# Avoid Ryanair's booking fee by using shopping centre gift cards (prepaid Mastercard).



## sam h (18 Jan 2010)

This was posted over on Boards.ie Bargain Alerts (not sure if it's OK to post a link)

Apparently the likes of Blanchardstown Town Centre Gift Card, Jervis St Gift Card & Dublin Gift Card are all prepaid Mastercards and as such should work with Ryanair to avoid the booking fees.

I haven't tried it yet (due to book some flights in a couple of week so I'll get back to you) but maybe someone else has.  There are examples where people have used it successfully.

Most of these cards have no/very little loading cost, generally free to use for a year (many have a monthly cost after 12 months so it's probably easier to get a new one rather than keep topping up).  And best of all, if you don't spend all of it on fliights, you can go shopping.

Anyone tried it?


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## Brendan Burgess (18 Jan 2010)

*Re: Avoid Ryanair booking fee with shopping centre gift cards*

Hi Sam

No problem at all in providing a link to boards.ie or any other source of useful information. 

Brendan


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## sam h (18 Jan 2010)

*Re: Avoid Ryanair booking fee with shopping centre gift cards*

Boards.ie Bargain Alerts

Post 53 gives a list of some of the outlets that sell these.
Post 1 & 49 say they did use it for Ryanair (and some other on-line purchases if someone doesn;t have a regular credit card)

I'll definately give it a go.  It seems so easy & hassle free. I did try the Entropay card (I know they don't take them anymore) but I found the whole virtual thing messy and another password, pin number etc to remember.  At worst, if it doesn't work, I'll have to go on a shopping spree

A few of the cards seem to have a few things to note:
 - some have a nominate fee to get them (something like €2)
 - some have a limit of €150, but some go up to €2000
 - most charge €3/month after 12 months  

Won't be booking anything for a few weeks, but will post back


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## Corcaigh abu (19 Jan 2010)

*Re: Avoid Ryanair booking fee with shopping centre gift cards*

I have priced the vouchers and the best deal by far is the Bishopstown Credit Union debit card.  no charges.  They have put article on website now to confirm.  If you are not in the area i think maybe the goft vouchers might be the next best step.  Alternatively move to Cork!


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## gunnerfitzy (20 Jan 2010)

*Re: Avoid Ryanair booking fee with shopping centre gift cards*



Corcaigh abu said:


> I have priced the vouchers and the best deal by far is the Bishopstown Credit Union debit card.  no charges.  They have put article on website now to confirm.  If you are not in the area i think maybe the goft vouchers might be the next best step.  Alternatively move to Cork!



More specifically, move to or work in Bishopstown. That's the condition for joining the Bishopstown Credit Union. Anywhere in the city won't cover you


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## Olympian (22 Jan 2010)

*Re: Avoid Ryanair booking fee with shopping centre gift cards*

I've booked flights with the Blanchardstown card. Couldn't remember the address etc from Boards so just entered my name plus my home address and it worked fine.

Happy days!


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## Edel V (23 Oct 2010)

Just wondering if anybody has used a Liffey Valley gift card to avoid the charges when booking with Ryanair. They appear to be a prepaid Mastercard the same as the Dundrum gift card but would like to hear that someone has booked sucessfully with one.


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## niceoneted (23 Oct 2010)

What about just buying the ryanair vouchers themselves. I know you have to try to have the right amount but worth it at times if booking for a number of people.


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## undo (23 Oct 2010)

To get the Ryanair vouchers, you have to pay CC fees... so it might save you a bit if you are buying many cheap flights. Otherwise, it is not worth it. The gift card is a much better deal either way.


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## Andrew.S (4 Jan 2011)

The NETELLER Net+ Prepaid MasterCard® is accepted as a Prepaid MasterCard on Ryanair so its free to book and it's also free to apply.

As an added bonus, you will be entered into a draw to win 50 EUR each time you purchase a flight on Ryanair with your Net+ Prepaid MasterCard between now and January 31.


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## browtal (4 Jan 2011)

My son recently purchased the Prepaid Mastercard for a Ryanair booking for 5 people. He saved about €6 on the deal.  Is there a better way?


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## undo (4 Jan 2011)

browtal said:


> Prepaid Mastercard for a Ryanair booking for 5 people. He saved about €6



How so? The credit card fee is €5 per person, per flight. So when booking five one-way flights, he should have saved €25. And if it was five return flights, the savings should have been €50.


