Ryanair Cheap Flights - How to save on Credit Card Charges

One of the most annoying issues encountered when travelling with Ryanair, particularly on very cheap flights is the credit card charge. This amounts to €5 per person per flight leg. For our family of four this will add a further €40 euro to the cost. So, how can you save on this ? There are a few ways !

1. Pay with your credit card (no saving here)
2. Electron Card
3. Ryanair Gift Vouchers
4. A combination of both of the above

Electron Card: What is it and how does it work ?

• This is a virtual card that you can apply for online and start using immediately. (Entropay is a brand)
• Set up your entropay account in £sterling.
• There is no charge for using this card to pay for your flights on Ryanair, though it does cost 4.95% to load your card.
• Your card can be loaded online from your current credit card.

Link to entropay website below

http://www.entropay.com/.

Ryanair Gift Vouchers: What are they and how do they work ?

• Ryanair Vouchers can be bought on the Ryanair site.
• They are sold in €25 and €50 denominations only
• You may purchase up to €200 worth of gift vouchers at a time
• There is a processing charge of €5 per voucher
• Ryanair do not give you change on your vouchers, the balance, if any goes to them and vouchers are no refundable
• Vouchers can only be used for flights booked where the lead name on the booking and the name on the voucher are the same.
• Make sure and read all the terms and conditions here: https://www.bookryanair.com/SkySales/VoucherIssuance.aspx?culture=EN-IE&lc=EN-IE

So, how do you save money on your flights ?

To try and make this is a simple as possible I will use an example

Example: Four return flights to London at just €4 each way for 4 people. Total cost of flights = €32. (no checked baggage, no insurance, free online checkin)

Different Ways you can pay for this €32 Charge.

1. Pay with your credit card

• Flight Cost €32
• Credit Card Cost €5 per person per flight = 5x8 = €40
• Total Cost €72

2. Pay with Ryanair Gift Vouchers

• Flight Cost €32
• Purchase Ryanair Gift Voucher for €50 and pay for flights plus handling fee of €5 You receive no change so this will cost you €55
• Total Cost €55

3. Pay with your Electron Card

• Flight Cost €32
• Visa Electron Cost to load €32 = 4.95% = €1.58
• Total Cost €33.58

4. Combination of Gift Vouchers and Electron Card

• Flight Cost €32
• Gift Voucher purchase €25 + €5 handling fee
• Entro Pay card for balance of €7 = 4.95% cost = 35 cents
• Total Cost: €37.35

In the example above paying by Electron Card is the cheapest method. If your flights are more than approx €110 a combination of Gift Cards and paying by Electron Card is likely to work out cheapest. You will need to determine which of the options 2, 3 or 4 above are best suited to your flight costs.

Remember if your flights are over €200 and gift vouchers are the cheapest method of paying, just break your booking into 2. This can also be helpful in cutting down airport check in charges if you book all the bags on one booking with one person and book online checkin for all other members of the party on a second booking. This is because Ryanair will only allow one type of checkin per booking.

If you use gift vouchers and have a remaining balance you should always pay the balance by Electron. If you balance is only one cent and you pay by normal credit card you will be caught for the full €5 per person per flight charge.

This post has ending up longer than intended.

Please post your comments below.

If you reference this blog elsewhere please credit this source