Ryanair latest scam - beware Dutch nationals

My wife was left stranded in Alicante two weeks ago having been denied boarding at the gate by Ryanair. My wife is a Dutch national and the way in which one's name is denoted shows maiden name followed by married name. In our case, this does not mean that she is known as Elsie Voets Pegg. What the passport is saying in Dutch is that she was once Elsie Voets and is now Elsie Pegg. She was booked on the flight as Elsie Pegg - as we have done countless times before all over the world. She was denied boarding because the gate operative deemed her name was Elsie Voets Pegg. She was not allowed to pay to correct this as the flight was suddenly full - hence showing the thinly disguised reason for this - an overbooked flight.

I can understand you being seriously narked and wish you joy in your futile attempt to get compensation.  But the Ryanair website is quite clear - it asks for first name and last name.  If the passport shows a last name of Voets Pegg, then why on earth are you not showing that when you book the flight?  You will in future of course.

As for the rest of your comments about Ryanair - complete load of nonsense. I'd give Michael O'Leary a knighthood.  He has completely revolutionised air travel.  I'm flying Bristol to Malaga for £12 all in.  Crazy!!  And there's no deceit. You know what you're paying before you hit the confirm button.  

Is this a case of double dutch?

 At the end of the day love them or hate them, They are by far the cheapest airline from Ireland to Spain, Even with the extras, So i got a pre-paid Mastercard and only bring the correct dimension hand luggage and always arrive ontime for my flight and guess what i have never had any problems at all. From what i see most peoples problems arise because they do not follow the rules and then get annoyed when they are caught out.

At the end of the day, they are a bus with wings but that is why they are so chaep, So paying extra with another airline is your choice but it is lose, lose for you, Now you know the mistake you will not make it again, so you might as well save yourself some money..........Just my opinion

I was told by an easyJet check-in young lady that there's some discretion allowed so you might have blundered into a jobsworth. The same lady told me you're allowed up to three small mistakes in your name detail as there is often confusion, which is understandable. Imagine having a Polish name.

My point was that we didn't make a mistake. The maiden name on a Dutch passport is not my wife's legal name - it is a record of what she used to be called. Ryanair had overbooked and used this as an excuse to deny boarding and avoid compensation. How come there were no seats left even when she offered to pay for the name change? Until this time, I have defended Ryanair. I agree, they have revolutionised air travel but they have gone too far. They don't need to resort  to this sort of deceit. Whats more, I hate the fact that they force their staff to impose such actions - I'm sure they hate it as much as we do. I don't care how cheap they are, if there is a chance that for whatever reason you are not going to get on the plane, I am not prepared to take the risk.  While there is a choice, there is no way we are ever using them again. I really do not understand this fascination with price - apparently the TATA Nano is now the cheapest car to buy at around €5000 - I'm not exactly going to rush out and swap my Mercedes CLK 320 for one!

@Jek - There's no such thing as a free lunch - have you ever wondered what the real cost of your £12 flight is and who is paying it?

I dont care how cheap i want good service when ive paid for it and they are far from providing that!

Joan

Well said Joan!

Nobody holds a gun to your head and forces you to fly Ryanair.  They are a no frills airline and, like maverick, I travel solo so always get an aisle seat near the front so don't need priority boarding; I only ever carry cabin baggage within the size and weight limits and try very hard to keep it small enough to fit under the seat in front so I am among the first to disembark; and I don't buy their stuff on board.  Simples!!  Booking is a piece of cake and all charges are revealed before you confirm the booking.  Incidentally, my son has a double barrelled surname but prefers to be known by only one.  But when we book any airline flight both names always go down. 

Joan - they don't pretend that they are giving you luxury.  You get what you pay for.  You want a higher level of service than Ryanair offer, then no problem.  Go with BA and pay their prices.  No one is forcing you to travel Ryanair.  But more people choose to fly with them than any other airline.  Why is that do you imagine?? £12 Bristol to Malaga give you a clue??

Peggy -  I don't know how they do it and, yes, I frequently marvel at it.  Their airport departure tax is £12 per passenger (from UK to spain; no tax on return leg)!!  And some flights are as low as a fiver all in.  But, thing is Peggy, aty the end of the day I don't care how they do it.  I just take advantage of it.

Well I'm with dvpegg on this one. I've never used them , never will , & wouldn't if they were the last ones left on the Earth. They've just got worse the longer they've been in business. He's nothing but a scheming irish monkey.

jek , it's called principles. Taking advantage of cheap flights whilst not agreeing with some of his practices is called hypocrisy.

