Ryanair again exchanging my euros on purchase

[Georgina]

just paid for my ticket for Ryanair when purchasing in Euros and I noticed the **** did the exchange rate on my card and changed it to pounds which made me lose on the exchange rate by about £20. I did not see any box to tick asking them to take GBP instead if euros as if they had taken in euros as the price indictated,  I would have had a more favourable rate. I do not see any way of changing this? Anyone else ?

[AnOther]

Rarely use them these days but does it not depend on where you book the flight(s) from. i.e. book from Bergerac to Stansted say and you pay in Euros, the other way round it's in pounds ?

Also you cannot directly pay anyone in Euros with a UK Sterling based card.

[Georgina]

Well how come I can pay anything in euros in France with a sterling card? Sorry am I not understanding you here??

[AnOther]

Of course you can pay in Euros but if your card is a UK one linked to a sterling account then it will be converted to Euros at whatever rate the retailer chooses.

Maybe you just haven't noticed it before ?

[Pickles]

[quote user="AnOther"]Of course you can pay in Euros but if your card is a UK one linked to a sterling account then it will be converted to Euros at whatever rate the retailer chooses.[/quote]

Not necessarily, I'm afraid. By default, normally, the rate that is used for currency conversions is set by the card issuer, not the retailer. However, one of the "holiday scams" of recent years was for retailers (frequently in Spain) to present the customer with a price presented in GBP instead of Euros for a credit card transaction. Obviously the rate used in these conversions was rather favourable for the retailer. Ryanair are now doing the same thing, in which flights or flight pairs originating outside the UK are priced in Euros, right up to the point where the debit/credit/prepaid card no is typed in, at which point if the card is a GBP-denominated one, right at the last minute an option is presented in slightly confusing terms indicating that "as a service to you", "so that you know exactly how much will be debited from your card" and hence saving you all the worry about the rate that will be applied by your card company, Ryanair will convert the € price into £ - at a rate which is somewhat adrift of the market rate - and at this point YOU MUST OPT-OUT or else that is what you will pay.

You have to be very careful when using the Ryanair site - just because it worked in a particular way or sequence in the past is no guarantee that it will continue to do so in the future. And yes, I was caught out by this, once only. Lesson learned.

Regards

Pickles

[Jimmy]

[quote user="Georgina"]Well how come I can pay anything in euros in France with a sterling card? Sorry am I not understanding you here??

[/quote]

Now don't answer back - don't you know No 42 knows the answer to everything!!

Seriously though, you have to be ultra careful when booking with Ryanair. I would have probably been caught out by that, thanks Pickles.

[AnOther]

[quote user="Pickles"]Not necessarily, I'm afraid. By default, normally [/quote]A lot of scope for free expression there [;-)]

Paypal for instance have their own exchange rates regardless of the funding source be that a card or a bank account. Their current €/£ rate is a rather poor unispiring 1.15309 so even with funds coming from a Nationwide card, at todays interbank rate of 1.183, you will be losing on the transaction.

[Georgina]

Well if i am paying in Euros I expect to be charged in Euros and the card to be debited in euros, there was no indication to choose otherwise. I may report this to trading standards. Ryanair stated my flight off at E134 and I ended up paying at the end of the deal, with E40 per bag of max 15kg £220!!  They seriously p... me off.

[Jimmy]

You don't have to fly with Ryanair of course. Why not fly Airfrance, for example Poitiers to London £435 each way.

[Georgina]

No I will go Flybe next time, just waited too long to book unfortunately.  My point is that I was made to pay in GBP when my flight was in Euros.

[Chancer]

Auchan have been doing exactly the same thing for years, it happens automatically at the chip n pin terminal and yes you get shafted by the rate.

Once bitten twice shy, I always check now, I expect that  this moey spinning courtesy to foreign visitors will probably be rolled out elsewhere, perhaps the fuel stations now that they begrudgingly accept UK cards out of hours and during the lunch (two and a half) hour.

[AnOther]

[quote user="Georgina"]No I will go Flybe next time, just waited too long to book unfortunately.  My point is that I was made to pay in GBP when my flight was in Euros.[/quote]The real point is Georgina that you do not seem to understand or accept that you cannot possibly book a flight from France priced in Euros and pay with a UK sterling card without it being subject to exchange somewhere and at whatever rate is being applied, how else do you think the airline are supposed to get their Euros ?

You can book with Flybe or any other airline you like but you will find exactly the same.

[Keni]

You actually need two cards - one in France and one for the Uk. I use the CA one travelling in France and the NW in the UK. Simply make sure there is enough money in both for whatever you need. Solves the problem maybe?

[Iceni]

Simples, Chris, but when did any woman think logically?

John

[Georgina]

[quote user="AnOther"][quote user="Georgina"]No I will go Flybe next time, just waited too long to book unfortunately.  My point is that I was made to pay in GBP when my flight was in Euros.[/quote]The real point is Georgina that you do not seem to understand or accept that you cannot possibly book a flight from France priced in Euros and pay with a UK sterling card without it being subject to exchange somewhere and at whatever rate is being applied, how else do you think the airline are supposed to get their Euros ?

You can book with Flybe or any other airline you like but you will find exactly the same.

[/quote]

Yes, the confusion we are having is that I wanted MY bank to make the exchange as they normally do not Ryanair. The price was in euros and they could have been paid in euros, my bank would have done the exchange but there was no option for this. It is like when you go to Spain and withdraw money from your bank, the machine asks if you want the bank you are withdrawing from to make the exchange, at least they ask. Ryanair made an extra £20 without asking.

[AnOther]

Now I'm confused, what arrangement do you have, and with which UK bank, to pay an online shopping bill or invoice in Euros not pounds, I don't think I have ever heard of such a thing ?

Also it's a very long time since I last withdrew money in Spain but I do so regularly in France and have done so on numerous occassions in Germany but have no recollection of any machine giving me the option of who I wanted to make the exchange.