Ryanair Update

conolan

As of lunchtime Tuesday, the situation with Ryanair FREE flights can be broken into 3 categories
Category 1 : NO flights because it's winter schedule (see long red line below)
Category 2: No FREE flights - and couldn't find most of them at 1.00am this morning (see small red cross)
Category 3: FREE flights available.
The clue is to look for flights at €0.01. €0.00 means some taxes and charges will be applied, but sometimes it's just €5 or €10.

afatbollix

I might be changing job soon.. moving to london.. just booked 12 flights just incase i get it... 12 cent... I love o leary..

Base

conolan, you'll see that the website now effectively matches the list of free flight destinations you say are actually available. This tends to happen when most of their offers are introduced as the changeover at midnight is automated (so in this case all destination previously on offer changed to free), staff would have updated it to an accurate representation this morning.

conolan

Glad they've updated, but not until after 2.00pm. The really annoying thing is the winter flights, shows they don't pay attention. How can you offer a free flight on Nov 1st-Dec 17th when you stop flying on Oct. 31st.

Base

Maybe you could get their manager's job.

ateam

I saw Memmingen (Munich West) is going for 2 cent - but this airport is 100km from Munich according to wikipedia. Anyone ever done this and is it worth it?

AdrianII

i booked munich for the craic, two people reurn for €20.10, thats the same as a taxi from town after a night out.

think there is a bus from the airport for 16euros

and 100km least youll get to see the country:D

TheMorningLine

A 1cent flight to Luton

Bargain

IH77

ateam wrote: »

I saw Memmingen (Munich West) is going for 2 cent - but this airport is 100km from Munich according to wikipedia. Anyone ever done this and is it worth it?

Yes did this for Oktoberfest a few weeks back. The bus from outside the airport took 1.5 - 2 hrs and cost €18.

It is not "Munich west", more west of Munich! Aer lingus fly to the proper Munich airport so you just need to compare the price and whether the extra time is worth it. Also, there might not be as many bus services as there was for the beer festival (it was not a ryanair bus).

quotaj

I'm finding these 1cent flights really easy. But no FREE flights (with no taxes or charges).... are they just assuming 1cent = free'ish.

This is VERY frustrating as I don't have a credit card!!!

conolan

Got a Ryanair email this morning - allegedly send 13 October 2009 14:07 but dated 14 October 2009 02:04 by the server. Lists... all the flights Ryanair aren't running for the winter. FREE in Novemebr and December. Where's Victor Meldrum when I need him?

greenman09

Has the problems wi the entropay card been cleared up. I've set one up but not loaded it yet.

conolan

What Entropay problem? I used mine yesterday to buy flights.

Kotek Besar

conolan wrote: »

Got a Ryanair email this morning - allegedly send 13 October 2009 14:07 but dated 14 October 2009 02:04 by the server. Lists... all the flights Ryanair aren't running for the winter. FREE in Novemebr and December. Where's Victor Meldrum when I need him?

I got the same email.

If you can show me a free flight from Dublin to Palma Mallorca I'll eat my hat.

Talk about false bloody advertising. Oh wait, maybe it's an "invitation to treat". :rolleyes:

utyh2ikcq9z76b

ateam wrote: »

I saw Memmingen (Munich West) is going for 2 cent - but this airport is 100km from Munich according to wikipedia. Anyone ever done this and is it worth it?

its €18 for the bus(or €16 if booked online) which collects outside the airport and goes direct to munich

undo

quotaj wrote: »

I'm finding these 1cent flights really easy. But no FREE flights (with no taxes or charges).... are they just assuming 1cent = free'ish.

This is VERY frustrating as I don't have a credit card!!!

Yes, "free" always means 1 cent. There might be legal reasons for them wanting you to pay at least a symbolic cent, so you have a contract. Or maybe it is to discourage people from booking 25,000 flights per person. Either way, without a credit card, you cannot avail of the offer.

poochiem

How can you complain about flights that cost 1cent because its not available at a particular date or time that you choose or because you don't have a credit card or because the airport is miles away from the city you want to goto? Just don't travel, or travel with someone else.

