Ryanair today (10 Sept) issued its September OTA Survey which shows that Spanish OTA, eDreams, continues to overcharge its “Prime” Members by over three times the price (€19.49) for a €6 reserved seat booked directly on Transavia. Similarly, eDreams overcharges its “Prime” Members €59 for a 10kg bag which costs €35.90 if booked directly on the Wizz Air website. Even when it comes to air fares, eDreams Prime promises “savings” but overcharges its Prime Members €131 for an easyJet fare which costs just €119 if booked direct on easyJet’s website.

These latest examples show that eDreams Prime subscription induces consumers into paying a yearly fee of €69.99 by promising non-existent “savings” while eDreams overcharges their Prime Members for flights and other services.

Ryanair’s September OTA Survey exposes other OTAs, such as FRU.PL and Vola.ro, who continue to overcharge unsuspecting consumers with hidden mark ups, which can double the underlying airline price. In the case of FRU.pl they were charging 229 zloty for a 20kg bag, which Ryanair sold for just 113 zloty.

Ryanair is campaigning to protect consumers from the few remaining overcharging OTAs, like eDreams, FRU.pl and Vola.ro, and again calls on EU Govts and consumer authorities to require all OTAs to offer consumers transparent pricing, just like Ryanair’s “Approved OTA” partners now do. Ryanair again calls on Spanish Consumer Affairs Minister, Pablo Bustinduy, to take action to protect Spanish consumers from eDreams’ overcharges as show below.

SEPTEMBER OTA OVERCHARGES

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“Our September OTA survey shows that eDreams continues to overcharge its “Prime” Members by over three times the cost of booking flights and services direct with the airline. European consumers continue to be induced into paying for an eDreams Prime Membership Subscription at an annual cost of €69.99 by being promised non-existent “savings”, when our September OTA Survey shows that they are being overcharged by eDreams when booking flights and other services via the eDreams’ website.  

This latest evidence of consumer overcharging is unacceptable. EU Govts and consumer authorities, including Spain’s Consumer Ministry, continue to take zero action while consumers continue to be overcharged/harmed by these eDreams overcharges. We again call on EU Govts and consumer authorities to outlaw these eDreams “Prime” and other OTA overcharges to protect consumers.”