Ryanair reiterated the importance of direct bookings following further indications of anti-consumer practices by certain online travel agencies. The risk of fraudulent activities on the net is too great.

The Irish low-coster has been informed by customers of a fraudulent “discount” scam in which customers book “discounted” Ryanair flights through a fraudulent online travel agency that is not affiliated with Ryanair. The platform uses the customer's payment details to secure the flight booking and then saves it so that it can be misused at a later date, the company said.

“This latest OTA scam is another reason passengers should always book direct. Online travel agents sell our flights but have no business agreements with us and any screen scraping of our website is against the terms of use www.ryanair.com. In response, we introduced the Verification Seal on the Ryanair website and app earlier this year to help customers avoid the pitfalls of booking through online travel agencies, which often charge excessive prices and may provide incorrect customer information. which prevents Ryanair from working directly with its passengers, ”says Dara Brady, Ryanair's Director of Marketing.