Booked that low-cost fare online? You may be stranded
Filed under: Transportation, Travel
Imagine you've booked a flight online. Everything went perfectly: You found the seats without a problem, you got a confirmation, and everything seemed good to go. Except you get screwed. When you show up at the airport, bags in hand, Ryanair, one of Europe's largest low-cost airlines, tells you nope, sorry, can't fly because of how you booked. You should have booked at our own website, it says. Take it up with the people who sold you the ticket.
Last week, that's what in store for some 3,500 passengers who booked on Ryanair, despite the fact they hold paid reservations. That's roughly the equivalent of about 27 full planeloads. And more rejections are coming, because as of Aug. 26, the cancellations become a matter of daily policy.
Ryanair has accused several big European travel websites of "scraping." Simply put, that's showing Ryanair's fares without having a deal in place first. Like Southwest here in the U.S., Ryanair isn't keen on offering its fares through every Tom, Dick, and Orbitz. It wants to reduce commissions and cut costs by selling as many as possible itself. So Ryanair's head, Michael O'Leary, has called these booking sites "scam artists." Government reps in both Italy and Spain have demanded to know just what O'Leary thinks he's doing.
Ryanair's main gripe, apparently, is that when someone books via another third-party site, the airline doesn't get the opportunity to milk its passengers for all those lucrative (and usually overpriced) add-ons like insurance, hotels, and rental cars. Another vital European low-cost carrier, EasyJet, says it also doesn't like "screenscrapers," but it one-ups them by charging an extra $11 on those bookings. It doesn't simply toss them in the garbage like Ryanair.
Sites that "scrape" airfare quotes without a deal in place may be shifty, but why make that the customer's problem? We're not talking about a black market here--it's legal to sell the tickets--so it's nearly impossible for the average joe to know when they have booked at a website that Ryanair won't like. The airline's stock answer is that your seat should always be booked with its own website. Of course, there's no way an average passenger would know there's any problem with doing otherwise until the deal's already been done with a third-party site.
One of the biggies to be hit is TUI, the parent of the prevalent British travel company Thomson that, perhaps not so coincidentally, also happens to own the major British air carrier Thomsonfly. You would think that booking an airline ticket with one of Britain's biggest travel sellers would be a safe bet.
Not when you book on Ryanair. Then again, the desperate grasping tactics of some of the low-cost airlines these days is not surprising. Ryanair has been moaning about oil prices and doomed profits for a while now.
It's one of those airlines that lures customers like a carnival barker, promising super-affordable prices like $18 each way, and then going wild with fees once passengers are on the hook. Ryanair's choice racket is the guess-your-weight game: If you fail to predict your luggage's weight correctly at the time of booking, you pony up big fees. For Ryanair, that's another $30 per bag up to only 33 pounds, then more after that. Extra fees are how a cheapie like Ryanair survives, and unlike many North American carriers, that was the case even before oil prices spiked.
Sure, the airlines have a right to make their money somehow. But Ryanair's fight is with these websites. Why take it out on their customers instead? Just another example of boneheaded airline behavior. More coming soon, no doubt.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-18-2008 @ 9:04PM
D said...
Wow. Thanks for the tip. Will totally avoid Ryanair!
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8-18-2008 @ 9:23PM
Cate said...
I'm with you D...and too bad for them. I fly an average of 7-8 times per year.
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8-18-2008 @ 9:24PM
sheri said...
I don't know why anyone would think the airline owes them anything. The customer should take it up with the website. Buyer beware.
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8-18-2008 @ 9:37PM
Mike Sanders said...
As I understand it, Southwest Airlines doesn't really care a whole lot, whether their planes fly, or not... Why? The grapevine says, that Southwest hedged their future fuel purchases at such a low price, that they can sell these "futures" and still make a lot of money, whether their planes fly, or sit on the ground. I'm not trashing Southwest... It's my carrier of choice and has been, since TWA was around (since 2001, TWA became TWA Airlines LLC). Southwest was smart! Just think, what if YOU bought all the gas that you needed for years, at $2.00 a gallon?! Even when you car was sitting idle, you could sell your gas at $3.00 a gallon, make a profit and even the people who bought it, would save money! Someone, at Southwest Airlines is using their brains! Smart companies, hire smart people and smart people run a tight ship... Kudos to Southwest, but we still luv to see you fly!
