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3:11pm on Sunday, 6th May, 2018:
Anecdote
I'm off to Poland tomorrow to speak at Code Europe in Kraków. I thought I ought perhaps to check in online before I went, as Ryanair charges £55 to check in at the airport and wants you to do it no more than 4 hours before the flight.
Hmm. It turns out that Ryanair needs the email address of the person that booked the flight before it will issue a boarding pass. I don't know who issued the boarding pass, as it was done by a Polish travel agency. I therefore tried the live chat option to speak to a Ryanair representative.
6 minutes later, I had a chat. It did not yield a boarding pass...
Armed with Google Translate, I did manage to find that one of the lines in Polish on the e-ticket was a link to a form on the travel agent's web site that would contact Ryanair, check me in, and then email me the boarding pass. This worked swimmingly well. Ryanair may be a crock of a company, but it seems that the Polish travel agent (eSky) is aware of this and made it as easy as possible.
For those of you who are interested, I append a log of my Ryanair live chat (edited for formatting and to remove names).
As with many of my students, you can tell the parts they didn't write themselves because the use of English is better...
[Ryanair Rep 1] Hello Richard Bartle. How may I help you?
[Me] Hi, I want to check in but my ticket was bought by someone else and I don't have their email address. I have the reservation number and the flight is in my name but the on-line check-in system needs to email address of the person to whom the e-ticket was sent.
[Ryanair Rep 1] If you do not have that information, may I suggest you contact them directly and come back to us with the required information?
[Me] No, it's Sunday and they won't be at work. My flight is tomorrow. How can I check in without that email address?
[Ryanair Rep 1] I can only give you the email address if you can provide last 4 digits of the card you used to purchase the ticket Richard
[Me] I didn't pay for the ticket. This is for a conference in Poland. The flight is in my name.
I have a copy of the e-ticket but it doesn't mention any email address or any credit card number.
[Ryanair Rep 1] For security reasons, before amending reservations, we are required to ask for additional information about the booking in order to make sure that we are talking with the passenger or with the person who made the booking.
[Me] Yet for other airlines I just have to enter my surname or my passport and the booking reference and I'm fine. This isn't an amendment anyway, I just want to check in.
[Ryanair Rep 1] I totally understand you, however this is our security policy
The email address can be only given if you can provide payment method Richard
[Me] So what you're saying is that on a Sunday I have to ask the person who emailed me the tickets to contact the travel agency who booked the tickets to find out what email address they used to book it? I can't just show up at Stansted with my electronic ticket and booking number and passport and check in?
[Ryanair Rep 1] Please note that airport check in is 55 €/£ per person per flight to check in at the airport.
When you make a booking through a travel agency, one of the travel agents made the reservation on www.ryanair.com. It means that she/he used the travel agency's card to purchase the ticket and also created a new email address. If you do not have these details, you will not have access to your Ryanair booking. Since you do not have that information may I suggest you contact them directly to get the information and come back to us?
[Me] Well you can suggest it but on a Sunday? A Polish travel agency? Also, would that airport check-in work or would I find some kind of "we need the credit card" security deal going on there too?
[Ryanair Rep 1] I am sorry for this inconvenience, I can not go against the policy
This is all due of passenger to check in and get the correct email address from the agency
[Me] I have the e-ticket. I can upload it to this chat if you want to see it. Also, you haven't told me if checking in in person at Stansted will be allowed or if that also needs the email.
[Ryanair Rep 1] Please note that airport check in is 55 €/£ per person per flight to check in at the airport.
Therefore try to contact the agency and check in for your flight please
[Me] Yes, I note that, but I don't want the cut-and-paste answer to a different question. I want to know if, when I show up at Stansted with my passport and e-ticket, I will be asked to produce the credit card that the ticket was booked using, or the email address used.
[Ryanair Rep 1] No, you will be asked the reservation number and travel document Richard
[Me] OK, so I can give the reservation number and the travel document at Stansted but I can't give it here?
[Ryanair Rep 1] Yes, you can give reservation number and the travel document at Stansted
[Me] So why can't I do that here?
