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Glad to help, will have to look at Easyjet to see if I should apply for one. Although EJ only makes one charge for whole booking so maybe not.
Punters 1 Ryanair 0, use it while you can. Anyone want to guess how long this will last before they get wise and close this loophole
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I'm wondering if I can use my Barclays Spain Electron card, having finally received my PIN number. The bank statements are sent to my UK address, so I guess that is where it is classed as being registered. Problem is, would I see any benefit in the exchange rate as the card would be charged in Sterling for a Euros account? May look into it as Ryanair are now flying from Leeds to Alicante and are £250 cheaper than Jet2 for the sae journey on the same day!!
Mark
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I don't know how you'll get on with the website as I would have thought that it might confuse it using a foreign based card.
Also I'm sure I read that Oleary was looking at closing this loophole.
Flying Ryanair is ok if you can use hand baggage only , take one suitcase and everyone on the booking form has to pay to check-in.
Doesn't Easyjet fly from Leeds?
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No, Jet2 are the main operator and Ryanair have just started the Alicante flights. I was looking at doing two bookings simultaneously, one with the hold luggage and two of us with hand luggage only and the so called priority boarding. I got as far as checkout but the Wife was out with my wallet so I couldn't proceed.
I'm not sure about the loophole being closed as O' Leary was promoting this way of paying himself on the BBC the other week. More of a worry is the requirement for te pilots to carry less fuel!! They seem to be in the news a lot recently after some time in the wilderness.
Mar
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Hope it works for you, let us know how much cheaper it worked out in the end.
Martin Lewis will be proud of you, playing them at their own game. It's more work booking it this way but definately worth it.
Received email today regarding cheap flights 5e/£5 each way, Madrid/Stanstead in October.
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Got as far as paying for the flights and bottled out  . Thinking about it, one transaction may be passed and the other may fail. In the time taken for the failure, the flights could go up? The arrival time at Alicante is 23.35, so at least 0230 before we get to Puerto Rey, assuming Econorent are open at that time of night? May think aboutit a little more, but I think this Spanish Electron card is the way to go.
Mark
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Hi
When I booked our flights with ryanair, ( my other half and I ), I booked my O.H. in with
one suitcase and airport check in. (one way) then I went immediately and booked my flight
with only hand baggage and on-line checkin .In a few minutes the price had gone up 30 euros.
so I paid more for my flight.
_______________________
GYPSY
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It worked 
I had a chat with the Wife and she decided we ought to bite the bullet. I had 2 windows open in my browser and hopped from screen to screen at each step to make sure I was receiving the same prices. We got 2 tickets with hand luggage and online check in (20/12/08- 03/01/09) for £332.80. We got the other with 1 hold bag for £190.40. Paid with the Barclays Spain Electron card, so no payment charges. Will report back wen we find out how much we have been charged by the bank for using the card!!
Equivalent flight with Jet2 was £766.20!!! You would think that with the extra competition now the prices would have been lowered wouldn't you?
Edited to add: I didn't think to check, but are you still charged a processing fee if you have the Ryanair credit card?
Mark
This message was last edited by Marksfish on 9/6/2008.
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Excellant price for that time of year, especially for Ryanair, well done 
I'm sure a lot of people will be flying at that time of night, ideal for those who have to work on a Saturday.
Just need to sort out your car hire now.
This also may make Jet2 sit up and think again about their pricing policy 
Gypsy this had been discussed before, each time someone shows and interest in a particular flight the website starts to increase the flight price. Sometimes if you wait a while then the price goes down as the website corrects itself if no one show an interest in the same flight. Try and follow Marks example and book the flights side by side in two separate screens.
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Looks like it cost about €643 for the tickets. The amount doesn't show on my online statement yet, but my available balance is that much lower. Still £20 less than paying in Sterling with a credit card!
Mark
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Right, the transactions have now appeared on my online banking, so hopefully they are the definitive amounts. The amount is a little higher than first expected by looking at available balance versus physical balance and has worked out at €656.74 for 3 return tickets. The exchange rate works out at 1.242, which wasn't far off what it was on the day! Still a wee tad cheaper than booking with a UK credit card and paying the extra.
Mark
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Bera in mind that if you pay with a UK Credit Card, you will be protected should the airline fail, where seems to be a glut at the moment.
Paying by credit card might cost a bit in the short term, but could save an awfull lot in the long term!
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Ironically, I thought of that after making the booking .
Mark
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Hi Dave,
know how you feel.
We found an avoidance strategy to prevent being dyked for these charges.
Ryanair allegedly allow free use of the Electron flavoured debit card, which although hard to find is still available from the Cooperative Bank(good reviews} and HBOS, which bank you may have heard mentioned recently! Don't go there, all the reviews are dreadful!
I applied this week to the Coop Bank, and the free use current account with the Electron card is called Cashminder. It's basic, no frills, no cheque book, heaven help you if you go into the red, but just one free play at Ryanair will justify it's existence.
Let you know when it arrives.
saludos
RR
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I think the idea behind Electron cards is that you are not allowed to go into the red. They are aimed at the people who would not normally have a bank account but now need one to get their giro's.
It's the canny shoppers who having read Martin Lewis's forum (moneysavingexpert) who are now applying online for an account 
The one good thing about Co-op cash minder a/c is that you can load up the account at a post office, providing you have one in your area.
Also I heard on radio after XL had gone bust that if you paid for your flight via Visa Debit card then you would also be covered.
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I know this is a Ryanair thread, but as its concerned with charges when booking flights I thought this may be useful. Monarch have now increased their charges to 2% of the total booking amount with a debit card and 3% with a credit card, with a minimum fee for each. That means if I book our next flights of £800 I will get charged £24. However, they allow free use of electron card and solo - you can get a solo card with natwest that is called the step account. No frills, no cheque book, no overdraft etc, but just transfer the cash in just before you want to book to avoid the charges.
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Ryanair is a rip off ive just paid £32 for 4 credit card charges yet your only using one card.i am trying to get electron
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All airlines are charging for payment, not just Ryanair. Jet2 and Monarch are just two I have experienced that are adding up to 3% of the final ticket price as a card charge. It is something we are going to have to get used to as I can't see it changing anytime soon. Travel agents will also charge you extra for using a credit card, usually around 2%. It isn't that long ago that in Spain if you opted to pay by card, you had to pay extra, on everything. At the end of the day, if someone isn this day and age is naive enough to think that a 1p flight is all they will pay, they must have been asleep a looooong time.
Mark
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i am in the position where i get to go to my holiday once a month with friends or family so i know 1p flight isnt 1p i also book flights for other people i havent booked jet2 for a while but i have booked Thompson and Thomas cook flight only and have only paid one credit card per transaction not c/c charge per person,its great getting the cheap flights and they all put extra money on now for one thing or another but i do think the per person c/c/c is a rip off.32 of us went to Magaluf last month with jet2 and as far as i am aware we didnt pay c/c each you shouldnt have to when its all on one card
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Jet2 have recently changed to a %age of the fare instead of per person. I looked at going with them for Christmas and the credit card fee was £30 or £20 for a debit card, that was on top of the fuel surcharge of £15ea levied by them. By comparison, I paid £0 fee for using a Electron card with Ryanair (and £250 less for the fare), and even if I had paid £4pp each way, it would still have been cheaper than the %age levied by Jet2 and there is no fuel surcharge. Swings and roundabouts methinks.
I have only flown with Ryanair twice and I don't like the boarding strategy of non allocated seating and charging for check in and such, but if you play them at their own game you can save yourself some money.
Mark
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