[Anonymous]

[BigDog.]

Interesting case, which could set a welcome precedent, was settled by Ryanair before it went to court.

Ryanair charged upto 46% more for a UK purchased ticket UK-XX-UK than someone from Europe for the same ticket or a XX-UK-XX ticket. – A case of race discrimination?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319142/Why-UK-passengers-pay-Ryanair-And-mans-victory-open-floodgates.html

…”British travellers are paying considerably more for the same trip. It is not as if it is a greater distance or they need to use more fuel. I have a feeling they responded because they were in a sticky situation. I would like to see them refund everyone. I don’t think they should charge different rates to different people.”

[openfly]

This is not a precedent in European travel at all.

There are several cases of Ferry fares being different in either direction. This is the case in the Scottish Isles, between Ibiza and Formentera. Even in the UK train fares towards London can be higher than those from
London. When it comes to flights the local departure point can determine a different fare structure depending on the direction.

Sadly, in this case, Ryanair has little to worry about.

[Tallinnman]

My understanding is that the rip off was for a journey from UK to Croatia and that the price to UK internet users was X Pounds but the price to Croatian internet users was X Euros and therefore less.

It was discriminatory to British IP users under EU law even though Croatia is not in the EU.

The fact that Ryanair paid up before court is either an indication that they are breaking yet another law intentionally and they’re making a fortune doing so by fleecing UK based customers or it is their standard procedure in court cases to delay, pontificate and pay up last minute but only to those who go the course.

[SimonS1]

Like Tallinnman I wasn’t clear from the article whether it was actually a different journey or just whether it was booked from a different country.

For example I’m currently in Dubai, if I tried to book a flight from Stansted to Croatia would I be charged differently?

[rferguson]

There has always been this type of discrimation because it is all based on what a particular market is prepared to pay.

It’s unfortunate that Ryanair did settle out of court, I guess a legal precedent was what it (and many other travel related companies) fear most about a legal win for the consumer.

For example, say you are renting a car in Australia. Many rental firms will charge a British purchaser more than say american.

Even eurostar. Last year I wanted to book some return tickets from London to Paris in their premium class. At the beginning of the transaction it asked me which country I resided in. I clicked the uk. I was given my quote in pounds. Out of curiosity I went back and clicked that I was a resident of the US. Same train, same class, same date and time. Was obviously quoted in usd but when I converted that into gbp it was about 30% cheaper.

And we all know about the airlines. Could it really be less of a cost for an airline to transport a passenger say CDG-LHR-LAX than LHR-LAX direct on the same flight?

[ImissConcorde]

Almost all goods/services in the U.K. cost what the market will bear with little regard to the cost of provision. Not travel related but the one that tips me over the edge is Levi jeans. John Lewis charge £75.00 The same ones can be bought in the U.S. for $37 (£23.75)

[HarryMonk]

Another example of airlines pricing differences, one I noticed a few months back when trying to make a mileage redemption booking with Delta
Check the difference in fees & surcharges between an itinerary that originates in Europe to a destination in the USA such as LHR-LAX-LHR with the reverse itinerary LAX-LHR-LAX.
Now one could expect a small difference, perhaps within a few Pounds, in fees & surcharges owing to currency differences etc but the difference is huge. The difference was due to something Delta like to call an “International Surcharge” which only seems to apply to redemption bookings that originate in Europe.

Just tried again, taxes & fees for an economy redemption booking listed below to put some numbers to things

LHR-LAX-LHR = US$595.30 (inc $370.40 “international surcharge” + $34.40 “other taxes” )

LAX-LHR_LAX = US$188.00 (no “international surcharge” + no “other taxes” )

Are European based Skymiles members are being discriminated against?

[Tallinnman]

Yes HM, quite clearly they are.

I believe there is a US based attempt to charge BA with some offence in the US relating to US Avios customers having to pay additional ‘charges’ on redemption flights.

Living in Florida recently it was cheaper to buy car rental in the UK and it came already bundled with insurance. You had to show a UK driving licence at the desk on occasion.

[Binman62]

The fee rip off extends to BA charging YQ for flights on other carriers where that carrier has no fee.
Can only hope that the DOT investigation of BA YQ gets some legs and meets with some success. The EU should however be dealing with this.

[Author]

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