Budget Airline Canceling Third-Party Bookings
Starting Monday, August 11, European budget air carrier Ryanair will cancel any bookings made through third-party Web sites. The UK's Daily Telegraph reports passengers who booked tickets on Web sites other than the airline's Web site will be turned away at the check-in desk. Ryanair, which claims to be Europe's largest low-cost carrier, will refund the ticket price but not the commissions paid to any third party. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, it seems, does not like the third-party sites, sometimes called "screenscraping" or "price comparison" sites. He sees them as profiting from his business and slowing his own Web site operations. He is quoted in Ireland's Independent as saying the Ryanair move is calculated "to cause as much chaos for the [websites] as possible." It would appear O'Leary is causing more problems for his customers than the Web sites. If your trip is suddenly canceled at the gate, will you ever fly Ryanair again?
If this action by Ryanair is legal then the law needs to be changed. I have never heard of an action by an air carrier that was more outrageous and despicable.