Travelers 1, Ryanair 0

In an era of extra airline fees, Ryanair leads the way in sheer number and originality. But one of those fees seems to have gone too far.

If you fly Ryanair, you are required to print your boarding pass before you get to the airport. If you wait, it will cost you an additional 40 Euros or Pounds depending on which country you are in.

But a Spanish judge has ruled this is illegal as it is the job of the airline to issue boarding passes and should not be left only to the passengers.

Ryanair said they will appeal. If they should lose, they’ll still require people to print their boarding passes at home. If they arrive at the airport without one, they don’t fly.

Ryanair’s boarding pass fee is illegal

(Frank II)

Comments

[oolala]

As US-based traveler, I loved paying zero euros plus tax for airline tickets when I flew ryanair during a Europe vacation. If it means they need to charge for folks who don't check in properly to keep my costs down, so be it.

Don't like it? Fly another airline.

[BrianSJ]

? typo in last sentence. If they arrive at the airport withOUT one ?

[Frank II]

Thanks, BrianSJ, I fixed it.

Oolala--other mandatory fees have been added to that zero fare....besides tax, you now have to pay a mandatory credit card fee for using a credit card (administrative fee) and a mandatory online check in fee to start. And you'll find the zero fares are pretty much history. Add to that the cost of getting to some of the far away airports Ryanair uses and sometimes it's actually cheaper to fly someone else. I've found that out on a few occasions. And since I don't travel on leisure vacations with a computer, it's not always easy to find one to print out the boarding card.

[Andy Mesa]

Great, so instead of the €40 fee being optional, they'll just add it to the price of the fare.

What don't you people understand about budget airlines? They're cheap because they offload the cost in fees. You can't have it both ways, and I would much rather pay €10 for a flight and any extras I deem are necessary than an airline make that decision for me.

It's the same thing with Spirit and their carry-on fee. These guys have $19 flights to Latin America; if you don't like it, DON'T FLY WITH THEM.

[Andy Mesa]

Frank, I don't see a problem with the credit card fee. If you run a business you know it usually costs around 3% to accept a credit card. It's also not the only option they give you to pay, just the most convenient one for you and you're paying for that convenience.

if you find it's cheaper for you to fly with someone else, then do so. I'll continue to jump through as many hoops as they want to keep the prices nice and low, and I wish more American airlines did the same.

[Frank II]

Andy....no one said they are going to make that fee mandatory. So many people are hypnotized by the low fare that they don't want to look past it.

If you print your boarding pass at home, there is no fee. What the court said is that Ryanair cannot charge people who don't print their boarding pass at home a fee. They have to make it available for free.

And Ryanair is not going to start charging everyone that fee because then they won't have the lowest fares.

But sometimes you have to look at the overall cost--including transportation to and from the airport--to see if Ryanair is giving you the best deal.

I don't have a problem with fees as long as they are really optional. Telling me, as an American, I can only use a credit card to purchase a ticket, and then charging me a fee to do so really isn't optional. Telling me I can only book online and then charging me a fee for doing so really isn't optional.

But, most people see the low fare and that's all that matters. I once compared a flight from Frankfurt to London on both Ryanair and BA. By the time all the expenses were added up, it costs10 euro more to fly BA but took 2 hours less total time.

Another instance I was quoted a 5 Euro fare on Ryanair and 23 Euros on Easyjet. On Easyjet, the 23 Euro's was the final fare. But with Ryanair's extra fees, final cost would have been more on Ryanair. Easyjet didn't make me jump through hoops.

It pays to compare and not just run at a low fare. You never know what kind of deal you can get.

[Jeff h]

I get Ryanair's 'no-frills' model, I really do. But I can't see any upside for them to be willing to defend this particular fee to the point where they will just deny boarding. I'm guessing it's just legal posturing, but they should expect more legal trouble and negative media attention if it happens. And I'll show up at the airport with a laptop and printer and only charge half of what they used to charge :) .

Seriously though, if your business model rely's on creatively coming up with obviously punitive fees that need to trip up a certain percentage of your customers to stay profitable, you're always going to be walking a fine PR line and risk scrutiny. Plus being that dependent upon fees means that likely your most frequent (savvy fee avoiding) customers are going to become your enemy, requiring new fees.

[Ivan P]

I'm afraid I am a big fan of Ryanair. Their low cost flights have enaqbled myself and my partner to discover a lot of Europe for not a lot of money.
If you are savvy, you can avoid most of the fees.
If for you, some of the fees are unavoidable, then do some comparisons.....more often than not, Ryanair are still the cheapest option.
Mr O'Leary doe's not force anyone to use his planes, we all have a choice.
I for one want this choice to stay.

(I have no connection with Mr O'leary or Ryanair other than being a satisfied customer)

[TerryDarc]

I think it's possible that if Ryanair hadn't gone greedy - I mean 40 pounds! - for printing the boarding passes they might have gotten away with charging a couple pounds for their time/trouble. But clearly Ryanair exceed the limits of reasonableness and went straight to gouging, scraping and nearly disemboweling fliers. Shame on them.