Ryanair has hit back at an elderly couple who went to the media to complain about being charged £55 (US $70) each to check in at the airport for a flight to Bergerac in France after they got confused while downloading their boarding passes on the Ryanair website and accidentally checked-in for their return flight.
Husband and wife Ruth, 79, and Peter Jaffe, 80, had booked to fly with Ryanair from London Stansted to Bergerac last week and only realised they hadn’t checked in online correctly after they turned up at the airport.
Once at the check-in counter, the couple were told they would have to pay a standard £55 airport check-in fee each or face being denied boarding. After stumping up the £110 just to have their boarding pass printed at the airport, the couple were then told they would have to pay extra to sit together.
Their story made headlines when their daughter slammed Ryanair on social network X for charging so much money for a one-minute process that simply involved printing out two pieces of paper.
Ryanair typically sells flights at a very low base fare and then charges for optional extras like baggage and seating. On top of these ‘ancillary’ fees, the budget Irish carrier also tries to discourage passengers from using services that add an additional cost to its operation, such as airport check-in or telephone booking.
On its extensive table of optional fees, Ryanair charges €20 to reissue a lost boarding pass, €60 to change a flight over the telephone, and €100 to rearrange a flight for passengers who turn up late at the airport.
The couple’s daughter asked Ryanair to give staff ‘leeway’ to waive the fees, but the airline isn’t backing down and has come out fighting over the issue, saying it ‘regrets’ that the passengers ignored an email reminder the check-in online.
“In accordance with Ryanair T&Cs (terms and conditions), which these passengers agreed to at the time of booking, they failed to check-in online before arriving at Stansted Airport (11 Aug) despite receiving an email reminder (10 Aug) to check in online,” the airline said in a statement.
“These passengers were correctly charged the airport check-in fee (£55 per pax [passenger]).
“All passengers travelling with Ryanair agree to check-in inline before arriving at their departure airport, and all passengers are sent an email/SMS, reminding them to do so 24hrs before departure,” the statement continued.
“We regret that these passengers ignored their email reminder and failed to check in online”.
Ryanair used to take pride in its reputation for being the ‘nasty’ airline that would sting passengers with harsh rules and steep fees, but the carrier softened its stance several years ago under its ‘Always Getting Better’ initiative.
Nonetheless, Ryanair makes it clear that passengers should book direct through the Ryanair website and manage their flights via the website or Ryanair app or face hefty fees for doing so at the airport.