I've booked two return flights to Luton, return to glasgow, return to bristol, return to paris, all on saturdays and one on a tuesday for a grand total of ten cents. now cop on and stop whinging.

madmoe

I assume you still have to pay the credit card fee even if the flight is 0.001 cent?

poochiem

madmoe wrote: »

I assume you still have to pay the credit card fee even if the flight is 0.001 cent?

no credit card fees. entropay, the same as 20million other visa electron users.

golfball37

Dominick Helpless Upstart wrote: »

its €18 for the bus(or €16 if booked online) which collects outside the airport and goes direct to munich

Where exactly in the city does it drop you? Mrienplatz, Hauptenhauf, Ostbahanhof etc?

Thx

sudzy

poochiem wrote: »

no credit card fees. entropay, the same as 20million other visa electron users.

So there's no credit card fee if you're using visa? It's literally only €0.01!? Nothing extra?

Kotek Besar

sudzy wrote: »

So there's no credit card fee if you're using visa [electron]? It's literally only €0.01!? Nothing extra?

Corrected your post for you there.

chalkitdown

Visa ELECTRON only. This is only because of an E.U. directive (apologies, court ruling) that there must be at least one way to pay without extra charges being levied. Ryanair of course chose the most obscure card that has no availability in Ireland.
You can sign up to the English version which will work so long as you choose Sterling as the currency. Of course there are extra charges associated with this so it is only useful for the free flights when they pop up.

sudzy

Ah i see now.. :rolleyes:

poochiem

It has nothing to do with a made up E.U. Directive.

Visa Electron is not obscure, 20 million people own one.

A most basic search on google or this site will explain how you too (like me and thousands of other Irish people) can buy Ryanair flights for exactly What it says on the tin. The last two days I bought flights for myself and others between Ireland and London, Bristol, glasgow, rome and Perugia. Something like 14 flights for 30cents.

Do a little bit of research and take advantage of these bargains.

chalkitdown

poochiem wrote: »

It has nothing to do with a made up E.U. Directive.

Visa Electron is not obscure, 20 million people own one.

A most basic search on google or this site will explain how you too (like me and thousands of other Irish people) can buy Ryanair flights for exactly What it says on the tin. The last two days I bought flights for myself and others between Ireland and London, Bristol, glasgow, rome and Perugia. Something like 14 flights for 30cents.

Do a little bit of research and take advantage of these bargains.

A visa electron card that will work on Ryanair is not available in Ireland.

I suggest that YOU do some research on why there must be a method of
payment that does not incur charges before you start spouting off.

undo

chalkitdown wrote: »

A visa electron card that will work on Ryanair is not available in Ireland.

How is it not available? Why would "available" imply "can get my hands on a piece of plastic"? As long as you can get one, from here, over the Internet, I would say it is 100% available. Many of us have been using Entropay for years now. It is working just fine, from Ireland or otherwise, no problems at all.

bennyob

chalkitdown wrote: »

A visa electron card that will work on Ryanair is not available in Ireland.

I suggest that YOU do some research on why there must be a method of
payment that does not incur charges before you start spouting off.

Have a look into entropay. Its a virtual electron card that you can use to buy ryanair flights w/o paying cc fees.

Edit: I have been undone.

chalkitdown

undo wrote: »

How is it not available? Why would "available" imply "can get my hands on a piece of plastic"? As long as you can get one, from here, over the Internet, I would say it is 100% available. Many of us have been using Entropay for years now. It is working just fine, from Ireland or otherwise, no problems at all.

Read my lips; Visa Electron is not available from any bank in Ireland.

undo

chalkitdown wrote: »

Read my lips; Visa Electron is not available from any bank in Ireland.

So what? This is the Internet age. Many things are not available from outlets with a physical presence in Ireland. If you want to buy from Amazon, you have to go with amazon.co.uk. If you want to bid for an online auction, you have to use ebay.co.uk. What is wrong with using a UK bank to supply you with a virtual credit card?

chalkitdown

bennyob wrote: »

Have a look into entropay. Its a virtual electron card that you can use to buy ryanair flights w/o paying cc fees.

