by Camilla Persson

Created on: February 03, 2010

Even before the recession and certainly nowadays, people like to find great bargains and no more so than when it comes to flights. Due to the fact that airline tickets often are expensive, finding a better value deal means a lot to most of us. The entering of low-cost carriers to the airline market certainly gave many budget-minded travellers the opportunities to fly more frequently. In Europe, the budget airline Ryanair has proved to have the touch and has conquered this highly competitive marketplace. To some, a great thing but to others, it proved to be the end of and era when the customer was treated with respect.

Ryanair has a clear strategy. They want to be the cheapest airline and frequently advertise flight tickets that cost nearly nothing. This no-frills airline must however make a profit and they have cleverly created several strategies for doing so. Every year they seem to sneak more and more hidden fees and opt-ins in order for them to get paid. They seem to want to be able to say that they have the cheapest ticket but still make a high profit on their flights. This is how it is done.

When Ryanair first launched their business they used to promote their amazingly cheap tickets without showing the cost of taxes and fees. As most of us know, you cannot actually buy airline tickets without these charges so in the end, the Ryanair flight ended up costing a good bit more than the advertised price. After several complaints and investigations by the consumer groups and EU, it was ruled that all airlines need to show these taxes and fees as soon as you tried to find out the price of a ticket.

For Ryanair however, this was not the end. They started promoting flights where they took care of these taxes and fees and consumer was tempted by nearly free flights yet again. In order for them to recoup a profit, other charges were brought in. You now have to pay for luggage to be checked-in, the actual check-in cost you a good deal, even if you do all the work yourself online. In addition to this, they charge hefty fees to pay for these flights. In true Ryanair spirit, they don’t charge per transaction, but per person per flight. You used to be able to avoid these credit card charged by using the VISA Electron but as of January 2010, they have closed this loop-hole. As they need to provide one free way of paying, they have cleverly joined forces with MasterCard and promote their prepaid card as a free alternative. The only trouble is, it doesn’t only

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>