Ryanair has again called on customers to always book directly on the Ryanair website or App, in its latest efforts to limit the influence of ‘screen scraping’ operators.
The airline says it has ‘further evidence of anti-consumer practices by certain Online Travel Agents.’
It has been notified by customers of a bogus ‘discount; scam, where customers purchase discounted Ryanair flights through an intermediary, which has no affiliation to Ryanair.
This ‘bogus OTA’ then uses the customer’s payment details to secure their flight booking and stores the customer’s payment details for fraudulent use at a later date.
Ryanair is cautioning customers to avoid potential scams by booking direct.
Ryanair recently launched a Price Checker tool which allows customers who booked through a third party to check whether they have been charged extra fees.
The Price Checker tool has been used by more than 50,000 customers to date, Ryanair says.
Ryanair claims some OTAs apply up to 40% markups compared to direct bookings.
"This latest OTA scam is yet another reason why passengers should always book direct. Online travel agents are selling our flights but have no commercial agreements with us to do so," said Ryanair’s Director of Marketing, Dara Brady.
The budget carrier also launched the ‘Verified Seal’ which shows customers that they are booking directly with Ryanair on the official website or app.
