Ryanair passengers are being told they have to sign up for a new branded pre-paid card available from October 4 in order to avoid a £6 administration fee per flight.
Passengers using Mastercard pre-paid cards, which currently exempt them from the fee, will be charged from November. The airline will instead only waive the charge for those who sign up to the new Ryanair Cash Passport.
It will initially cost £6 to buy, although each customer will be given a £6 Ryanair travel voucher. The specific type of card that avoided the Ryanair administration fee had previously been changed from Electron card to Mastercard pre-paid cards.
“All UK bookings made with any other UK Mastercard prepaid card will attract Ryanair’s £6 admin fee from November 1 onwards,” the airline confirmed.
A spokesman said: “Ryanair’s £6 admin fee will not apply to any bookings made with Ryanair Cash Passport and there are no transaction charges for using the card at UK merchants until March 31, 2012.”