I noticed that today on ryanair.com they're advertising free flights but the best I can come up with is 1p. 1p does not meet any definition of free that I know and when you add in the credit card surcharge for a return flight then free becomes Ł9.51

I've heard so many bad things about Ryanair that part of me wants to experience it myself just once so I might get a mate with an electron card to book the 1p fare because I just can't bring myself to giving that company any money (and 1p is close enough to zero for that purpose).

So are these 1p fares really the free ones or are they ones that are really free and so don't attract any credit card surcharges?

Is it legal to class 1p as free, is allowing an obscure card as Electron to pay fee free enough to allow them to consider the prices on display as all inclusive?

I'm have a vague recollection that there has to be a minimum charge of some kind (1p) for to make a contract. As they do not sell return tickets (just 2 one way flights on one booking) hence it becomes 2p if you book a return.

Therefore it's "free" or almost free as much as is possible. I'm sure someone will correct that if I'm wrong.

And yes - this is why they allow Electron to be fee free (which I wouldn't say is "obscure", just not always issued in the demographic of the average Flyertalk visitor).

In that case it's impossible to offer free flights and therefore shouldn't be advertised as such. Then again they're not the only ones guilty of this, bmi still calls award flights 'free' and they work out more expensive than these 1p flights - however, it's not a huge flashing banner on their front page.

Well it tends to be issued to those who are either too young to enter a credit agreement or those who have such a bad rating they'd not be trusted with an overdraft. A lot of banks issue Solo cards to people that fit in this category, but Solo is not fee free. The fees charged by Ryanair would be high even for Amex (which they don't accept).

If you look at Ryanair's table of charges they claim the fee free Electron is a limited time promotion.

I just booked several flights and they showed €0.02 return, but, when I got the confirmation I had the following:

So they are truly free flights, of course you'll need to do on-line check-in, pay with Visa Electron, no baggage and no insurance.

Booked them like this before and there is no deduction from your credit card!

The "limited time promotion" for the Electron card has now been over 4 years, if my memory serves me right.

They're also available as pre-paid cards from various issuers.

anjode - interesting!

Interesting. I guess it's cheaper for them to not process the payment.

If I can book a day return somewhere from LGW I may give it a go, but I've not found any days where both segments are showing as 1p.

Now in LGW how difficult is it to escape from airside if I decide not to take the flight (e.g. if it's delayed and I'm worried about missing my return leg), is there an easy way to leave the airport or would I need to be escorted landside? Would it be BAA or Ryanair staff who do this and would Ryanair try to charge for the privilege?

Don't forget the fee that you pay if you are a non-EU citizen.

Which you would request back after your flight with a simple fax to Ryanair.
It works!

RE: Visa Electron
Do you have information on where I could get one of these prepaid cards to be able to book flights on Ryanair?

EDIT: Nevermind. For some reason, I didn't find information last time I Googled but this time I did. For those who need it,
Travel Money Card from the Royal Mail.
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/p...diaId=26800661

What about the Ryanair Prepaid Card? If you pay for your tickets using that, does it incur card charges?

Yes it does! Just do a mock booking and go up to the screen for the payment and it will show that the amount increases if you use this method of payment. Only Visa Electron is without CC fees.

If you have some friends in Poland, you can ask them to buy that card. It goes as VE on Ryanair and also Easyjet. The cost of the card is 15pln and then you have to top-up it with any amount. You can also order this card online, but shipping address must be Polish.

Have relatives in Czech Republic. Is it available there?

Still may be best to just stay away from Ryanair

EmailKid

Has anyone actually managed to book any free return flights from Birmingham to Dublin?I've been trying for 2 day's now & can't get any availability at all.I've tried e-mailing Ryanair to see if they've actually put any free flights on for this route but keep being bounced around....

Try checking www.ryanair.com.

Ryanair offers change regularly, often day to day. Today's offer BHX-DUB is from Ł3 each way. Could be Ł0 (= Ł0.01) tomorrow. Who knows? (Probably not even Ryanair. )