If there is one thing that travelers can not stand more than a delayed flight, it’s realizing that they spent extra for an item that they should have paid half of that price. That is exactly what Ryanair has accused some notorious online travel agents (OTAs) of doing recently, and it truly should be a wake-up call for anyone booking flights online.
The ending that should have been the beginning.
Let’s get to it — Ryanair wants the European Union to crack down. Ryanair’s head of marketing Dara Brady did not mince words in calling out companies like eDreams, Tix, and Vola for unfairly raising prices of add-on services such as luggage and seat selection. Brady criticized governments, particularly Spain’s, to call out consumers getting taken advantage of while refusing to take note.
“There is clear evidence consumers are being harmed,” Brady said. “Yet some EU authorities had to choose just not to notice.”
What is that price difference? Up to 176% over the airlines’ official price for ancillary services. You just read that correctly.
When “Convenience” Becomes a Scam
Now the conjecture starts to get spicy. According to a report from Ryanair, eDreams gave rise to the largest rip-off. eDreams advertised the price of seat selections as €15.67, compared to the €5.67 for a seat similar to theirs on Ryanair’s site. This is a 176% markup for the same seat in the same cabin.
That’s not the end. It cost €12.99 for 10kg of cabin luggage booked directly through Ryanair’s site, but eDreams prices it at €27.07. So, eDreams chalks up the price of luggage at more than double with no added service.
Tix and Vola were also in the mix with Tix on fees for seats adding €20 to every element, but at least they didn’t fault Ryanair’s pricing on the luggage like eDreams did. Vola managed to objectify Ryanair’s priority boarding plus 10kg on your luggage for €25, but Ryanair’s price was less than €17 to the customer directly.
So, who is heeding the note for “budget flying” if it costs much more to book with one of these sites and you get no additional benefit?
Stealth Charges, Stealth Interests
This is because many travelers think they are spending less time using OTAs. What they don’t see are those stealth, extra charges built into the booking processes, things that make volunteers think “Wait why is this flight €80 more?”
Forget Ryanair’s opinion, it is clear. The airline believes OTAs are price gouging while creating confusion around policies, refunds, and add ons across the travel experience, and in an era of air travel following the pandemic, confusion is least what the passenger needs.
Ryanair, as a bootstrapped low-cost airline in Europe, has always been loud — in ways that can be controversial — about price transparency in flights costs. In this instance, Ryanair’s loudness could help passengers.
The report highlighted in Euronews warns travelers to be extra vigilant regarding “invisible price traps” when buying tickets online. And quite frankly, invisible price traps are not unique to Ryanair — it is a reflection of a much larger issue in travel, or any industry with convenience, spending money at expenses of the traveler.
What’s the takeaway?
Interestingly, the outcome of this tale was clear from the outset: cheap doesn’t always mean cheap. Next time you see that alluring “lowest price” tag on an OTA, remember to check just exactly what you’re getting.
Because every exclusive deal has a hidden fee lurking in your wallet like a cat in a box. And if Ryanair – a brand not historically known for its passengers’ comfort – is the airline that’s suied everyone for fair pricing this time, well that says quite a bit about how bad it’s got.
Maybe we should treat flying something like reading the fine print of your contract. After all, when even a budget airline is calling out the others for being greedy, then you know turbulence isn’t only what you get at 30,000 feet.
