Ryanair Prices

[captainpaddy]

While reading another thread in this forum I thought I might ask you all if you can explain the following; (I am genuinely looking for an explanation as I'm sure that this must be legal somehow)

A month or so ago I was looking online for flights from DUB to MAN with Ryanair.

My Wife checked their website a week in advance for ONE adult on the first flight on a Monday morning. The fare was 49 cent each way and the total return cost including taxes and charges was 50 euro (give or take a few cent).

She later decided to come with me, so I went online about 5 hours later and looked at prices for TWO adults on the same flight on the same day. The price had reduced to 1 cent each way for each leg. Total cost for both of us including taxes and charges: 50 euro. (?) In other words it was now 25 euro return each.

How is it possible that the return fare had reduced by 96 cent, but the taxes and charges had reduced by 25 euro? I thought taxes and charges would be a fixed amount? In this case, booking earlier would actually have cost us money!!!

For all you pro RYR out there, I am not complaining, so don't defend yourselves. I just need enlightenment.

Merci,

CP

[Red Snake]

The price of the ticket is the amount billed to your credit card. Anything else is marketing smoke & mirrors. Applies to all airlines.

[captainpaddy]

You're probably right.

I've often wondered how other companies can advertise fixed prices including taxes and charges, but RYR's taxes and charges change constantly. I'm sure there not the only ones at it, but they do seem to be in complete control of the ratio of fare to taxes and charges and adjust them according to how a particular route is selling.

It's a shame really, I have travelled DUB - ORK with Aer Arann for 29.99 each way including taxes and charges. RYR were advertising 1 euro each way and after taxes and charges that became 54 euro return. Off I went in the little ATR, with some peace of mind for only 5 euro extra!!

[slim_slag]

Somebody made a mistake. The easiest way to explain it is that the original pricing was accidently made for two people, and this mistake was not picked up. Nothing to be criticised about, and no harm done.

[captainpaddy]

Sorry Slim,

If you mean that my Wife might have inadvertently looked at the price for two people, then I thought exactly the same thing! Luckily she printed the results out and kept them so we could compare. The first price was definitely for one passenger DUB MAN DUB. The second definitely for two passengers DUB MAN DUB. In the second case taxes and charges were listed at roughly half of the first rate.

Unless you mean that the problem was with the website itself?

[slim_slag]

Well, if you have the printouts, then it must be the website. If they had an 800 number I'd call them, but they make you pay to contact their "customer service" department so I wouldn't bother them letting them know. Considering the number of people who book via their website you would have thought they had all the bugs ironed out, but then they say there is not such thing as bug free software.

[captainpaddy]

I still can't help wondering though. Maybe it isn't something obvious like a website bug. Maybe it's just not as transparent a system as we think?

I've always heard of various associations calling for clearer listings of "taxes and charges" so people can see what they are paying for. Perhaps this is why companies like RYR don't want to listen to them.

Just a thought..........

[DrKev]

Website bug? I honestly doubt it. That leaves open the possibility that errors could go in favour of the passenger, and RYR unnecessarily lose money. That wouldn't be acceptable for any company. Besides, in this day and age there is no excuse for having online booking that isn't accurate.

I have to agree with Red Snake's "smoke and mirrors" comment. It's a shame that this taxes and charges thing is an issue at all because it certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many, reduces confidence in the market in general, and certainly adds fuel to the fire against RYR for those who want it.

As I have posted here before, I have never trusted RYR on explanations for prices/charges etc. particulary when you look at their responses to advertising complaints in Ireland (see www.asai.ie). But as Red Snake says, the total price is the total price. Once you come to the end of the online booking process, you see past the smoke and mirrors. If you don't like the fair, don't book it and look somewhere else. End of story really.

[captainpaddy]

Howya DrKev!

haven't heard ya in a while! Talk to ya later!

[Avman]

"Taxes & Charges" is the biggest con with LCC fares. Whilst the taxes may well be fixed (though they will vary from airport to airport), "charges" is a very grey area. Some of it will be airport security charges, but I suspect that also under "charges" comes additional (hidden) revenue. Personally, I find this sales technique crude. What the punter is really interested in is what the total comes to. So why not just advertise it as such?

[PAXboy]

Avman "Taxes & Charges" is the biggest con with LCC fares. I would say that is the same for many UK carriers. I have just run a test booking with BA on one of my regular routes: LGW ~ IOM return in early April. These statements are copied directly from the site:

The prices below now include taxes, fees, charges and surcharges
For the entire journey these are approximately £46.20.
If you choose to pay using a UK billed credit card you will incur a credit card surcharge of £2 per ticket.

