Ryanair-€1 flights from September

Hi there, I book a lot of Ryanair flights and so am very interested in this apparent way around the booking charge.

I had a look at the charges listed for using the entropay card which include the following:

Billing currency conversion service charge 2.75%
Load funds from a credit/debit card 4.95%
Foreign exchange fee on relevant purchases 2%

(See here: http://www.entropay.com/popups/terms.schedule.php)

As we have been advised to use GBP as the currency then I assume we would be liable for the currency conversion charge of 2.75% and also the 4.95% for loading the funds. Also, there is a foreign exchange fee on 'relevant' (whatever those are) purchases of 2% which means that if I was to book a flight on Ryanair in euro then I would be liable to pay 7.7% (or a possible 9.7%) of the fare to entropay.

Now I'm the first to admit I'm rubbish at maths but I'm looking to book a return flight at the moment for myself and my husband. The fare comes to €310.28 including bags but not including booking fee. As far as I can make out 7.7% of this would come to €23.89 (or the possible 9.7% which comes to €30.10) which means I'd actually end up paying more than if I just paid the €20 booking fee to Ryanair!

Please correct me if I'm wrong with any of the information here (believe me I'd love to be wrong about it!) but as far as I can see - I'm not really avoiding the booking fee - I'm just paying it to someone else! :cool:

Can somebody explain Entrepay to me, PLEASE!!!

Does it work like Paypal, where you register your credit card details then when you transfer funds to Entrepay - is it then charged to your credit card account. Sorry, it must sound like a stupid question to you all here, but I looked at the website and I'm still baffled!

ShooterSF wrote: »

Re: Tupins without going through the maths in detail you are correct that you wouldn't be saving here.
It's only really of use on cheaper flights as the booking fee is a flat fee and entropay's fee is a commission.

Hmm, so I suppose it would still be useful on the cheap flights. Handy to know for the future anyway. I suppose I'll just calculate the cost like that in fututre and see which option is best. I imagine you'd save more also the more people on the booking. When it's just for one or two the saving is less.

Thanks.

kelle wrote: »

If your card is registered in GBP, then is the money loaded onto it converted to sterling with charges applied?

And do you pay a yearly fee on it, like Visa?

Their website states:

"There are no monthly or annual fees with an EntroPay Virtual Card. Our only fee is the charge on each amount loaded onto an EntroPay Virtual Card."

Yes there is a conversion fee as I mentioned above -

Billing currency conversion service charge 2.75%
Load funds from a credit/debit card 4.95%
Foreign exchange fee on relevant purchases 2%

But as ShooterSF pointed out these rates would still be quite small when booking a very cheap flight.

Eg. If you found a flight for say €8 return you would be charged €20 by Ryanair to book it but you would only pay 7.7% to Entropay which is approx 60 cent.

However on the more expensive flights you would not be saving at all.

nellocon wrote: »

Hey quick quest,
When i begin making the booking the web check in fee is being included in the price...

So when i am paying the price im paying includes this fee. If i then select to pay by visa electron does the fee get cancelled or something?

Because right now im being asked to pay the fee, i dont want to try paying by visa electron if ive missed something???

Quick reply would be great here guys as im trying to book right now:pac:

You have to pay the check in fee either way - it's the booking fee that you avoid by visa electron. (This charge gets added on at the end when you select visa)