Jessy Edwards  |  November 2, 2021

Category: Covid-19

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ryanair ryanair refund
(Photo Credit: Mike Fuchslocher/Shutterstock)

Ryanair New Refund Policy Overview:

  • Who: Budget airline Ryanair.
  • Why: Ryanair reportedly agreed to change its policies and start refunding customer whose flights are canceled, after facing mounting criticism during the pandemic.
  • Where: The airline is headquartered in the UK.

Budget airline Ryanair has agreed to start refunding customers whose flights are canceled, after facing mounting criticism from consumers who were left out-of-pocket during the pandemic. 

On Oct. 28, Ryanair—which has famously called itself a “no-refunds airline”— announced it would start issuing refunds for canceled flights, and doing it in a timely manner, The Guardian reports.

According to a statement from the airline, in case of a canceled flight, consumers will be able to use a Ryanair online portal to request a refund, and that refund should be processed within five working days.

Ryanair Passengers Pan Airline’s Refund Policy During Pandemic

The news comes after Ryanair faced criticism of the way it treated customers during the pandemic. During the initial travel shutdowns of 2020, the Dublin-based airline flatly refused to refund customers who could not fly.

The decision to withhold refunds led to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launching a probe into British Airways PLC and Ryanair DAC to determine whether the companies broke the law by denying passengers refunds for flights cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The consumer protection watchdog announced the probe in June after an investigation revealed the airlines were offering either vouchers or the opportunity to rebook flights affected by the pandemic, but were not offering ticket refunds.

However, in October, the regulator abandoned its efforts to get British Airways and Ryanair refunds for airline customers, saying it would take too long to bring to action and the outcome was not assured.

At the time, Ryanair said it was pleased with the decision to abandon the probe, saying “passengers had the option to change their bookings without paying the flight change fee, and many availed of this option.”

A few days later, it was revealed that Ryanair was barring passengers who were seeking chargebacks on the fares through their credit card companies, The Guardian reports. 

In another report, it emerged that customers promised refunds for canceled flights were instead given vouchers with rapidly-approaching expiry dates.

On Oct. 28, Ryanair director of marketing Dara Brady announced the company was making changes, in response to customer feedback. 

“In rare cases of cancellations, customers who request a refund will now get confirmation and access to it within 24hrs in MyRyanir and will be refunded to the original form of payment within five working days,” Brady said.

The changes were introduced after the first meeting of the company’s new customer advisory panel. The panel is set to meet twice annually to help improve Ryanair’s customers’ experience post-pandemic.

The carrier is reportedly aiming to expand to carrying 225 million passengers a year.

Have you had issues getting refunded for Ryanair flights that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Let us know in the comments section!


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