Why am I so stupid?? Mistake booking flights

[MrsFinchleysFlan]

I was booking Ryanair flights earlier to fly home for Christmas. I usually use the app, but I wanted to check I had the best price by putting the same flights into the Ryanair site in incognito mode. I did it quickly and put some random letters in for the names.

For some reason the baggage was cheaper, so I went ahead and booked the flights though the browser in incognito mode (after logging in to my account) after carefully checking I had the right dates.

BUT DID I CHANGE THE NAMES?? NO I DID NOT 😵😲😲

They apparently allow name changes for free up to 48 hours after booking, but only by 3 letters! So now they want £400 to change the names!

Their customer service opens tomorrow morning. What can I say to beg them just to make the changes for free??

And why was the baggage cheaper in incognito mode??

My friend had this exact same thing. She rebooked the flights as it was cheaper than paying to change the name. Is it for one person - is everyone’s name wrong? Just buy a new flight for the wrong persons name if so.

Cancel the flights and rebook

And why was the baggage cheaper in incognito mode??

Why were you double checking in incognito mode if you didn’t expect there to be a price difference?

Yeahhhhh - you're just going to have to chalk this one up as a lesson learned to double check that you've got the names correct. It's your mess up and there's no pressure on Ryanair to do anything about it so I highly doubt they will.

As PP said, probs cheaper to rebook than pay for a name change.

@Gonk123 4 names wrong 🤦‍♀️

@CloudSky I wanted to see if there would be a price difference! And there was!

Good luck. I have never gotten any help from their customer service ever.
Recently I had to fly to UK a day early because my daughter was in a car accident. I got the call and jumped in a taxi and went straight to the airport.
Ryanair said they could change my flight….to one later in the week. I said how does that help? I want to fly there tonight and I already have a ticket for tomorrow.

There was no way they could change me from the next day to that evening. They claimed (falsely) there was no flight. I was at the airport by then and said yes there is, it’s leaving in 3hrs and I’m watching people check in.

They then claimed the flight was full. I said no it’s not I can book tickets on it right now on the app. I said multiple times I was happy to pay the fees to change flights. I wasn’t trying to change them for free.

They said my only choice to change my flight was to go later in the week, they couldn’t put me on the one leaving in a few hours.

I hung up, and booked the flight in my app, paying full price. They then of course refused to refund me the flight from the next day that I no longer needed.

They don’t care.

Most of their flights are nonrefundable. And this isn’t a situation travel insurance will pay out on.

I'd be amazed if they are prepared to help you in any way, customer service is not their thing.

I madeva mistake with a booking last year - not Ryanair, but when I called and explained they refunded me once I rebooked the correct flight.

If you ring and explain you could get lucky - especially as you do plan to travel and want to change rather than cancel.

I'd managed to buy 2 one way tickets to my destination, rather than a return. Totally my fault, nonrefundable ticket, but they did refund me once I'd booked a retun ticket home.

@SpiritAdder I wasn’t aware of their policy. (Never used Ryanair) I did a similar thing with incorrect dates earlier this year with BA and quickly cancelled and rebooked. I hoped the OP would have the same luck.

I hope she is lucky too.

This.

But I do hope for the OP’s sake that we’re wrong!

If you cancel you can apply for a refund of taxes and charges? I cancelled flights recently with aer Lingus and got some money back. Maybe you can do that with RA too?
Definitely try customer service though. You could get lucky.

Update. They said no. No cancellation, can't change the names without charge. What an expensive mistake 🤦‍♀️

Ryanair, the bastions of customer service and helping their customers out said this? I'm shocked, shocked I tells ya!

That’s their terms though.

I messed up booking easyJet flights, I noticed within 15 minutes and tried to cancel but they charged me €60. It’s what you accept when booking with these airlines

Bastards.

how is your Dd?

Great, but the clue there is 'NOT Ryan Air' who have to be the shittiest airline.

Sorry, we all do the odd daft thing! Try to forgive yourself & move on.

im not at all surprised though, RA are the wirst!

Did you think to ask why it was cheaper incognito? (Obviously to draw non regular users in. But would be interested to hear their excuse)

@AutumnCosy2025 apparently "prices are dynamic" 🤔

That’s the deal, though. It’s cheap, and these days pretty reliable, but the pay-off is no customer service, no cancellation/rebooks, draconian luggage policies. D a no-frills experience.

Sorry, OP. Everyone’s done similar once in their lives.

Agh I feel for you. We have all done it. Try to not be too cross with yourself.

I seem to remember that there are some parts that can be refunded - taxes or something that are only due if you actually fly - might be worth a try:

help.ryanair.com/hc/en-ie/categories/12488030693649-Refunds

You are only entitled to a Government Tax refund if you have paid such taxes at the time of your booking. If government taxes were included in your ticket price, they will be displayed to you in the price breakdown at the time you make your booking. Our higher ticket prices generally include government taxes, while our lower ticket prices do not. If your ticket price includes government taxes, they will be displayed in the price breakdown at the time you make your booking. You can apply for a refund of Government Tax within one month of the date of departure of your flight if you did not travel.

The trouble with Ryanair is that they know that shit customer service is something they are known for and they couldn't care less, they even use it in their marketing. They are completely unapologetic about it. You can't shame them into helping you like you can with other companies.