- Passenger disputes Ryanair fee
- Ombudsman favours airline
- Charges for printing passes
A passenger who prevailed in his dispute with Ryanair over the £165 airport check-in fee has stated that he has no regrets about flying with the airline.
“At that moment, I was so angry that I felt compelled to attempt something. It ruined a few days of my holiday,” explained Damian Lloyd, a father of two from Neath.
Mr. Lloyd disputed Ryanair’s claim that he had “unchecked” his family, resulting in a charge to check in again.
However, an independent ombudsman ruled in favour of the airline.
Ryanair, according to AviationADR, an autonomous airline dispute resolution scheme, “complied with their own terms and conditions.”
“The airline has presented evidence that the passenger checked out on 22 July, despite having checked in online on 21 June.” The ruling issued at the end of last year stated that the printed boarding passes were deemed invalid for the aforementioned reasons, necessitating a new check-in process.
Despite Ryanair being “extremely impolite,” Mr. Lloyd stated that using the dispute resolution service was not something he regretted. According to him, the airline “did not want to know, which only increased my anger.”
According to AviationADR, the determination lacks enforceability, and Mr. Lloyd retains the option to pursue the complaint in court.
However, the fifty-year-old responded, “Since I’m already spending money on a case, I’ll just abandon it.”
(“Every possible excuse under the sun”)
Mr. Lloyd, a superintendent of health and safety, had planned a ten-day family holiday to Gran Canaria for July.
Having checked in online, he was “completely astounded” when the boarding passes for himself, his wife, and his daughter failed to scan.
A Ryanair check-in desk employee was similarly perplexed; however, due to the early hour of the morning, they were unable to contact Ryanair’s customer service to enquire about the issue, as it had not yet commenced operations.
They were presented with two options: either wait for customer service to reopen, which would have caused them to miss their flight, or purchase new passes for a fee.
Mr. Lloyd was informed he could “claim the money back.” However, Ryanair denied his refund request and informed him he had unchecked the day before his flight.
Mr. Lloyd stated, “Ryanair offered every conceivable excuse.” I felt violated.
“Don’t miss out! Grab your free shares of Webull UK today!”
“If they had said sorry and offered me 10% off my next flight, I would have been happier.”
As Ryanair charged an elderly couple £110 to print their airport tickets last summer, airline expenses were already being investigated.
They paid airport check-in costs because they accidentally downloaded their return tickets instead of their outbound ones. The cost of airport check-in was considerably higher in comparison to downloadable boarding passes.
In reference to the case involving Mr. Lloyd, Which? Travel editor Rory Boland stated: “Charging customers £165 to print three pieces of paper due to a genuine error is manifestly unjust. ‘Gotcha’ surcharges such as these contribute to the consistent ranking of Ryanair as one of the worst airlines in the United Kingdom.”
