[tm2send]

I purchased 2 tickets directly from RYANAIR via internet for a flight from Venice, Italy to Barcelona on August 15, 2017. The quoted price was 305.98 Euros. A few minutes after clicking the button to purchase, I received a booking receipt. RYANAIR converted the euros to US dollars and charged my credit card $384.53 and stated on the receipt, regarding the conversion rate for euros to USD, “FX rate 1.25672 USD”. The FX rate that day was 1.1787 (website address: https//fx-rate.net – click “historical” button). In fact, the highest FX rate in the past 12 months was 1.204. RYANAIR charged my credit card $384.53 when it should have charged $360.66 by its own stated method of conversion, the FX rate. I searched for other complaints and found many US citizens had the same experience, being cheated by RYANAIR from 6.5 to 7.0 percent.
I spent a lot of time filing a complaint with RYANAIR asking why they did not use their own stated method of conversion, the FX rate, and overcharged US citizens by 6.6%. Their responses were laughable. Included in their response was some nonsense about how they were saving me from the conversion fees my credit card would have charged me. My Venture One Capital credit card does not charge a conversion fee, which is why I use it for international travel. I used several other airlines during my summer travel and each of those airlines asked ahead of time which currency I wanted to be charged in. RYANAIR offers low basic fees for airline flights, but they secretly steal money from unsuspecting foreign travelers. Get the TOTAL price before deciding on RYANAIR. I will not support any business that blatantly steals from their customers and completely ignores their complaints.

[travelking940]

Having been based in Europe for the last 6 months with only US credit cards, I have some experience here.

Once you enter a US Dollar billed credit card, Ryanair switches over to quoting the final price in US Dollars. They also provide the exact exchange rate they are using and allow you to unselect the currency conversion and accept billing in the local currency (whether EUR or GBP or whatever it happens to be).

The checkout page clearly says: "Your debit/credit card will now be charged $ xx.xx (€ xx.xx) Click here for more information on our guaranteed exchange rate."

Clicking on the link then provides this information: "Exchange rate of 1.2402969 so xx.xx EUR = xx.xx USD. If you do not wish to accept the exchange rate please untick the checkbox below."

[tm2send]

This response sounds like it came from a Ryanair employee or their PR firm – it is totally deceitful. My complaint has always been purposely sidetracked by Ryanair as in the above response to my complaint. My complaint is simple: my BOOKING CONFIRMATION from Ryanair clearly states as copied and pasted here: “Total paid in card holders currency FX rate 1.25672 USD” and dated August 15, 2017. The FX rate on the day of booking was 1.1787 which is easily verifiable on the FX rate historical page. As my complaint above states, Ryanair charged me 6.6% above their own stated method of conversion (the FX rate). Ryanair has never responded to the essence of my complaint: instead they try to divert attention to their 60 or 70 pages of General Conditions of Carriage - Article 18. Nowhere in that document does it mention the method of their conversion. The only place it is mentioned is on the BOOKING CONFIRMATION they sent to me. And then they added 6.6% to their stated conversion rate, similar to many other complaints I have read. Hey Ryanair, don’t be deceitful in your responses – answer my specific complaint – adding 6.6% to the FX rate you quoted in my BOOKING CONFIRMATION.

[travelking940]

Nope. Don't work there. Just happen to fly them a lot and got burned by this once before.

I am 100% in agreement that their Dynamic Currency Conversion is a rip off (just as it is when hotels present the option or restaurants or gift shops or museums). All I'm saying is that they disclose the rate they are going to use, display the fare in both EUR and USD, and give you the option not to pay in USD.

Right now I'm looking at their site and they are using an exchange rate of 1.2402969 when the mid-market rate is 1.16417, which is a 6.53% premium. Definitely a crappy deal and feels scammy, but totally out in the open and you can opt-out.