Starting in November 2011, the only way to avoid a stiff fee for booking a ticket on Ryanair is to use Ryanair’s own prepaid MasterCard debit card. Use any other kind of plastic and you’ll pay a £6 fee (about $9.50) to book each leg of your trip. That’s £12 for a round-trip on through flights, and more for connections.
Ryanair is, as many of you know, the undoubted world “hate this airline” champion, which has originated many of the fees that other lines subsequently adopted. Fortunately, not many North Americans will have to cope with this fee on Ryanair. But Ryanair’s bad ideas all too often wind up on other airlines.
The British government’s Office of Fair Trading is taking a hard look at card fees, in general, so Ryanair may yet back off—or be pushed off—this latest gouge. But overall, over the next few years, expect continuing erosion of the ability to buy with your credit card—at least without fees.
Reposted from Smarter Travel.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
