<<< pay some extra euros 6 i think and when placing a booking choose priority boarding ......... you will avoid it all >>>

Except that Rynair - and many of the other budgets - use buses to get you to the plane, so all that "priority boarding" fee gets is is first on the bus - and probably last off the bus

There's no need to push or shove. The worst that can happen is that you end up with a middle seat. But I've never been subject to any sort of unbearable scene, and I've always ended up with a window or aisle.

I don't know if they do it at all the airports but at Stansted and others that I can't remember, they started putting priority passengers on a separate bus so they could get to the plane first. It's still pushy-shovey though, way more than I ever experienced with, say, Southwest.

One more hidden charge I encountered this weekend (and this is coming from a very enthusiastic Ryanair fan)...

I have been watching a fare on Ryanair for a while, to Palermo (this June) - - and this weekend, it fell from 29.99 GBP to 19.99 and I decided to pull the trigger (yes, I realize that it _could_ still fall to 0.0l GBP! LOL! but it could go up, too!)

So, I knew about the taxes and fees... and I knew about the 5 GBP to check a bag, and the 2 GBP fee for (mandatory) airport check-in (if you are checking a bag) and the 2 GBP fee to use a credit card!

But it threw me for a loop (for a moment) to see that Ryanair has its own version of "DCC" (dynamic current conversion) - - the website indicated that I would be charged by << emonex.com >> with the exchange rate of 2.07 USD:GBP - - when the interbank rate is 1.95 - - so, effectively, another 6%!

Now, the fare is STILL a bargain - - about $112 USD per person (the cheapest alternative on Alitalia is $146 and it is NOT nonstop like Ryanair is).

But you just hate to see your mental math bashed in, at the moment of the transaction.

To be balanced, I will comment positively on a 10 day car rental offer presented by Hertz, exclusively for Ryanair passengers (requires a boarding pass as proof) that was $145 cheaper than a quote (just got it yesterday) from gemut.com and $180 cheaoer than AutoEurope.

So this more than cancels out the $36 dollars (six passengers) in gotcha DCC cost.

Still doesn't make the DCC right.

So Ryanair automatically converted the prices from Euro or GBP to USD (or conch shells or whatever you used).

That's a new one on me as generally if flying from - say - UK to Italy and back it was generally cheaper to purchase the Italy to UK leg separately as you then got the Euro price rather than the GBP price Ryanair had settled on

My friend still brags about the time we got a london-dublin fare of $6.40

I assume that if you live in the UK, and tried to purchase a ticket originating in the euro zone, using a credit card from a bank with holdings in GBP, then there would be DCC for the price in euros to GBP since you would paying with those.

Ryanair has been doing DCC for a long time - in fact, I think they were "pioneers" in this field. When was the last ticket you booked with them, Rex?

May 2004. The fares were so very, very low, it's possiblr that I did not notice. I bought 15 tickets in three transactions (family of five, Graz to STN, STN to Prestwick and Prestwick back to STN), and each purchase was under $100 if I recall correctly.

While I am irked, they still get my business, for now.

DCC is giving the OPTION of being allowed to pay in your own currency or the local currency

If Ryanair isn't doing that then either it's not DCC or it's doing something very illegal under the terms of it's agreement with the CC companies

If you are charged DCC without having being given the option then complain about the charge to your CC company

They "make it clear" that the conversion is effected by emonex.com - - so I am sure that they would say that they are not violating terms.

And I am not going to lodge a complaint because I want what they are selling! I would not want to jinx the sale!

But I don't think it out of line to let others know the _full_ cost (BEFORE they set out to book)... in case they want to consider other competitors.

After all, THEY let you know the full cost WHIU\LE you are making the purchase - - but you may feel like you have already made up your mind, at that time.

But they aren't giving you the option of using the local currency, therefore they are breaking their agreement with the Card company

I would not fly RyanAir again. All the hoops are one thing, but then they keep playing with them.

We did RyanAir from Ciampino to Frankfurt. Carefully did the bags, weighed them again at an empty spot at the airport, at least 1 kilo under on everything. Got into the ticket line, gee they were all about 2 kilos over. After an argument with the agent, they let them fly.

Don't pay for priority boarding, it means almost nothing.

Yellow, yellow, yellow. I thought I'd need sunglasses before the flight was over.

If you are anywhere near 6' tall, expect a tight fit.

Customer service was lousy at best, with rude attendants and gate people. This is NOT how Southwest got started.

Yes, the plane arrived ontime and no luggage was lost.

dave