Ryanair – read the small print

I had an email recently from moneysavingexpert.com. The email told a very depressing story about Ryanair (an airline I would never use anyway because of the stories about charging for the toilets and applying to regulators for standing passengers on their flights! The trouble is when they cut costs with these silly schemes you wonder what costs they are cutting in engineering and safety. I have no evidence this is the case but it just makes you wonder.)

The horror story below about their totally misleading fares is one I believe that advertising regulators need to take up, and do so somewhat more firmly than they have in the past.

I know there is an adage about 'buyer beware' but this really takes the biscuit.

Quick quiz. How much does a £1 flight cost?

A family of three get Ryanair £1 each way return tickets to Europe. They pay on a debit card, take a suitcase each (not pre-booked) and check-in at the airport. Now, guesstimate the total 'additional' charges.

Take a pause and answer aloud before reading on...

The answer...

The actual total is a shocking £396, that's £6 return for flights and £390 for ‘added-extras’. This includes £10 return each for debit card payment (£30 total), £40 return (£120) per suitcase, and airport check-in’s £80 return (£240).

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