Ryanair scrapping free booking with prepaid mastercard

SEORG

Taken from the Moneybookers thread on bargain alerts

Ryanair are scrapping free booking with prepaid mastercard.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2011/09/ryanair-card-charges?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=box

ClareVisitor

Ryanair are scum.

piskins72

on their website it seems to say its only for UK customers?

mikedragon32

ClareVisitor wrote: »

Ryanair are scum.

Any more useless comments like these will be carded, no exceptions

SEORG

piskins72 wrote: »

on their website it seems to say its only for UK customers?

True, can't see how they would just apply it to UK bookings though.

schemingbohemia

I think you've misread the article, currently prepaid mastercards avoid the charges. What the article is stating is that from November the only way to avoid charges will be by using a specific Ryanair prepaid mastercard.

But from 1 November, only those who pay with its own new plastic will get away charge-free.

The controversial budget airline made the announcement as it revealed the launch of its new card, the Ryanair Cash Passport, a prepaid Mastercard, which will be available from 4 October.

It's not exactly easy to avoid fees now. The £6 per leg charge is only waived on bookings using a prepaid Mastercard, which is a rare type of plastic, but the new policy will make travelling even more expensive for most.

piskins72

http://www.ryanair.com/ie/news/ryanair-launches-branded-prepaid-mastercard

seems to be aimed at just UK customers from what I am reading there!

Ogham

Yep - Irish bookings (all non UK) can still use any prepaid mastercard to avoid the fees. (For now.....)
http://www.moneyguideireland.com/ryanair-changes-fee-free-rules-for-uk-customers.html

Savman

Typical but not surprising.

It was only a matter of time folks, you can be sure Ireland and the rest of Europe will follow sooner rather than later. They were only gonna let the Prepaid cards go so far before they pulled the plug in favour of a more suitabl€ arrang€m€nt.

You really have to wonder what more they have to do before Passengers cop on to vote with their feet

Tiocfaidh Armani

This screws me big time. I go home every second weekend to see my da in hospital and wiould cost me £24 a month so gonna have to get their card now:mad:

So you will pay the £6 but will get a voucher for your next flight, is that what this bit, below, means?

The card purchase fee of £6 will be reimbursed to Ryanair passengers since each cardholder will receive a £6 Ryanair travel voucher. There will be no admin fees on any Ryanair bookings.

jt_dublin

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14917290

From the BBC news website

It will initially cost £6 to buy, although each customer will be given a £6 Ryanair travel voucher.

Other charges include:

A £4 charge for withdrawing cash from the card over the counter at a bank
A £2 fee for using the card at an ATM
A 50p charge for all transactions, other than Ryanair bookings, from April 2012
A rolling fee of £2.50 if a card is not used for six months
However, there will be no charge for topping up the card with money.

The Ryanair spokesman said the card would be rolled out to other European countries in the coming months.

purpleblaa

People might not like it, but it's another great idea from Ryanair.
Love them or hate them, they're quite innovative. Still don't like flying with them tho.:rolleyes:

gihj

purpleblaa wrote: »

People might not like it, but it's another great idea from Ryanair.
Love them or hate them, they're quite innovative. Still don't like flying with them tho.:rolleyes:

Well then don't.
Now toddle off to your " I'm too good to travel Ryanair thread".:rolleyes:

Savman

gihj wrote: »

Well then don't.
Now toddle off to your " I'm too good to travel Ryanair thread".:rolleyes:

Interesting sentiment, is that you Michael?

Fly Ryanair if you wish, nobody will think any less of you. Nor will anyone think any more of someone who chooses to fly with a full service carrier, horses for courses.

With this latest stunt, I think Ryanair may no longer be the horse for me...I have to find a higher horse to climb upon :pac:


/end horse puns

donegalgirl28

I have a Moneybookers card which is registered as an Irish card. Wonder if I'll still be able to avoid the fee then as it says only applicable to UK registered customers?

Will wait to see until the 1st November.

Personally I think it's good that Ryanair have a way to get round it, unlike Aer Lingus! They have CC charges on every single card, even laser.

jt_dublin

donegalgirl28 wrote: »

I have a Moneybookers card which is registered as an Irish card. Wonder if I'll still be able to avoid the fee then as it says only applicable to UK registered customers?

Will wait to see until the 1st November.

Personally I think it's good that Ryanair have a way to get round it, unlike Aer Lingus! They have CC charges on every single card, even laser.

