To beat Ryanair's card fees one has to sign up for a prepaid master card. Here is an article in the Guardian today, which is about the Story.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/dec/05/ryanair-electron-passenger-fees

Totally agree, Skywalker.

I'm happy to say I've never travelled with Ryanair - and there are a variety of reasons for that. I also find using other budget airlines a generally frustrating and unhappy experience. With card charges and fees, I object strongly to airlines (especially non-budget airlines) giving me the "well other airlines do it so we have to follow suit" line. Tosh!

Of course - and this maybe controversial - you could vote with your feet and simply not use Ryanair.

Ryanair are a big company, they are in a position to negotiate a good rate from the card companies, which they almost certainly have done. What they are doing with these charges may be legal, but it stinks to high heaven in my humble opinion.

If a restaurant tried such a trick, would you eat there? I think not.

Hi Teuchter,

Don't shoot the messenger! As I understand it, Visa Electron will pretty much cease to exist in the fairly near future, so that particular option to avoid extra charges will not be available. The only other way to avoid them will be to use a prepaid card such as the Mastercard. If you want to read more about how to keep the cost of your flights down, read Bob's article 'Hidden flight charges unravelled'.

As you say - and as Felicity clearly points out under the heading 'What to watch out for' - some prepaid cards have a monthly fee and most will charge a set-up fee.

Of course it's the case that, if you're a regular flyer with a budget airline, you'll find using a prepaid card much more beneficial than if you only buy the occasional flight.

We're simply keen to ensure that consumers are aware of the other options available to them once the Electron is phased out. Clare Francis outlines how we make money in our article 'How do we make our money?'.

I hope that helps. Thanks for the feedback.

Felicity's recent article on the above subject, when talking about Ryanairs plans to accept only mastercard prepaid cards in the future, quotes:

"Bob Atkinson, travel expert at travelsupermarket.com, said: "While this might be annoying for passengers who've taken out a Visa Electron card simply to avoid paying these fees, this will be useful in the long term.

"Many banks are phasing out there Visa Electron offers, so in the future it's likely to be easier to use a Mastercard"

How is this going to be 'easier', or 'more useful in the long term' ? Particularly in relation to buying Ryanair tickets - I don't see it !! The electron card that I have just started using, was free to acquire, and top up, and had no monthly charges. This is being phased out in favour of a prepaid mastercard. However, looking at Moneysupermarket's own recommendations, the cheapest card will incur a one-off charge of £4.50, with a monthly charge of £9.95 ?

So how is this going to be more beneficial to people, particularly in relation to the number-1 reason for having such a card - buying the occasional Ryanair air ticket ?

Does Moneysupermarket.com earn commission from these new cards, perhaps ??

Teuchter