[Ryanair Rep 1] Because the online system is attached to the email address that you used to make a booking
[Me] Except I didn't actually make the booking.
[Ryanair Rep 1] Person who made the booking has to provide the email address Richard
Or you will have to request it please
[Me] OK, well I guess you win this time.
[Ryanair Rep 1] Is there anything else I can help you with today Richard?
[Me] There's nothing else you can help me with. You couldn't help me with the thing I wanted help with either, of course...
[Ryanair Rep 1] I am sorry, I really can not give you the email without certain details Richard
Let me transfer this chat to one of my colleagues, who will assist you further.
You have been transferred to: [Ryanair Rep 2].
[Me] Not as sorry as I am.
[Ryanair Rep 2] Hello. How may I help you today?
I am sorry. Are you still there?
[Me] Hi. OK, so I have a flight tomorrow for which I have the e-ticket. I want to check in. To check in needs an email address. The ticket wasn't booked by me, so I don't have the email address.
[Ryanair Rep 2] When you make a booking through a travel agency, one of the travel agents made the reservation on www.ryanair.com. It means that she/he used the travel agency's card to purchase the ticket and also created a new email address. If you do not have these details, you will not have access to your Ryanair booking. Since you do not have that information may I suggest you contact them directly to get the information and come back to us?
[Me] Yes, I've seen that cut-and-paste reply before from the previous conversation. It is a Sunday. The ticket was booked by a travel agency in Poland. I am not going to be able to get that email address.
[Ryanair Rep 2] I am sorry for this inconvenience. You should contact the company/ person who made your booking for you as he/she will know the correct details for the access
Follow the next steps, please: Go to www.ryanair.com -> "Check-in" (Use the "No account? Check-in here") -> Add your Reservation Number and Email address to the system and click on "Go".
[Me] Well I would if I knew the email address!
[Ryanair Rep 2] You should contact the company/ person who made your booking for you as he/she will know the correct details for the access
[Me] I know, but the flight is TOMORROW and this is a SUNDAY and they won't be open.
[Ryanair Rep 2] Could you give me your reservation number please?
May I take the email address you provided at the time of the booking, please?
Could you please confirm the telephone number you provided when making the reservation?
Not needed to highlight.
[Me] The reservation number is [BOOKING#]. I didn't book the flight so I don't have the email address. I do have a copy of the e-ticket.
[Ryanair Rep 2] For security reasons, before amending reservations, we are required to ask for additional information about the booking in order to make sure that we are talking with the passenger or with the person who made the booking. That is why I have asked about your Reservation Number and Contact details.
I cannot provide any information from the booking without the security check
[Me] You're going through the same checklist as the person I just had a conversation with; yes, I know that. I don't have this information, which is why I need help here.
[Ryanair Rep 2] Let me sincerely apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused you.
But we are Not able to give out any information without the details.
[Me] The flight is booked in my name. I have the reference number. I can tell you my passport number. This is all than an airline normally needs. I'm not asking for you to give out information; I'm asking to check in.
[Ryanair Rep 2] Not enough please due to data protection rules.
[Me] This isn't a data protection thing. If I showed up at Stansted with my e-ticket and my passport then I could check in without the credit card or email address used to book the ticket.
[Ryanair Rep 2] All customers are sent an email one day prior to departure reminding them to check-in online and print their boarding passes. Customers who fail to check in online are charged an airport check-in fee of £ 55 and those who did check in online but failed to present their boarding pass at the airport are charged a boarding card reissue fee of £ 20.
May I assist you any further?
[Me] Well that would be great but "customers" isn't "passengers" here. You haven't actually assisted me at all.
[Ryanair Rep 2] That is not the Ryanair's fault that your Agency did not informed you correctly.
Let me sincerely apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused you.
[Me] It's Ryanair's fault that it has these rules.
[Ryanair Rep 2] Is there anything else I can help you with today?
[Me] It seems that there's nothing at all you can help me with today.
[Ryanair Rep 2] You are welcome. If there's anything else I can assist you with please come back to us.Thank you for using our Live Chat Service.
Goodbye.
[Ryanair Rep 2] has closed the chat.
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