On the Aer Lingus Web Offers page, it says that you can pay by Visa Electron and avoid paying the charges. Click on the Terms & Conditions on this page.

http://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformation/weboffersfromireland/

Terms & Conditions
Fares are one-way, including taxes and charges. Available for travel from 01 October '11 - 24 March '12. Limited availability during holiday and other peak travel periods including Bank Holidays, school holidays and sporting events. Handling fee per passenger/ per one way flight: EUR 6.00 per transaction not included. Bookings made with Visa Electron are not subject to the handling fee. Fares not eligible for the accrual of Gold Circle Points.

Savman

jt_dublin wrote: »

On the Aer Lingus Web Offers page, it says that you can pay by Visa Electron and avoid paying the charges. Click on the Terms & Conditions on this page.

http://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformation/weboffersfromireland/

And where, pray tell, does one get a Visa Electron in Ireland?

mari2222

I think you can get one online with the likes of entropay.

Savman

Nope, Entropay isn't recognised as Visa Electron on Aer Lingus (I have the card btw)

Tiocfaidh Armani

Anybody know how you get one of these cards?

AfterDusk

Tiocfaidh Armani wrote: »

Anybody know how you get one of these cards?

It's for UK passengers only http://www.cashpassport.com/1/en/ryanair/

Tiocfaidh Armani

Ryanair prepaid card customers face 'hefty' fees


By Rosie Murray-West

Thursday September 29 2011

Ryanair customers who try to avoid the budget airline's booking fees by using its new card could be charged hefty fees unless they use it every month.
The user guide for the Ryanair Cash Passport reveals that after six months, anyone who does not use the card will be charged £2.50 (€2.87) a month for inactivity, while a ten pound charge will be levied every time the card goes into negative territory because of the inactivity fee.

Customers will also be charged £2 (€2.30) for withdrawing money from cash machines, and £4 (€4.60) if they try to get cash out over the counter.

From November 1, the new prepaid card the only way to avoid a £6 (€6.90) each way charge per person per flight when booking with Ryanair. Previously, customers could use any prepaid Mastercard to avoid the charges.

Unlike a debit card, a prepaid card has to be loaded with money in advance before being used to pay for things and is estimated to be held by only 5pc of the population.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in the UK has proposed that charges for paying by debit card should be banned, prior to Ryanair introducing the new card.
This followed a super complaint from Which?, lodged with the OFT in March. The watchdog claimed that the actual cost to the retailer for processing card transactions was no more than 20p (23 cents) for debit cards and no more than 2pc for credit cards.

Stephen Heath, CEO of rival prepaid card company FairFX.com, said that the Ryanair charges were "some of the most expensive on this market".

"Unlike most MasterCard Prepaid products the Ryanair Cash Passport card is free to purchase, free to top-up and free to use on Ryanair.com, making it one of the most competitive MasterCard Prepaid products available." a Ryanair spokesman said.

"However, the Ryanair Cash Passport will also provide passengers with the additional benefit of avoiding Ryanair's £6 (€6.90) per passenger per flight administration charge."
- Rosie Murray-West

http://www.independent.ie/travel/travel-advice/ryanair-prepaid-card-customers-face-hefty-fees-2891666.html

jc84

Why anyone flies with ryanair is beyond me, they charge for evrything and arent that much cheaper than aer lingus, the state of the ryanair planes too, cheap and tacky, and they have some of the rudest staff that ive ever come across

This is just another in a long line of things ryanair are using to make money, they clearly want people to but this new ryanair card so they can rip people off even further

Tiocfaidh Armani

jc84 wrote: »

Why anyone flies with ryanair is beyond me, they charge for evrything and arent that much cheaper than aer lingus, the state of the ryanair planes too, cheap and tacky, and they have some of the rudest staff that ive ever come across

This is just another in a long line of things ryanair are using to make money, they clearly want people to but this new ryanair card so they can rip people off even further

For short haul flights they're fine. I travel home to Ireland twice a month so kinda need to use them. But for any flight over one hour feck using them and their constant ads.

And to be honest they are much cheaper than Aer Lingus.

jc84

Tiocfaidh Armani wrote: »

For short haul flights they're fine. I travel home to Ireland twice a month so kinda need to use them. But for any flight over one hour feck using them and their constant ads.