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8-18-2008 @ 10:45PM
MBA said...
I agree that Southwest was smart utilizing a hedging strategy to reduce risk specific to their fuel purchases. It's also one of the main reasons they enjoy a cost advantage over other carriers. Having said that, it is illegal for them to sell their fuel contracts. They must take delivery of the fuel at the contract price. Futures regulations don't allow companies to profit from the sale of commodities contracts.
8-19-2008 @ 12:34AM
Ellen said...
Southwest! You bet - they are the only airlines I will fly these days! I have flown with them for years and years and have yet to be disappointed. Even their flight attendants are cool people. I remember one time in particular, I was really nervous about flying alone - it was my first "solo" flight - no one that I knew was with me and I was terrified. One of the flight attendants came over to me and just started talking to me and before long, another one came over and chatted for a moment -and they calmed my fears - though I'd never mentioned that I was nervous. (The white knuckles probably gave me away..LOL), but still - they went above and beyond and their rates are fair. I love Southwest! Double Kudos from me.
8-18-2008 @ 9:38PM
Peter Weller said...
I have always said that you only get what you pay for and whilst competition is admirable bad practice is not acceptable. If these cheap airlines and others do not treat their passengers with some respect the government should step in and ban them from operating. After all why should the public be messed around with? If these cheap companies can't exist without resorting to what amounts to fraud then perhaps we would do better to not have them operating.
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8-18-2008 @ 9:39PM
Alice said...
Good for Ryanair! Not allowing other websites ripping them off. True customers of Ryanair will book through theri website as required. I wish their US company Skybus was successful here and did not give up so easily once oil prices started to climb. We need a low cost airline that does give the consumer a choice of paying for all thoses extras. I rather pay a low price for a ticket and then pay for the extras that may interest me.
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8-18-2008 @ 10:07PM
Pami said...
I think Ryanair should have a court action put on them to accept those tickets. If it had been a few, even a couple of dozen, I could see that, BUT 3,500 not to accept. That's insane. That's a hell of a lot of people to insult and make them lose their money. The president of the company or whoever make this outrageous decision needs to be fired. So what if it was through a 3rd party. You deal with the passengers who have tickets and you halt the system from creating anymore and then you deal with the problem. As far as I'm concerned Ryanair are the scamers here, not the third party sites. They are the ones who will get paid for the tickets they didn't honor. I hope they get hit with thousands of law suits. I used to be a person who never believed in suing others, well in this crazy world, and it's gotten much worse in the past 10 years - trust me on that one, you can't trust a single living soul out there. EVERYONE is out to screw you. No one will do the honorable decent thing anymore. No one will provide an old relic called customer service. It's all about the almighty dollar. I hate to say it but my generation and the kids we raised are the biggest piece of trash this planet has ever seen. I'm honestly ashamed of most of us most of the time. I tried to run good decent businesses and where did it get me. Shoved out by conglomeration hogs like Walmart. As far as I'm concerned his mother did a disservice to the world by not aborting him. The biggest problem he created was selling us out to China, and look where that got us. Probably 75% of what is shipped in from China gets sold at Walmart. And who is it helping, not the American people, the Chinese who don't give a damn about us. Just look at how this Ryanair acted, just like Sam Walton, they must have read his books.
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8-19-2008 @ 1:34AM
DeAnne Tolle said...
You are an ignorant idiot.How do you get from an airline ripping off customers to saying a person should have been aboted by his mother. That's disgusting. As far as Wal-Mart goes that is what is called capitalism. Oh and guess what, last time I checked WalMart wasn't the only company buying from China. Everyone does and has for years.
8-19-2008 @ 3:50AM
Cat said...
Thank you DeAnne, that person really is an idiot! That is some horrible stuff to say about people, calling basically everyone trash and saying that someone should have been aborted! WTF! none of the things you said should have even been brought up in a discussion about an airline....GET A LIFE AND HAVE SOME RESPECT! May God bless you because obviously you need it!
8-18-2008 @ 10:09PM
nancy said...
Ryanair should take theirselves off the websites. They know the flight bookings are legit and should honor them. Otherwise, block your company from these websites. Shame on you for stranding people because you think you deserve more money. Hopefully your planes are flying half empty because of your greed.
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8-18-2008 @ 10:35PM
Alvaro Covarrubias said...
