Ryanair and the tall tale of the Visa Electron card

PINOCCHIO’S lowest moment was perhaps the time he lied to the good fairy.

A similar scenario arose at the weekend when Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary told Marian Finucane that he was not ripping off Irish customers by charging them more than those in other European countries.

The broadcaster told the airline chief that she could not get a Visa Electron card in Ireland. This is a card that exempts Ryanair passengers from the credit card charge. With all other cards, passengers must pay an extra €10 per return flight.

Mr O’Leary hit back saying the card was available in Ireland. He has recently been backed up his deputy and his director of communications claiming Irish people could get the card.

Yesterday, however, the airline confirmed this not to be true. Ryanair said the card is not available here. It said it was originally available through Irish financial institutions but was phased out. Tut tut, Ryanair.

This extra charge for Irish customers comes at a time when Ryanair is furiously pulling flights and jobs in Ireland saying the €10 “travel tax” imposed by the government was damaging Irish tourism. It has held numerous press conferences on the issue and released what has seemed like one statement a week condemning the charge. This, while it was charging Irish people pay more for flights than those in Britain, France, Spain and beyond.

Yesterday it finally admitted what many have been saying for months – that the Electron card is not available in Ireland.

But in a twist to the tale Visa Electron holders will be subject to the credit card charge in January and those in possession of the MasterCard Prepaid card will not.

The good news is this card is available in Ireland but like most things with Ryanair it’s not as straightforward as it seems. One of the ways of obtaining a MasterCard prepaid card is paying €6 on www.payzonemoney.ie. The card must be topped up in Payzone outlets – shops and supermarkets around the country. The airline said the card is “more widely available” than the Electron. And for Irish customers there seems to be a happy ending to the credit card fairytale but don’t rule out a sequel.