And to be honest they are much cheaper than Aer Lingus.

they used to be, but by the time u add on bags, check-in, priority boarding (why don't they assign seats like other airlines?), credit card fees etc. they come to nearly what aer lingus is, and you don't get any hassle with them, the ads on ryanair are ridiculous, i flew to stansted with ryanair in june and the entire plane was advertising transformers, couldn't get away from it, it was on every overhead bin, and low and behold when i put down the table in front of me, transformers was plastered all over that too

Tiocfaidh Armani

jc84 wrote: »

they used to be, but by the time u add on bags, check-in, priority boarding (why don't they assign seats like other airlines?), credit card fees etc. they come to nearly what aer lingus is, and you don't get any hassle with them, the ads on ryanair are ridiculous, i flew to stansted with ryanair in june and the entire plane was advertising transformers, couldn't get away from it, it was on every overhead bin, and low and behold when i put down the table in front of me, transformers was plastered all over that too

I have a prepaid Mastercard and don't check on bags so I get what you mean mate. Their ads do my head in but since my da took not well they've been a Godsend for me, I'd be screwed without them and wouldn't be home nearly as much.

jc84

Tiocfaidh Armani wrote: »

I have a prepaid Mastercard and don't check on bags so I get what you mean mate. Their ads do my head in but since my da took not well they've been a Godsend for me, I'd be screwed without them and wouldn't be home nearly as much.

fair enough if u have the card and stuff, handy out for you so

wickan

Anyone else getting an error when trying to use there prepaid mastercard?
Some crap about billing address not the same. I only have one address even logged into to moneybookers to check it was the same.

Edit: Think is was because i was trying to fly from City of Derry airport to preswick airport even though my moneybooker account is euro as i live in Donegal.

dearg lady

jc84 wrote: »

they used to be, but by the time u add on bags, check-in, priority boarding (why don't they assign seats like other airlines?), credit card fees etc. they come to nearly what aer lingus is, and you don't get any hassle with them, the ads on ryanair are ridiculous, i flew to stansted with ryanair in june and the entire plane was advertising transformers, couldn't get away from it, it was on every overhead bin, and low and behold when i put down the table in front of me, transformers was plastered all over that too

but for people who don't avail of these extra services it's fairer not to have to pay for them. When I'm booking a flight I check all airlines and book the cheapest. Sometimes it's Ryanair, soemtimes it's not. But by far the cheapest I've ever got is with Ryanair, 12 euro return to London, got that a few times.

dublinseven2

wickan wrote: »

Anyone else getting an error when trying to use there prepaid mastercard?
Some crap about billing address not the same. I only have one address even logged into to moneybookers to check it was the same.

Edit: Think is was because i was trying to fly from City of Derry airport to preswick airport even though my moneybooker account is euro as i live in Donegal.

Hi Wickan,

I had the same thing. I was booking 2 singles (DUB-LGW and LTN-DUB).

DUB-LGW went through fine on November 2nd, but LTN-DUB did not go through and I got the bu** sh** message about the billing address being wrong.

Having done a bit of research, including finding your post, it seems that any booking originating in the UK is deemed to be a UK booking (i.e. a UK resident booking) so therefore will only go through tagged as Prepaid MC if it's a Ryanair Prepaid MC.

I wonder if Ryanair will allow multi-destination bookings to get round this for Irish residents? i.e. allow a return booking in to Gatwick and out of Luton. Will they f***! That will lose them £6 a go.

I'll write to them (got about 10 email addresses off the ryanair campaign website) and see if they allow some way round it. i.e. allow moneybookers Irish cards to be used on UK originating single bookings OR the multi-destination option as outlined above. It makes a mockery of the new "billing address country" drop-down that has to be filled in, cos the address obviously doesn;t come in to it (I picked Ireland and typed in the exact Irish Billing adress of the moneybookers card).

Anyhow, for now, I don't see a way round it. (without getting a Ryanair Prepaid MC for the booking of flights that originate in the UK)

Interested to hear from you if you do...

noluck

dublinseven2 wrote: »

I had the same thing. I was booking 2 singles (DUB-LGW and LTN-DUB).

DUB-LGW went through fine on November 2nd, but LTN-DUB did not go through and I got the bu** sh** message about the billing address being wrong.

Same here... just got the bull**** error message when buying a one-way London-Dublin flight with a Net+ Mastercard registered in Ireland. They always find a way to screw customers, don't they?

They are the cheapest on some flights, no doubt, and Dublin-London is definitely one of them. The difference is small compared to Aer Lingus but if you fly every other week like me, it makes a difference in the end... especially since it's only a 50min flight!