Dad’s dream vacation to Spain was ‘ruined’ when he and his friends were hit with unexpected extra airport fees

Jordan Catton, from Leeds, Yorkshire, said the extra £270 cost of a return Ryanair flight from Spain to Manchester had “absolutely ruined” his holiday after the £1,400 five-night all-inclusive stay.

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Girl explains how she bypassed Ryanair’s baggage restriction

Furious sun-seekers say they’ve been charged an extra £270 to fly home from Spain after paying £1,400 for their all-inclusive holiday.

Jordan Catton, 27, was “furious” after his party were told they still have to pay more to return to the UK.

He and the three other passengers were each hit with a check-in fee of £30 and £38 for loading their bags on board Manchester evening news reports.

The father of one child, who was enjoying a five-night stay, claimed they were not told they needed to check in online for the Palma to Manchester flight.

Jordan, from Leeds, Yorkshire, said: “The holiday was great and we had no problems flying from Manchester to Palma.

“But when we went to check in at Palma airport on our return flight, we arrived over two hours before our flight, only to be told, ‘You have six minutes to check in’.

“They couldn’t find my booking. The woman at the check in desk tried to help but my email address that I used to book everything with (online travel agency) On The Beach didn’t work. It kept saying there was no booking available.

“Then the airport staff charged all four of us £30 each to check in. We were absolutely furious. We didn’t have to pay that in Manchester.

“It’s a lot of money to pay. We didn’t have any cash left so my friend had to pay with her credit card. We’re still trying to pay that back. I’m a full-time dad so no money I lose less money for my son.”

The party had booked the £1,300 four-day holiday through online travel agency On The Beach, which included £475 return Ryanair flights, a four-star hotel and coach transfers.

They were then stunned to discover that each passenger was charged a £30 check-in fee, something Jordan claimed they were not told beforehand.

After checking in, the group had to pay an additional fee of £38 to check their luggage in as they had not booked priority boarding tickets for the flight.

However, On The Beach insists passengers have been warned that failing to check-in online could result in airport check-in fees, as per Ryanair’s policy.

Jordan said the experience of flying back to Manchester was “stressful” as they didn’t expect any further charges after booking the holiday online.

He added: “We had to pay extra just to take our luggage on the flight. So we paid hundreds of pounds for the four of us just to return to Manchester.

“Palma airport staff said there was nothing they could do about it and that’s just the rule. It was difficult to communicate with them about this because they were Spanish so there was a language barrier.

“We were all stressed. Neither of us had our bags with us because they were taken from us and placed under the plane with the big bags.

“I don’t understand why Ryanair seems to have the impression that people can go on holiday with just a handbag or just a backpack for a few days.”

Jordan added: “It was literally when we got to the airport in Spain and we were basically told, ‘If you don’t pay, you can’t take your luggage on the flight’.

“Same was at check-in. They said: ‘If you don’t pay the £30 to check in, you can’t get on the flight. You need to book another flight.’”

Jordan said more transparency was needed so passengers could have been prepared for the additional fees.

“You have to abide by a rule at every airport. You cannot have a rule at one airport and a rule at another.

“I would much rather they told us when we left Manchester Airport than be forced to pay money to bring my own clothes back to England.”

A Ryanair spokesman said: “The problems these passengers have encountered are a direct result of booking their flights through an unauthorized online travel agency (OTA). Ryanair does not have any business relationship with OTAs and in this case the OTA did not inform the passenger about Ryanair’s online check-in and baggage policies, which resulted in him being correctly charged an airport check-in fee of EUR 30 at Palma airport £ per passenger and a gate bag fee of £38.

“Ryanair urges customers to always book direct as OTAs may provide Ryanair with false email addresses, contact and payment details preventing Ryanair from communicating directly with the customer to provide important flight information and updates, including check-in prompts and potential departure time, exchange changes, delays, cancellations and refund updates.”

On The Beach “strongly rejects any suggestion that we provide false or misleading information to Ryanair or our customers.”

A spokesman for the online travel agency added: “Our communication with Mr Catton provided all flight information required for online check-in, including reference number, unique email address and baggage allowance.

“We also pointed out that not checking in online may result in airport check-in fees. We are sorry to learn that Mr Catton has incurred these charges, but this unfortunate incident is a direct result of Ryanair’s aggressive anti-competitive campaign against travel agents and their customers, who are penalized and treated as second-class citizens for giving us the preferred to book direct with Ryanair.

“Millions of customers make the easy choice to book with On The Beach each year because we offer choice, convenience, competitive prices and protection from ATOL and Package Holiday Regulations – something that cannot be offered by booking flights alone.

“As a package tour operator, we have a responsibility to manage all elements of a package holiday for our customers. In contrast, Ryanair continues to impose onerous conditions on its customers, levy additional charges and create confusion. It is crucial that they put a stop to this unfair and anti-competitive behavior.”

A Ryanair spokesman replied: “Like any company, Ryanair is entitled to determine its own distribution model. Ryanair has chosen to deal directly with its customers rather than intermediaries who seek to capitalize on Ryanair’s innovations and investments in many cases just to impose unreasonable markups on fares.

“This innovation enables Ryanair to ensure compliance with flight safety and public protocols, while offering its customers the best choice, care and lowest fares. We ask On the Beach to respect Ryanair’s distribution policy and also its own customers (who no doubt understandably assume that a company masquerading as a package company has commercial arrangements with its suppliers) by ceasing to sell Ryanair flights .”