You may have received an email from Ryanair asking you to authorise your booking. You are likely to have received this email if you have booked via a third party (such as loveholidays or onthebeach).
Booking Authorisation and Verification
You may have received an email indicating that your Ryanair booking was made via a third-party intermediary unauthorised to sell Ryanair flights or use their platforms.
The Issue at Hand
Ryanair has been taking measures to curtail the activities of online services that scrape their fares for resale. These services, sometimes referred to as ‘bots’ or ‘screen scrapers,’ might inflate prices, impose extra charges, and inaccurately relay passenger details. As part of this effort, Ryanair is treating corporate bookings via third parties with an extra level of hassle.
Ryanair’s New Booking Requirement
Ryanair now mandates that all passengers link their bookings to a new or existing Ryanair profile.
The Verification Process Explained
Should you receive the verification email from Ryanair, it is important to understand the steps involved. The online verification must be completed by one of the passengers travelling on the flight. The process requires the Ryanair reference, as provided in the email, and the first and last name exactly as entered into the passport fields in your booking. Please note that only one person from a multiple-passenger booking can perform the verification, which includes various security checks such as providing bank details (for verification only), passport and/or driving license information, and a payment of €0.55 for verification.
Is There Cause for Concern?
Rest assured, there have been no reports of Ryanair cancelling bookings made through third-party channels. While the email you receive might raise initial concerns, it’s important to note that by adhering to the authorisation process, you’ll be able to smoothly manage your booking as usual. Your travel plans will remain unaffected by this procedure.
What do Ryanair say?
If you have been asked to verify your identity, it is because your booking has been flagged as having been made by a third-party travel agent that has no commercial agreement with Ryanair to sell our flights. Many of these third-party travel agents complete the Ryanair check-in process for their customers. For your safety and security, and for the safety and security of your fellow passengers and our crew, the check-in process must be completed by you personally, by a passenger on your booking, or by an individual with personal knowledge of you and of the contents of your luggage. This requirement is to ensure that the relevant persons on the booking are on notice of, and have confirmed compliance with required safety, security and public health protocols, including those set out by the ICAO Technical Instructions, Regulation (EU) 2015/1998, and the EASA/ECDC Covid-19 Aviation Health Safety Protocol.
You must verify your identity before you can complete the check-in process so that we can ensure that you are aware of and have complied with all safety and security regulations.
