Ryanair condamnée aux Pays-Bas pour publicité mensongère

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Advertising Code Committee gives judgment against Ryanair after ANVR complaint

The Dutch Advertising Code Committee gives judgment against air carrier Ryanair because Ryanair fails to inform -when advertising a ticket price - that a customer has to pay a significant sum of additional costs when paying with a credit card.  

The Irish carrier charges the customer in the booking process with a significant sum of additional costs for using a credit card. The ANVR proved with an example that when buying a ticket with a credit card costing for example € 60,-, Ryanair charges a customer an additional € 50,- for administration fees. The customer can only avoid having to pay these additional costs  by making use of one specific type of prepaid debit card, that is hardly available in The Netherlands.  

Ryanair fails to notify the customer of the lack of availability of this specific prepaid debit card nor does she mention the costs linked to using this card.   

More than sufficient reason for the Dutch Association of Tour operators and Travel agents ANVR to file a formal complaint.  

The Dutch Advertising Code Committee judged last April that the additional costs for the use of a credit card are not optional (or so-called: avoidable) costs and that these costs have to be included in the advertised ticket price. The Advertising Code Committee hence ruled Ryanair was in breach of the Dutch Advertising Code and recommended them strongly no longer to advertise in this manner. 

Ryanair subsequently filed an appeal against this ruling. The Board of Appeal of the Advertising Code Committee has now ruled that the before mentioned debit card is not an actual alternative and thus that these additional costs are unavoidable. ANVR is right in its claim that these costs should have been included in the advertised ticket price. With that The Board of Appeal confirms the earlier ruling of the Advertising Code Committee. 

ANVR director Frank Oostdam says to be happy with the rulings of the Advertising Code Committee: ”Ryanair does not play a fair game by excluding from the advertized ticket prize these so-called ‘optional’ surcharges. We have seen examples that show that booking with Ryanair is up to 80% more expensive than the prize that they use in their advertising. Justly so the Advertising Code Committee made clear in this rulings that these tricks are contrary to

the rules”.