Cabin baggage should have been banned years ago, long before the terrorist nonsense started , not charge for hold luggage so that the half-wits carry on even more. He reckons he runs a 'bus service' . Well they don't charge for luggage on the buses ! Not that I'd ever use one.

i fly with Ryanair most weeks never late, never cancelled cheap

same service as with all cheap airlines

 if you want extras pay more with other airlines

i off at the weekend cost me £ 20 return

2 hr 30min flight who needs extras 

I needed to go to Latvia. I Checked Baltic Air. It was €1,000 and I would have to fly to and from (nightmare Madrid).  Ryanair was a little over €100. To pay 10 times as much for the same air miles would be an indulgence too far.

I never thought I'd find myself defending Easyjey, but I fly from Gatwick to Malaga and they are reliable and good value. They are not as cheap as Ryanair (who don't fly from Gatwick to Malaga), but flights are always full. They seem to have a good balance between pricing and marketing to ensure the flights are always full, and therefore profitable. Therefore they don't need to employ dirty tactics to try and recover a loss making flight.

Although they do sometimes get heavy about the baggage allowance if you abuse it - hand luggage outside of the size limits. But if you know you're oversize and you take a chance......

Now I shall wait for an onslaught of disatisfied customers telling me I'm wrong!!

need to say anymore

Actually I agree with you Jek - I have used them every few weeks for years - reasons being in order of priority - on time, schedules are good and price. My point is though that if now all of a sudden there is an element of risk in actually being permitted to fly, plus the fact that having my totally and utterly distraught wife in floods of tears on the phone to me with no help or support stranded in a foreign airport has changed my opinion - I am very very angry with Ryanair - all I wanted to do was share my experiences and warn people of what Ryanair are up to - thats all.

BTW - The name is Dave - I used to hit people at school if they called me Peggy....:-)

I rise to the bait. The consensus of my Dutch friends is that in the Netherlands a woman keeps her maiden name. That's her name. However, she can alsochose to use only  her husband's name if she wants. Or she can combine them and use both. Her choice. Once she has decided on her own particular formula - that's what goes on the passport as what we would call a surname or last name. And I can see Ryanair's point that if that's what you've chosen to go on you pp then why not put that on your booking form? I am authoritatively told that there is no insistence that the maiden name goes on the passport if one doesn't want it - any more than a Brit woman's maiden name goes on hers. Ryanair are fine if one is sufficiently anal to play their game. Sadly, I am. As mentioned elsewhere, my wife and I are off to Nador (Morocco) next week. 5 euros each, each way, no taxes, no online check-in fee, hand baggage only, paid for with a prepaid MasterCard. How anal can you get? Total cost 20 euros for the 2 of us. I'll allow them to make me jump through a few hoops. And I won't be buying their food, drinks, or scratch cards, thank you very much. Sandwiches for us for the trip. It's cruel to suggest that your wife's, and others,  faux pas,  probably subsidises my cheapie.

Probably true though Guy.

Some of these companies hide behind the beurocrasy when it suits them. I've never had stringent name checks when taking a ferry, hovercraft, shuttle or Eurostar. I think they use their own rules as it suits. I've seen enough people humiliated to believe that.

my next door neighbour in spain is dutch. he has done a bunk owing thousands  to locals and of course our community. a dutch man owned the local furniture store. he scammed thousands and then did a bunk. and those are just b2.the dutch in our village arent looked upon kindly by the spanish.credit is no longer possible here.

jek , it's called principles. Taking advantage of cheap flights whilst not agreeing with some of his practices is called hypocrisy.

  Gus do calm down  . 

Neither of us is a hypocrite on your definition.  You don't take advantage of his cheap flights and moan to kingdom come about his practices.  I do take advantage of his cheap flights and have no problem whatsoever with his practices.

And Peggy (sorry - would call you Dave but can't be seen to be giving in to threats of violence) I do sympathise with your wife's experience and agree that your treatment was well out of order.  But your post shows that you would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.  And, of course, you know it will never happen again.

 George i really have no idea what that has to do with this topic,

Dave has your wife ever flown with Ryanair  before and if so what name was on the form. And technically speaking the plane was full because there would have been an empty seat waiting in case the correct wife with the correct name on the passport was to turn up. The seat would be empty as they will not sell on a seat even when they know people are not turning up.