By Channel 4 News
The no-frills airline Ryanair has been strongly criticised for exploiting legal loopholes to allow it to advertise fares without mentioning the cost of credit card bookings.
Passengers who book Ryanair tickets pay a £5 credit and debit card fee per person per flight, unless they pay with a Mastercard prepaid card.
A family of four would pay £40 for a return flight. This exemption means the airline can legally advertise tickets for £5, without mentioning the card payment fees which most customers will have to pay.
In an interview with the Independent newspaper, the chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading, John Fingleton, called the charging policy "puerile".
He told the paper: "It's almost like taunting consumers and pointing out: 'Oh well, we know this is completely outside the spirit of the law, but we think it's within the narrow letter of the law'."
ABTA spokesperson Frances Tuke said: "Rayanair is an airline that has always tried to increase its revenue by adding optional extras onto the booking process.
"And we believe at ABTA - and also the law believes too - that there should be as much transparency as possible when it comes to booking flights, so that the process is very fair."
In October, the OFT launched an investigation into internet marketing practices, including the so-called "drip-pricing" strategy used by airlines such as Ryanair, where charges such as booking fees and baggage charges are added on during the buying process, so the final bill is substantially larger than the initial advertised figure.
Until late last year, the exemption only applied to the obscure Visa electron cards – and many regular fliers opened accounts with these cards just to avoid Ryanair booking fees.
The exemption was then switched to the Mastercard prepaid cards. A Ryanair spokesman said: "The Mastercard prepaid is more widely available across Europe and we encourage people to make that switch."
He added: "Ryanair is not for the overpaid John Fingletons of this world but for the everyday Joe Bloggs who opt for Ryanair's guaranteed lowest fares because we give them the opportunity to fly across 26 European countries for free, £5 and £10."
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