Archive for the 'Consumer issues' Category
From 1 January 2010, the only way to avoid the Ryanair admin fees of £5 per person per flight, is to pay by Mastercard prepaid debit card. Until 31 December 2009 you could avoid the Ryanair admin charges by paying for flights with a Visa Electron card.. It was always stated on the site that [...]
December 6th, 2009 | Posted in Consumer issues, Europe travel tips, Travel finance | 47 Comments
When I read that Ryanair will charge a £5 per person per flight online check-in fee for all bookings made from 20 May 2009, the first thing that crossed my mind was, is this legal? My understanding was that airlines had to include all compulsory costs in the price displayed on the website. You can’t [...]
May 13th, 2009 | Posted in Air travel, Consumer issues, Europe travel news | 51 Comments
If you book a few flights a year with low cost airlines, you could save yourself a tidy sum by paying for your flights with a Visa Electron card and avoiding the additional booking and/or payment fees. Visa Electron cards are available with some basic current accounts such as the Halifax Easycash Account. However from [...]
May 9th, 2009 | Posted in Air travel, Budget options, Consumer issues, United Kingdom | 21 Comments
Hotel overbooking is when a hotel has taken bookings for more guests than it can accommodate. They can often get away with this as there is usually a number of cancellations and no shows. However you may be the unlucky person who turns up to be told that there’s no room at the inn. Hotel [...]
April 29th, 2009 | Posted in Accommodation, Consumer issues, United Kingdom | No Comments
Now I thought that British Airways dedicated Terminal 5 at Heathrow was supposed to ensure great service for passengers. Well I can testify to the fact that this is not the case. My BA flight from Edinburgh to Heathrow Terminal 5 this morning was delayed due to fog at Heathrow. I was due to connect [...]
April 20th, 2009 | Posted in Air travel, Consumer issues | 13 Comments
Wizzair and me, we’re not getting along too well. We’ve never been close, but these days things are bad. Really bad. I’d successfully avoided flying Wizzair whenever possible, but last week I had no choice. It’s the only airline flying directly from Skavsta (which pretends to be Stockholm) to Gdańsk (which is actually in Gdańsk [...]
October 27th, 2008 | Posted in Air travel, Consumer issues | 22 Comments
This morning’s lead story on Guardian Money talks about the increased awareness of Visa Electron card with comment from me and a link to Europe a la Carte. The Saturday Guardian Money picked up on my recent article about how to avoid Ryanair’s tripling of debit card fees by paying fee free with a Visa [...]
October 25th, 2008 | Posted in Consumer issues | No Comments
Update 6 December 2009: From 1 Janaury 2010 the only payment card which will not incur the Ryanair £5 per person per person per flight admin fee is the Mastercard prepaid debit card. You can use your Visa Electron card until 31 December 2009 to avoid the Ryanair fees. From 01/01/10 payment by Visa Electron [...]
July 17th, 2008 | Posted in Air travel, Budget options, Consumer issues, United Kingdom | 56 Comments
by shriff14 Representatives of the Tirolean Tourism Board in Austria are whipping up the rumour that London tap water has passed through an average of eight people before you drink it to launch the promotion of pure Tirolean bottled water in London. A spokesperson from the Tirol is quoted as “Iwondering what London’s fish swim [...]
May 23rd, 2008 | Posted in Competitions, Consumer issues, Restaurants, United Kingdom | No Comments
Travel Rants has been award Best UK Travel Blog in the Travolution Awards 2008. It’s a well deserved accolade for Travel Rants editor, Darren Cronian. Travel Rants is the UK’s only independent travel consumer blog. There are a multitude of concerns for UK travel consumers with recent posts about airlines thinking of charging extra for [...]
April 25th, 2008 | Posted in Blogs, Consumer issues, Travel writing, United Kingdom | No Comments