How to avoid Ryanair’s latest charges
December 9, 2009 by Infowars Ireland
If anyone ever deserved a visit from the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future it’s Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary.
He makes the original Scrooge look generous. If he isn’t suggesting that it is perfectly reasonable for people to stand up for a budget flight, he’s on national radio muttering about charging them to use the loo in mid-air.
And not all his ludicrous-sounding ideas are just about getting free publicity – a good few actually end up getting implemented. Just think – even five years ago, would you ever have thought you’d have to pay extra just to check in for your flight? Quite.
Anyway, this week O’Leary’s been at it again. Ryanair has announced that it is to start charging people a transaction fee if they book flights with a Visa Electron card. What’s wrong with that? Until now, using a Visa Electron has been the only way to get around Ryanair’s extortionate booking fees. But from 1 January, you will be charged £5 per person per flight to book with a Visa Electron card. That’s £20 for a couple booking return flights. Irritating, isn’t it?
On the plus side, there is still a way around the fee. Ryanair can only get away with advertising their fares minus booking fees if they maintain at least one way of avoiding said fees – making paying the fees technically a choice, not an obligation. So while they have cancelled the ‘promotional offer’ on Visa Electron bookings, they’ve transferred the offer to the Mastercard prepaid card.
These cards are similar to the Travelex Prepaid Visa Electron Card I have recommended in the past to avoid Ryanair’s fees. You buy one, load it up with money, then use it like a debit/credit card. Sadly, there aren’t any Mastercard prepaid cards that are free to use. But if you choose carefully, you can find one that will have you paying a lot less than Ryanair’s charges.
There are two particularly cheap ones. The ICE Travellers’ Cashcard is recommended by MoneySavingExpert.com. This card costs nothing to get but there is a 2% charge whenever you load money onto it, and a £1.75 charge when used at an ATM.
The other option is the Caxton FX Global Card, a favourite at The Guardian. This doesn’t charge you anything for putting money on your card, but charges £1.50 per usage in the UK. So if you bought two return Ryanair flights you’d pay a £1.50 charge rather than £20. Read more…
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Boycott Ryanair whenever possible. Ireland started the original Boycott and we should use it! BTW, should any Ryanair policies violate health and safety laws, Ryanair is legally exposed to various tort actions. I wonder if EU, and other, laws can be used to screw them? Think about it.