Edit: I have been undone.

Thanks, already have one.

chalkitdown

undo wrote: »

So what? This is the Internet age. Many things are not available from outlets with a physical presence in Ireland. If you want to buy from Amazon, you have to go with amazon.co.uk. If you want to bid for an online auction, you have to use ebay.co.uk. What is wrong with using a UK bank to supply you with a virtual credit card?

Nothing, I was pointing out that it is not available from any financial institution in Ireland and was chosen by Ryanair specifically because of this.

pickarooney

Is there any way of getting this same information from a different departure airport (Marseille, for example)?

MOH

chalkitdown wrote: »

Visa ELECTRON only. This is only because of an E.U. directive that there must be at least one way to pay without extra charges being levied. Ryanair of course chose the most obscure card that has no availability in Ireland.
You can sign up to the English version which will work so long as you choose Sterling as the currency. Of course there are extra charges associated with this so it is only useful for the free flights when they pop up.

chalkitdown wrote: »

A visa electron card that will work on Ryanair is not available in Ireland.

I suggest that YOU do some research on why there must be a method of
payment that does not incur charges before you start spouting off.

chalkitdown wrote: »

Nothing, I was pointing out that it is not available from any financial institution in Ireland and was chosen by Ryanair specifically because of this.

What, Ryanair deliberately chose Visa electron because you can't get it in Ireland? Despite the fact that's it's easily available in the UK and other European countries, where they probably have a far higher number of passengers travelling from?

chalkitdown

MOH wrote: »

What, Ryanair deliberately chose Visa electron because you can't get it in Ireland? Despite the fact that's it's easily available in the UK and other European countries, where they probably have a far higher number of passengers travelling from?

It may be easily available but is not widely used because of the high charges associated with it.

Of course people believe Michael O'Leary when he says that 20 million people use it. That may be the total which would include disposable cards and cards lying at the bottom of drawers.

It is mainly used by people that can't qualify for a credit card, people that are unlikely to fly as often. Couple that with the fact that it's not available in Ireland and you have the main reason that it was chosen.

Because of E.U. consumer law Ryanair must provide an avenue to pay without charges or else they would have to include all credit card charges in the advertised fare. That is the only reason it exists at all.

This isn't directed at you, but I am amazed at the amount of happy clappers that are jumping to the defence of Ryanair.

Base

It is mainly used by people that can't qualify for a credit card, people that are unlikely to fly as often. Couple that with the fact that it's not available in Ireland and you have the main reason that it was chosen.

Because of E.U. consumer law Ryanair must provide an avenue to pay without charges or else they would have to include all credit card charges in the advertised fare. That is the only reason it exists at all.

Of course it's being used to exclude the general credit card charge from their advertised fares (as is the case with many airlines now). By you signing up for a virtual card, you have proven it is possible to pay by Visa Electron in Ireland! What's your issue here? You want Ryanair to include the general €5 credit card fee in their advertised fares, is that it?

cson

Just an observation, but this would seem more appropriate in Consumer Issues than Bargain Alerts.

afatbollix

If you dont know how ryanair works by now dont complain!!!!!

You know they want you to make a mistake and charge you more... now go away and learn to use the internet

poochiem

Amazing scenes.

Maybe you're right? I feel bad now. Have I, in fact, been conned by Michael O'Leary into paying 28cents for 14 flights? Oh the humility. Should I demand to pay for my free flight (*not free its a penny) with cash in a shop, is that it?

Bizarre. step away from the screen, turn it off, put it back in the box and bring it back to PC World.

undo

chalkitdown wrote: »

It may be easily available but is not widely used because of the high charges associated with it.

It is mainly used by people that can't qualify for a credit card, people that are unlikely to fly as often.