Ryanair's days are counted. Desperate behaviour like this alienates customers who prefer to pay a little extra and avoid all the hassle and being treated like stock. But to be fair, I'm surprised the aviation watchdog or the government hasn't laid down the law to both Ryanair and the websites. All very dodgy.
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8-18-2008 @ 10:42PM
etirpsha said...
Wait a minute, I am hearing greedy people whindging and whining. They want low-cost airfares, which Ryanair and others are willing to give them. But the complainers don't want the rules that are necessary for these airlines to provide these low fares, and at the same time make a profit to which they are entitled.
Why in the world should Ryanair or any other airline provide a low fare AND turn around and give some of it to agencies just to allow people to be lazy. If those lazy fliers want to pay an extra commission to an agency to do the work for them, fine. Otherwise, they can get their tickets from Ryanair themselves.
Sometimes, the laziness, greed and whining goes beyond all bounds.
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8-18-2008 @ 10:52PM
WALT said...
Last month my wife flew to Germany on an emergency as her mother was hospitalized. She booked a round trip ticket with Lufthansa/US Air. Going over was fine, but on the return trip as Lufthansa was having a contract problem, she was switched to United. United would not issue her a boarding pass, but put her on stand-by as she had a "cheap ticket". She made a subsequent fligh from Frankfurt, but missed her connneting flight to Pittsburgh. They also lost her baggage!
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8-18-2008 @ 10:57PM
dslyohio44439 said...
Ryanair ran skybus? I didn't know that, but that says a lot for the character of the company. Skybus literally left thousands of people stranded when they ceased operations. My coworker had to make an emergency trip to Missouri from Ohio after Skybus ceased operations and didn't tell their customers, because her mother in law had to get home and went to check in and was told her airline no longer existed. Bastards...
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8-18-2008 @ 10:59PM
Derek said...
BS - Even if you book online or over the phone with the the Airline directly, you may still get screwed, such as I did on my way back from Hawaii. Beware, United Airlines has a system that rewards it most frequent flyers with preference over average to low-flying guest. I booked my seats 11 months in advance for my July trip to Hawaii. All was well going there from Los Ageles, CA. But it was the return back that really ticked me off. While checking in, even with our online paper tickets in hand (clearly showing our reserved seats), we are put on a list of "Stand By." My wife and I were the last two allowed to board the plane and moved from our front row window seats to nearly the back of the plane, in the middle aisle. I called United after our return flight to file a complaint, and it was then that I was told about their preferential seating arrangement. What pissed me off the most was the fact I paid nearly a year in advance for the right to choose my seats, and I still got screwed by United. United has a long ways to go before they win my business. They want Customer loyalty, but you just can't screw your customer this way...it's not the right way to win our loyalty.
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8-18-2008 @ 11:07PM
erin bliss said...
I can't believe that anyone would be on the side of an airline who strands passengers who made legitimate ticket purchases. If an airline didn't want to do business with these third party websites then they shouldn't allow their tickets to be sold BEFORE someone purchased them. Obviously not a legitimate airline, that's for certain.
Checking airline prices through a third party web page isn't laziness and complaining after you've been defrauded isn't whining. And it has nothing to do with greed. Why would anyone over pay for something if they could get a better price? That's just good common sense.
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8-18-2008 @ 11:12PM
Stephanie said...
Ryanair really must not want to be in business. Who would knowingly turn away customers? For a company who is complaining about oil and possible financial problems the last thing they need to do is turn down 3,500 customers who I guarantee you will NEVER fly with them again. Really, if I was on the board of directors I would have this guys backside!
I don't believe these people are lazy for booking through a third party. They are just looking to get the best deal they can find. With prices on the rise everywhere what is wrong with someone trying to save a buck. If Ryanair has such a problem they need to consult with the companies selling their tickets not penalize the customer. I mean I am sure the customer is not even aware of the financial burden (if we should call it that) that Ryanair deals with when a ticket is booked through an outside agency.
Personally, I rarely book directly with the airline unless it is Southwest becuase I believe you can only book through their website.
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8-18-2008 @ 11:38PM
John said...
Things where soo much better before deregulation, I realy think it should return. As for this LAME Ryan Air, they should have made a policy for all the companies the book their airline that form a certain date on they no longer could sell tickets for them. But not letting folks fly that had confirmed reservations sounds illegal to me. A classs action suit should happen with a substantial punative fee for acting like a GONIF(theif) Shalom
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