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## anntionette (5 Jan 2011)

this might sound like a silly question but would a major store like a brown thomas gift card work? it doesnt say mastercard on it tho...i know the answer is no of course not! ... but ...


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## undo (5 Jan 2011)

anntionette said:


> this might sound like a silly question but would a major store like a brown thomas gift card work? it doesnt say mastercard on it tho...i know the answer is no of course not! ... but ...



As you suspected, the answer is a *100% definite no*. The fact that the Dublin City Gift Card works on Ryanair's website has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it is a "gift card". It just happens to be a piece of plastic that is affiliated with MasterCard and uses the MasterCard Prepaid system for processing. This is a lucky coincidence. Whoever is behind this gift card could have chosen a different way to keep track of their gift cards - luckily for us, they chose to partner with MasterCard.


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## coleen (5 Jan 2011)

if you get 1 of the net teller card does anyone know how much it cost to put money on it. Also I have internet banking with aib would I be able to st it up so that I could pay into the net teller card on line. I am looking at booking a number of ryanair flights this year and would love to save on the credit card charge with ryanair most of the flights would only be around 30 euro


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## browtal (5 Jan 2011)

I dont know the exact details but there is a % charge on the amount you put on the card, so with the extras that is what he saved. Would be interested if there is an explaination. Thanks Browtal


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## Stronge (10 Jan 2011)

I have a pre paid mastercard with Neteller. I find it excellent, no fee when I put money in or out!.  I transfer my  money into it using my online banking with B/I.  I have set neteller up as a beneficiary and my ac with  them as a reference. It normally takes a few days maybe 3 for my money to reach them. I always have 200 to 300 to my credit in the account so I can book cheap flights immediately I see them.  I have the account for over a year now and so far no problems!  I do not like to have any more than 200/300 in case they go bust, I am not exactly sure where they operate from.  At one stage I though they were Canadian based. It sounds stupid to put my money into an account, which I know so little about  but I have paid for a lot of flights and I feel I have saved at least that amount. You never know with Ryan Air they could change the card that has no fees at any time!


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## WaterWater (1 Feb 2011)

Here's another card that the students in UCD were promoting today.
[broken link removed]

[broken link removed]


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## undo (1 Feb 2011)

Compared to the gift cards, this is a terrible deal. The gift cards have zero fees.


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## Olympian (1 Feb 2011)

Pretty poor value from the expression card.

However anyone wanting to use the Perfect Card should know that they no longer work with ryanair (at least the Blanchardstown card). 

Link to Boards with some more discussion [broken link removed]


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## undo (1 Feb 2011)

ZapaCard (Dublin City Gift Card, available at Ticketmaster) still works, just used it last week.


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## WaterWater (1 Feb 2011)

undo said:


> ZapaCard (Dublin City Gift Card, available at Ticketmaster) still works, just used it last week.


 
Their website could give a little more information. Can you only purchase these from Ticketmaster?


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## undo (1 Feb 2011)

WaterWater said:


> Their website could give a little more information. Can you only purchase these from Ticketmaster?



Their website is not really meant to be consumer-facing. They provide backend services that can then be used to provide all sorts of gift cards. It seems that so far, they have Dublin City and some other place in Belgium as clients. So you never buy a card from ZapaCard directly, you get it from a Dublin City outlet. Right now, this seems to be Ticketmaster in central Dublin only, yes.


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## bowringi (21 Mar 2011)

I also use the Neteller Net+ card, and have done so for over a year now, saving a lot on Ryanair charges.  The card itself has no fees associated (unless you use it at an ATM).  As with Stronge, I keep a relatively low balance on the card.  Topping up by bank transfer is free, and if you need to top up in a hurry to book a flight, it is 1.75% from a credit card.  However, it needs to be a pretty expensive flight before 1.75% becomes more than the Ryanair charge of EUR 5 per person per flight segment.


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## moonman (6 Apr 2011)

it is 6euro since march 9th.


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## elcato (7 Apr 2011)

> The card itself has no fees associated (unless you use it at an ATM).


Is the government tax to be paid ? Can you clarify how easy it is to open and close this as there's no guarantee Ryanair will continue to support it.


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## moonman (7 Apr 2011)

elcato if you go to netellers or moneybookers web site it will give you all the info. i have a moneybookers card and if one wants to finish its easy , just spend whats left on the card in any store who accept mastercard , and proceed to leave via the site.


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