Ryanair: New complaints about Online Travel Agency | Overcharging £125 for a flight change

Ryanair is launching new accusations against online travel agencies, with its February investigation highlighting On The Beach as the top misleader, overcharging the travelling public by 117% (£125) for a flight change that costs just £45 on Ryanair’s website.

And while the partnerships with Kiwi.com and Loveholidays suggested that Ryanair’s dispute with online booking sites might be dying down, this is not the case.

Returning, therefore, to the “front” it has opened with online travel agencies, in addition to On The Beach, the Irish airline is taking Opodo and eSky to the front line.

In a statement, the low-cost carrier stresses: “Ryanair is continuing its campaign to protect consumers from overcharging and misleading sales by Online Travel Agencies such as On The Beach, Lastminute.com, eDreams, Opodo and Booking.com, and is again calling on the United Kingdom and Irish governments and European Union consumer agencies to take action to stop this consumer deception.”

For its part, Ryanair’s Dara Brady notes On The Beach as the No. 1 diseptive in February for overcharging £125 for a flight change, while Opodo charges €60 for a non-existent service and eSky charges €33 for “cancelled” flights that cannot be cancelled.

She claims that these are just some of the hundreds of examples of Online Travel Agencies and platforms engaging in acts of digital hijacking of Ryanair’s website to overcharge, defraud and deceive unsuspecting consumers about the airline’s products and services.

It denounces the British and Irish governments and European Union consumer organisations for continuing to ignore this rampant online piracy.

According to her, Ryanair will continue to campaign against these Online Travel Agencies and platforms by publicising their digital piracy and overcharging scams, and will continue to call for them to be held accountable and for an end to their illegal activities.