Ryanair’s attempts to simplify its website and become more consumer friendly have come under attack today from baggage courier company Luggage Mule.
The firm claimed that a family of four would pay more than £1,200 extra as a result of the carrier’s ancillary charges and excess baggage charges for checking in bags, travel insurance and car hire on a July return from Stansted to Barcelona against other methods sourced online.
Luggage Mule’s claims prior to its launch in August that it could save passengers £50 off the cost of a Ryanair fare with checked-in luggage was disputed by the airline. Ryanair said that its customers would not be interested in the service, because 80% did not check in luggage.
But the bag courier firm claimed today that a poll of users showed that almost half (46%) would have chosen to take 25kg of luggage at Luggage Mule’s £74.99 charge if it had been available at the time of booking.
The home-to-hotel luggage service estimates that travel agents sell more than one million Ryanair seats a year, but are invisible to the airline. This is because they often book Ryanair flights with the customer’s credit card and email address, when dynamically packaging holidays using Ryanair flights.
Managing director Jordan Makin claimed: “Ryanair continue to be anti-travel trade, but have failed miserably with their previous attempts to block travel agents booking via the use of reCAPTCHA codes etc. The only logical reason I can see for this stance is that travel agents provide much better value when it comes to holiday extras.
“Although Ryanair do offer great value flights, in my opinion they try to make ridiculous profits from over-pricing holiday extras.”
Company co-founder Steve Endacott added: “Whether Ryanair likes it or not, travel agents will continue to sell their flights. The Luggage Mule service now means travel agents can sell Ryanair flights, plus a reasonable amount of luggage allowance, far cheaper per family of four, than customers can buy them directly from Ryanair and avoid those nasty excess baggage fees, bag drops and foreign baggage carousels.”
Luggage Mule offered a comparison between the prices a family of four would pay for standard holiday extras with Ryanair, compared to what they would pay if they purchased them online or via travel agents.
Based on return flights from Stansted to Barcelona for 7 days, in July:
- Holiday Luggage: Luggage Mule charges £74.99 for 25kg of luggage whereas the Ryanair equivalent is £170 each way, with excess baggage fees – an over-charge by Ryanair of £265.
- Car Hire: Rentalcar.com offers a Renault Cleo for £55 where as an equivalent car with Ryanair would cost £150 – an over-charge by Ryanair of £96 or 172%
- Holiday Insurance: Moneysupermarket offers a family insurance policy for £13.14 compared to Ryanair’s charge of £59.40 – an over-charge by Ryanair of £46.26 or 352%
- Total over-charge of £1,201.26