund request that they denied after I sent it in because I booked on the 21st of March. Note that I was force to pay postage to even make this request as there's no way to do it online:

"Without Prejudice

Dear [---],

I refer to your recent correspondence regarding your booking confirmation [---].

We wish to advise that passengers who are non EU/EEA citizens can avail of the Online Check-in if their booking was made on or after the 19th March 2009 and therefore we are not in a position to refund the Airport Check-in fee for any bookings made after the above date.

However if your booking was made prior to the 19th of March 2009 it is necessary for you to forward a copy of your Passport to; Ryanair Customer Services Department, P.O. Box 11451, Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland or by fax on + 353 1 508 1702 in order that we may investigate your request for a refund of the airport check-in on the basis that you were unable to avail of Online Check-in by reason only of not being the holder of either a valid passport or a National Identity Card, issued by the government of an EU/EEA country.

Please also quote your booking confirmation number in all future correspondence.

Yours sincerely,

Ryanair Customer Services.

************************************************** ************************************
Ryanair Holdings plc (Company No. 249885) / Ryanair Ltd. (Company No. 104547).
Registered in the Republic of Ireland. With registered address Corporate Head Office, Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin, Ireland."

EmailKid

Welcome to FlyerTalk penchant !

I am bumping your post as a moderator here at Budget Travel as it got flagged due to you being a first time poster, and if I just released it many would miss it as it would not go to the top of the threads.

Sorry it took us this long to see this, normally we release new threads the same day.

I am sorry for your troubles, and you are just adding on to the multitudes who warn agains flying RyanAir due to their unethical way.

EmailKid
Budget Travel Moderator

Roger

I read penchant's long post twice before I saw that the booking date did qualify for OLCI. Penchant says she and her husband checked in online. It seems they didn't print their boarding passes so had to pay FR's airport BP fee.

It is my experience (and others') that if passengers comply with Ryanair's terms and conditions, they have no problems.

If penchant and her husband had printed their BPs, I imagine their problem would not have arisen. It may be tough, but it is important to check the T+Cs before you agree to the T+Cs.

Nothing 'unethical' about this.

anjode

You are absolutely correct. We fly Ryanair frequently with US Passports and since 18 Mar 09 we also have to OLCI, which prior to that date was not possible and we had to pay a refundable fee of €5 each flight. (and we got it refunded each and every time)



But here a reminder and caution: We still have to go with the OLCI and get it validated, and remember this must be done 40 minutes prior to flight time.

Here from the terms and conditions, which by the way are in bright red on the WEB page and actually can't be missed "IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Online Check-in" and if one klicks on this one will find:

This is a misinformation, the €20 fee is a "Boarding Card Re-Issue Fee", which as explained on the Ryanair WEB page and will have to be paid even for EU citizens if they forget the boarding pass:

giblet

I just wanted to share my Ryanair horror story as well--this is from pre-March 19th when US citizens couldn't avail of OLCI.

I'm a US citizen but had flown Ryanair out of Dublin many times. Although I wasn't allowed to check in online, in DUB they never charge for it if you point out that OLCI isn't an option for non-EU passport holders.

So on my return flight from LGW to DUB, I went to check in, I was told to pay a check in fee because as an American, I am not allowed to check in online. When I went to pay the fee, I said that I shouldn’t have to pay the fee because of my nationality and that it had been automatically waived in Dublin. The Servisair clerk got very angry with me when I said it "wasn't fair." She told me that life isn't fair, and her life wasn't fair. She went on to tell me that she can't check in online because she doesn't have a printer. I pointed out that isn't exactly the same--she could use a friend's printer but I can't use a friend's passport.

She grew more and more angry, especially when I asked for her name. She asked if I was going to file a complaint. I said yes. She said "just tell them it's the black one, they will know who I am." She told me that she was going to "teach me a lesson" about what is and isn't fair. At this point, I was just attempting to placate her. I told her I wouldn't file a complaint if she'd just give me my receipt and change for the check-in so I could go get my boarding pass. She kept looking at her watch and finally gave me the receipt and change with a smirk on her face.

When I returned to the desk I was told that the representative had not printed my boarding pass on my initial check-in, as she was supposed to do. She had left the desk and was nowhere to be found. They closed the gate and left without me. The flight was the last one of the night to DUB on any airline from LGW.

Finally, the Servisair/Ryanair representative admitted that it was their mistake but the woman who had initially delayed me refused to re-book my ticket, I was then forced to buy a new ticket on British Airways for an additional £98 for the next day.

The Servisair (who represent Ryanair) representative that I spoke with said that their staff routinely delay people from checking in if they “don’t like them” in order to make them miss their flight. They know that Ryanair not only doesn't care, but is happy when this happens because they can charge the re-booking fee.

Aviatrix

This is indeed a horror story, giblet - but it's really more of a Servisair horror story. And they even admitted that it was deliberate and this is something their staff are in the habit of doing, which is pretty amazing.

I once had a hotel receptionist take revenge on me, in a very similar manner (I ended up on the street, late at night and with no transport). After protracted correspondence with the hotel chain they eventually paid me quite a nice sum in compensation. Try claiming compensation for Servisair. And try making this story widely known so that they will hopefully be shamed into stopping this practice.

jackal

The lesson I take away from these experiences (and from my personal experience on both sides of the counter) is never to antagonize a customer service agent who is in control of your experience, even if you're in the right. Phrase your request in the form of a pleasant request for a favor [even a bribe, if you like], or accept the policy at the time of service and then complain after the fact, but never do anything to get on the bad side of an agent. When they hold the power and you get into a tussle in the heat of the moment, you will get screwed--you'll miss your flight, get the hotel room next to the pool pump machinery, or get the cruddiest car with the most miles and parked in the farthest spot.