Changes to Ryanair's Credit Card policy

Ryanair is to make changes to their booking policy, concerning the how administration charges are applied to bookings.


Ryanair customers who pay with a Mastercard Prepaid card will not be charged a £5 administration charge per person which will be applied to bookings made when using other credit and debit cards.

For the first time, from January 1st 2010, customers using a Visa Electron card will be charged the administration fee when booking a flight with Ryanair.

According the the UK Cards Association, about 1.7 Million people in the UK use a Mastercard or Visa Prepaid card.

Prepaid cards are pre-loaded before use through online facilities, over the counter at post offices, and through local shops which are members of the Payzone network. Prepaid cards can be used where Visa and Mastercard credit cards are accepted. Users do not require a credit check to own one, but will be charged monthly fees set-up charges, and ATM withdrawal fees. Fees vary according to provider.

Customers who pay using Visa Electron are not currently charged transaction fees by 'budget airlines' such as Easyjet, Aer Lingus, BMIbaby, RyanAir and Flybe.

A number of airlines charge a flat fee transaction per person per flight, when customers pay by other debit or credit cards.

Consumer groups say that if airlines do not have a free payment option, they would have to increase their advertised prices to include the charge for making the payment.

Advertising Standards Authority rules state where an advert shows a price, the price should include all non-optional charges.

The Office of Fair Trading says that charges, if foreseeable and unavoidable, should be included in the headline price.

Written by JP Jones ©