This thread is drifting off topic. Before it gets locked or moved, I would just like to point out that Visa Electron is not as obscure as you think. It is Visa's competition to Mastercard's Maestro card. In Ireland and many other countries, Maestro is the dominant debit card. In others, Visa Electron owns the market (Scandinavia, Czech Republic - everyone with a bank account there gets a Visa Electron). Ryanair chose the card that made the most sense to them. This might have to do with the fact that many people in their core market do not have the card and hence will pay CC fees. It may also have to do with Visa trying to win market share and thus giving Ryanair some subsidy... As far as we, the traveling public, are concerned, does it really matter? As long as we can get around the CC fee easily, I do not care about the background of MOL's business decisions.

EKRIUQ

Can someone explain to me how their getting 12 flights for 12cent. The government charge €10 exit tax and most of the flights have high taxes and charges. Then a lot of flights have the on-line check-in charge of another €10.

The cheapest zero cost fare I can find is €30 Ex credit card charge, great price but just wondering is it possible to get cheaper.

undo

As has been pointed out before, any flight with a fare of €0.00 will have taxes and charges added. You need to look for flights that cost €0.01. Only these ones are covered by the sale.

Preset No.3

Got DUB-LPL in November for the grand total 2 cent! Signed up with Entropay with no problems.

Kotek Besar

chalkitdown wrote: »

This is only because of an E.U. directive that "there must be at least one way to pay without extra charges being levied".

To which EU Directive do you refer?

chalkitdown

benifa wrote: »

To which EU Directive do you refer?

It's based on a challenge from a German court, we are now miles O.T., it seems that more people are assuming an attack on Ryanair from me rather that me just stating the bleedin' obvious.

You are aware that you are defending an unnecessary and over levied charge on yourselves?

chalkitdown

poochiem wrote: »

Amazing scenes.

Maybe you're right? I feel bad now. Have I, in fact, been conned by Michael O'Leary into paying 28cents for 14 flights? Oh the humility. Should I demand to pay for my free flight (*not free its a penny) with cash in a shop, is that it?

Bizarre. step away from the screen, turn it off, put it back in the box and bring it back to PC World.

I think you should read more carefully.

chalkitdown

Base wrote: »

Of course it's being used to exclude the general credit card charge from their advertised fares (as is the case with many airlines now). By you signing up for a virtual card, you have proven it is possible to pay by Visa Electron in Ireland! What's your issue here? You want Ryanair to include the general €5 credit card fee in their advertised fares, is that it?

As above.

chalkitdown

afatbollix wrote: »

If you dont know how ryanair works by now dont complain!!!!!

You know they want you to make a mistake and charge you more... now go away and learn to use the internet

There's a Latin phrase....

chalkitdown

undo wrote: »

This thread is drifting off topic. Before it gets locked or moved, I would just like to point out that Visa Electron is not as obscure as you think. It is Visa's competition to Mastercard's Maestro card. In Ireland and many other countries, Maestro is the dominant debit card. In others, Visa Electron owns the market (Scandinavia, Czech Republic - everyone with a bank account there gets a Visa Electron). Ryanair chose the card that made the most sense to them. This might have to do with the fact that many people in their core market do not have the card and hence will pay CC fees. It may also have to do with Visa trying to win market share and thus giving Ryanair some subsidy... As far as we, the traveling public, are concerned, does it really matter? As long as we can get around the CC fee easily, I do not care about the background of MOL's business decisions.

Of course, you may be right, but personally I doubt that the decision was based on expanding Visa's share of the market.

Kotek Besar

chalkitdown wrote: »

It's based on a challenge from a German court, we are now miles O.T., it seems that more people are assuming an attack on Ryanair from me rather that me just stating the bleedin' obvious.

You are aware that you are defending an unnecessary and over levied charge on yourselves?

Buddy, I just want to read the wording of the Directive you're referring to, that's all. Please share the title or number?

chalkitdown

Base wrote: »

Of course it's being used to exclude the general credit card charge from their advertised fares (as is the case with many airlines now). By you signing up for a virtual card, you have proven it is possible to pay by Visa Electron in Ireland! What's your issue here? You want Ryanair to include the general €5 credit card fee in their advertised fares, is that it?

I have never suggested otherwise, I only stated that it wasn't available from an Irish bank, what thread are ye reading?

You got two replies Base.