They then detail the following of their OWN charges:
BA Insurance & Security = £2.50
BA Fuel surcharge = £8.00
BA online booking fee (if outside the UK) n/a
Other taxes, fees and charges
You must pay any taxes, fees and charges imposed on us or on you by governments or other authorities, or by operators of airports.
But they do not detail what those charges are!!!
The test booking eventually returned a surcharge bill of £43.20

Given that they have stated only £10.50 then £32.70 remains. The credit card surchage is not included as the quote is prior to entry of payment details. I do not have the time today to run further test bookings but there is no information (that I can find) for that £32.70 and I have looked for it on previous bookings. Anyone want to make a guess?? The Pax Tax is £5 each way?

captainpaddy said of RYR's website: Maybe it's just not as transparent a system as we think?
You don't say???? :hmm:
I've always heard of various associations calling for clearer listings of "taxes and charges" so people can see what they are paying for. Perhaps this is why companies like RYR don't want to listen to them.
You can add Blasted Airways to that list. :*

"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different."
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

[NZLeardriver]

I've often wondered how Ryan Air and the like can make money with fares of 1 euro or even 1 cent. Do they make their money from the taxes and charges?

Also the whole fuel surcharge on any airline pi$$es me off. Surely when I pay for the fare I am paying for fuel as well? If fuel goes up, then surely the price of the ticket goes up. But 2 different airline on the same route can have very different prices, and then very different fuel surcharges. Thought I was getting a good deal on one airline a month or two ago, only to find that with the fuel surcharge it was much more than the competition. :hmm:

[Globaliser]

They then detail the following of their OWN charges:
BA Insurance & Security = £2.50
BA Fuel surcharge = £8.00
BA online booking fee (if outside the UK) n/a
Other taxes, fees and charges
You must pay any taxes, fees and charges imposed on us or on you by governments or other authorities, or by operators of airports.

But they do not detail what those charges are!!!

The test booking eventually returned a surcharge bill of £43.20

Given that they have stated only £10.50 then £32.70 remains. The credit card surchage is not included as the quote is prior to entry of payment details. I do not have the time today to run further test bookings but there is no information (that I can find) for that £32.70 and I have looked for it on previous bookings. Anyone want to make a guess?? The Pax Tax is £5 each wayThe best guess I can offer is something along the following lines:-
Fuel surcharge £8 each way, total £16
Insurance surcharge £2.50 each way, total £5
UK air passenger duty £10
UK passenger service charge £12.20
IOM passenger duty £5

This is actually a total of £48.20, so somewhere I've allowed for £2 more than the current BA quote of £46.20 or £5 more than your quote of £43.20.

My data comes from a dummy booking made on ITA Software's demo site (http://matrix.itasoftware.com). The total price on the ITA site was £2 more than the BA quote, so there may just be a £2 error in ITA's taxes quotes.

[Irish Steve]

Whatever about the other charges. the one that really gets me ticking is the credit card charge, per sector per traveller, so if I happen to book for 4 people, and it's a return flight, which is my preference :E , that means an additional charge of about 20 Euro. I know that the credit card companies levy a charge on the "supplier", it's about 3% or there abouts, so it's nowhere near the sort of levels that FR impose, and whatever about using debit cards, their systems are not set up to use Irish Debit cards, despite their supposed HQ etc being based in Ireland.

As someone else commented, most of the pricing is smoke and mirrors, so it's very much a case of looking at what it's going to come down to on the bottom line, then adding the credit charge on to that, as it's not part of the bottom line.

Then of course, there's the new baggage charge, and the working of that is going to be interesting in the extreme, as it's full of all sorts of wrinkles.

I see in another thread that on line check is is not happening yet. As far as Dublin is concerned, I would be more than suspicious that the delay is down to the relevant procedures not being in place yet, my understanding is that to implement web checkin, the passenger will have to present a web boarding card at the security check, which will have to be validated before getting airside. Given the massive delays that already happen at DUB security check, the thought of the security check now also having to include a web boarding card, with bar code etc, and a photo ID, leave me cold, and I suspect that the Airport operators may not be best pleased with this latest "improvement" in customer service, as they will now be having to do the check that was previously done by the airline/handling agent. Then of course there is the problem of getting the information from FR to the airport, in a lot of cases, the computer systems are not linked, so there is a major logistical exercise in getting the data transfer to happen.

It's a nice theory that is full of all sorts of complicated security holes, some of which I'm not going to go into details about here, as there's enough security hassles at DUB as it is, and even more ideas about how airside security might be breached will only cause even more hassle than already happens most days.

[PAXboy]

Many thanks Globes for that break down and it makes sense. Well, in the same sort of way that Disney Movies and George Bush make sense. :rolleyes:
What I ought to be doing is complaining to the "Who Gives A Flying F###" department of BA that they only tell me WHAT I have to pay and not WHY.