Ryanair targeted by British business watchdog
Helen YoungRyanair is being criticized by the boss of the British Office of Fair Trading because of some of its credit card policy.
Office of Fair Trading chief executive John Fingleton said during an interview that they were doing so because the airline is tacking on fees for tickets purchased online.
Mr Fingleton questioned Ryanair’s practice of targeting certain cards and levying fees on them. He also singled out the addition of insurance to flights which is carried out automatically by commercial carriers in general, which customers avoid by only voluntarily opting out.
After an OFT intervention earlier this year, the low-cost Irish carrier promised to carry out measures which would enhance the clarity of its website as well as the transparency of other advertising.
It was reported last month that the Ryanair had began charging fees when customers used the Electron card, where as their use had been free in the past. The airline modified to MasterCard pre-pay from its free option.
Mr Fingleton said Ryanair was getting around the rules by using low frequency payment options.
He told reporters that the budget-carrier would say to customers that they could use those forms of payment.
Mr Fingleton dubbed Ryanair’s move as nothing less than “puerile” and “childish.”
He added that the practice of automatically adding insurance when customers purchased a ticket was a grey area.
Stephen McNamara, the Head of Communications at Ryanair directly attacked the chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading by saying that said the low-cost airline was not for an overpaid Fingleton but rather the average Joe who opt for the company’s guaranteed lowest fares.
Mr McNamara defended Ryanair’s practice by saying the OFT had to become aware that traveler choose Ryanair because of its business model which permits it to avoid costs, including baggage charges and fuel surcharging which are practice at a trouble airline such as British Airways.
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Filed under Business & Finance, Europe News, Travel News, UK News