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Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

theguardian.com

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Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#201

Post by andrepd »

RankingMember wrote: post #96
andy99 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they tried to coax me into using my local currency instead of GBP and hid a £20 spread I’m finding this more and more. Uber does it, and even Walgreens does it when I’m in the US and tap my card it suggests that I pay in my home currency. This seems to be a new vector companies have found for ripping off their customers.

What really pisses me off is that this stuff is annoying and sometimes fools us , tech savvy people on a hacker forum. I can't imagine how many elderly/non-techie people are being fleeced out of their money because of these kind of dark patterns.

In 2025 it's decidedly old-fashioned to even think of interfering with the march of the orphan-crushing profit-maximising machine. Each quarter demands a fresh way to rip off people.

How quaint even the 90s seem today, and we though that was hyper capitalism!

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#202

Post by rkomorn »

scottyah wrote: post #192
rkomorn wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't fly with them, and likely never will, simply because a coworker once showed me their checkout flow (back in 2011) and I found the amount of dark patterns to try and get you to accidentally spend more than you meant so disgusting I swore I'd never do business with them. Being cheap is one thing, trying every trick in the book to try and make money the customer didn't mean to spend is another thing altogether a…

This is the true advantage of a competitive marketplace, your parent commenter votes yes to dark patterns where the person who can dodge them wins, and you vote for honest, open checkouts for a higher price. Luckily, you two don't have to agree and as long as there enough of you, both will coexist. Imagine if you had to agree and compromise on a single airline?

> This is the true advantage of a competitive marketplace

No thanks.

There can be a world where we don't let companies behave in the most abject ways possible.

> Imagine if you had to agree and compromise on a single airline?

This is literally a "the bar is in hell" take.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#203

Post by ruszki »

vosper wrote: post #148
blell wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the fact that people can’t talk on the phone whilst on a plane makes it infinitely better than a bus.

Starlink on flights could put an end to this

Could? I flew a month ago on a flight with Starlink. I downloaded 10s of gigabytes of data without hiccups. Calling was not an issue. And it was completely free.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#204

Post by ruszki »

mdhb wrote: post #195
blell wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the fact that people can’t talk on the phone whilst on a plane makes it infinitely better than a bus.

Do you not own a pair of headphones?

Especially that it’s completely normal to talk with each other on planes.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#205

Post by Ziomislaw »

xp84 wrote: post #165
doikor wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't anything new though. Been like that for the last 15 years at least. Always pay in the local currency (your bank/visa/mastercard will give you a better rate then the merchant)

Very true, but the other half is to ensure you don’t use a card with a foreign transaction fee, which will cost you 3-4%. There are free cards like the Amazon Prime Visa that don’t have it, but that fee is very common. The other thing I hate to see is people using the currency conversion desks at airports, or buying foreign currency from their banks in advance of trips. They give you awful rates. Assuming you’re trav…

When the ATM withdrawal usually costs you nothing, or in some cases when the bank does not have an agreement with the ATM company it can cost you 1,39$ then 3-4$ is a ripoff.

Also people buy currency locally - before the trip - where I am from, and all the rates are displayed, both in a bank or in currency exchange. You can compare. And even when someone is lazy they can just ask friends which place has the best rates, everybody seems to know which (and the answers are true and conistent, I checked). Buying locally at a currency exchange is the cheapest option.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#206

Post by perceptronas »

anonymousDan wrote: post #170

I will always fly Ryanair ahead of other low cost carriers in Europe as unlike easyJet for example they don't overbook. The most painful experience I've had was to arrive at an airport with a young family and get all the way to the easyJet flight gate to be told the flight is overbooked. And unlike the US where this starts an auction it's basically tough luck. Should be outright fraud in my opinion.

Interesting, are you at least entitled to rule 261 compensation?

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#207

Post by lotsofpulp »

onli wrote: post #171
alibarber wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's absolutely the shop. Their payment processor (the people they rent the machine off of) offers them this oppurtunity to 'unlock hidden revenue for merchants'[1][2][3] and they are happy to do this. Visa in fact tried to ban it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_currency_conversion Of course, there are regulations and agreements with various institutions that should be followed - but it's free money for the sh…

I doubt it. One person shops with no relevant contact to foreigners. Maybe the enterprise organising a credit card terminal for them activates it.

I've had one person shops try to convince me to pay in USD when I try to pay in the local currency.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#208

Post by lotsofpulp »

hexbin010 wrote: post #79
testing22321 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like the comment you are replying to said - if you don’t want super cheap prices and super cheap service, fly with a more expensive carrier. Qantas, emirates, etc etc. You get what you pay for .

Firstly Ryanair don't fly the routes Qantas and Emirates do, so you have no idea what you're on about comparing them Second, Ryanair et al have dragged all the previous decent airlines down with them into the gutter and even paying more doesn't really get you service of years gone by. The only way they could compete was by slashing costs and prices to appear near the same ranking in the search results. You don't real…

>Second, Ryanair et al have dragged all the previous decent airlines down with them into the gutter

Ryanair didn't drag anyone into the gutter. Buyers preferring to spend less did that, which could be for a variety of reasons, one of them being increased wealth gaps in society.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#209

Post by tchalla »

newppc wrote: post #164
arethuza wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ryanair used to do some things that were quite remarkably devious - the option to not by travel insurance was in the middle of drop-down list of countries! To make sure I had remembered that correctly I looked it up and here is a description of it: https://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/ryanair-to-change-hidden-tr... NB I've travelled with Ryanair quite a lot and actually don't mind the actual flights but it is wise to man…

Yea quite devious, in a weird way I suppose the dark patterns also serve as an IQ test that favors younger tech-literates who are familiar with web patterns and are also on a budget (though not all). I used Ryanair a lot while studying abroad in Europe and the €20 flights were real if you jumped through the hoops, which was quite magical. I once had a flight booked to Paris, but it landed in an airport 2 hours outsid…

The dark patterns favor the patient readers who are able to think through and make informed choices. That wouldn’t be most of the younger tech literates.

Re: Ryanair fined €256M over ‘abusive strategy’ to limit ticket sales by OTAs

#210

Post by lotsofpulp »

nutjob2 wrote: post #189
quokwok wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, that makes sense. Why isn't Ryanair allowed to prohibit use of their website by resellers?

It's a restraint of trade issue. You're not allowed to restrain other's people's ability to run a business or earn an income, beyond some reasonable cases. Like running the only gas station in town and then refusing to sell fuel to a competitor who is trying to build a gas station that wants to compete with you.

That is not analogous, as online travel agencies are just middlemen. I am not aware of a law anywhere requiring a seller to have to deal with middlemen.
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