Ryanair hits customers with more hidden charges

By Elliot Wright, 15th February 2010

Not content with charging passengers extra for checking in a single bag, Ryanair is fleecing customers further by introducing its own currency conversion for travellers booking single flights from foreign destinations back to the UK.

The practice - known as dynamic currency conversion (DCC) - involves encouraging the customer to switch the ticket price from euros to the British pound. But the Guardian newspaper claims that this could add as much as £6-£7 to a £100 booking.

When booking single flights from Europe to the UK on the Ryanair website, travellers were traditionally quoted and charged in euros - incurring foreign exchange fees you get when buying goods abroad using a UK credit card.

However Ryanair recently introduced the dubious DCC method in a bid to wring more cash out its customers. During the payment process the price quoted is automatically recalculated from euros to pounds, at which point the customer is told this is a "guaranteed" price as opposed to one susceptible to exchange costs.

When purchasing a single flight from Ancona in Italy to London Stansted, the Guardian was quoted a price of €65.50. They were then offered a guaranteed price of £60.92, which they declined. However, the system implored them to accept it with a warning saying "you will not receive a guaranteed rate from your bank".

A family of four booking return flights at a cost of £400 would pay an extra £24 if they opted for Ryanair's "guaranteed" exchange rate.

But the investigators were told by Nationwide they would have charged someone buying the same flight just £57.16 - £3.76 less than Ryanair's price.

This means a family of four booking return flights at a cost of £400 would pay an extra £24 if they opted for Ryanair's "guaranteed" exchange rate.

The budget airline was recently labeled as the worst budget airline for hitting customers with hidden charges by consumer group Which?.

It was found that extra charges - such as on luggage check-in and credit card payments - caused Ryanair's quoted price to spiral by 61%. The airline quoted £82 for a return flight for two to Paris but this increased by £50 to £132 with charges.

Rochelle Turner of consumer group Which? said: "These aren't extra services - they're part and parcel of taking a flight."

Claims Financial