We flew to Venice this past weekend with Ryan Air out of Charleroi, which was cheaper but quite the hassle. Apparently Ryan Air is notorious for charging passengers for everything (they are potentially planning to charge for toilet use), so when buying the tickets, I had the option of free online check-in, rather than paying 10 euros/person/trip for airport check in. BUT, when the time came, I found that Ryan Air does NOT accept non-European passports for online check-in, so I was forced to check in at the airport and pay 20 euros.
Again, I am discriminated against for being American 
When I asked at the airport where I could get a refund, I was told to check the Ryan Air website. But NOWHERE on the Ryan Air site could I find informaton on refunding poor non-Europeans. So I googled it, and surprise, there are MANY irate Americans/Norwegians/Australians, etc. with the exact same issue. (a rant session about Euro discrimination? How did I miss that one until now?) I read this one by Meg who explains how to get your refund, and unlike many other bloggers, she was successful in getting her money back.
I will let you know if I ever see that 20 euros. But more importantly, are there any type of discrimination laws that cover this? Is it legal to charge someone for airport check-in when no other option is available and then burden you with figuring out how to get the money back? One writer mentions that even the BLIND have to pay for check in at the airport. I could make so much money suing companies here.
PS – My expectations for the flights were really low, but it was actually really good. One 20 minute delay, otherwise, no real complaints.
PPS – Actually I change my mind – I have one complaint. There is someone on the intercom trying to sell something/anything every 5 seconds. You will not sleep on Ryan Air flights.
April 14 Update — I just received my refund electronically!
I hope you get your refund! I was actually ready to file a discrimination complaint about this as well, and I was actually looking for the mailing address for that reason when I stumbled onto the fine print about the refund for the check-in fee.
FYI – Norwegians can check-in online because Norway is part of the EEA (European Economic Area). I’d never even heard of the EEA before we moved to Norway, and so many places talk about specific rules/procedures for EU countries that I wondered why Norwegians got to go along as well. If you look carefully, most of the places that mention people “from EU countries” actually stipulate “EU/EEA” to include Norway and Iceland.
Interesting blog, I’ll try and spread the word.
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