Joseph Ellis, Victoria
Two airlines' lack of transparency (2)
People booking with Ryanair should be aware of some of the less than correct practices adopted by this airline. My wife recently booked a flight to Pisa for €89, €19 euro or so for the flight and the rest for airport charges and taxes. She had to change her flight and took a different airline.
Ryanair's website states that you can change the flight but that entails a re-booking fee of €35. So, it did not make sense to change the flight and one just asked for a refund of the airport charges and taxes which Ryanair presumably would not have paid once a passenger did not show up.
Ryanair's website makes it as hard as possible to claim a refund of such charges and taxes. I called customer service and after several minutes on the line, I got through to a lady who accepted my request for a refund of these charges and taxes. She said the refund would be effected within 15/20 days.
However, a few days later, my wife received an e-mail stating that such refunds entail an administrative charge which was more than the amount to be refunded, that is, €70. Thus, no refund would be made.
Besides the fact that Ryanair, which specifies charges for anything from A to Z, does not specify the entity of such an administrative charge to effect a refund, surely it is absurd to use a kind word, to impose an administrative charge of more than €70 euro to refund €70.
I can't help noting that I prefer the transparent pricing adopted by Air Malta to these kind of ploys which I am sure are more designed to boost the bottom line than anything else. Though the competitive pressures exerted by airlines like Ryanair on the airline market are a great boon to consumers, it seems that this airline has forgotten that the consumers should remain at the heart of its commercial strategy and thus, should not be taken for a ride, as in this particular instance.
This incident has put me in the camp of that UK minister who branded Ryanair as "the irresponsible face of capitalism".
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Joseph Calleja
Jul 1st 2008, 17:59
I am going through the same account with Air Malta. For humanitarian reasons I could not make the flight from London to Malta and I lost the amount of the ticketss, party of four London/Malta/London. I think that Air Malta should at least credit me the TAX and service charges since I didn't use the tickets. How can they justify charging taxes and service charges on something you didn't use? As of this date I am still waiting to hear from air Malta customer care but as they say..... Hoss fl-ilma
Joe Tabone-Adami
Jul 1st 2008, 15:43
It is all a question of balancing the pro's and con's - i.e. getting there and back on a cheaper flight notwithstanding the occasional inconvenience undergone. The last time I read a tongue-in cheek article decrying cheap flights was one entitled "Give me the frills" (or something in that sense) by a female columnist of a local paper who had been afforded a free first class flight on a Middle-Eastern airline - complete with frills in the shape of champagne etc. etc. - all for the sake of publicity. I wonder whether that same airline can afford such treatment to us lesser mortals (so that we, in turn, can sing its praises to high heavens). Or is it that the same columnist would also seek cheaper flights when paying out of her own funds? Let's face facts and avail ourselves of opportunities hitherto not afforded by other carriers.
c mangion
Jul 1st 2008, 12:40
what a pity to read a negative letter like that when cheap airlines are giving the maltese people an oppurtunity to go abroad.
last december me with my partner & 2 kids went to dublin in ireland for just 330 euros ( 140 maltese liri). we had a very nice holiday and one that we could afford when comparing the same dates and time to fly with airmalta we were going to pay over 1400 euros!!!
i think we should be grateful we have this chance and opportunity and just for your information Mr Ellis with airmalta you still have to pay between 35 euros to 47 euros to change your flight