Ryanair has been accused of duping British customers with a rip-off exchange rate - leaving passengers out of pocket.
Like most airlines, the Irish firm automatically prices fares to match the currency of the departure airport, most commonly in Euros.
But an investigation by consumer group Which? found the budget carrier is tricking passengers into paying more - by tricking them into using a poor exchange rate.
The watchdog found how two tickets from Alicante to Bristol cost €225 but at payment was converted to £214.
But when payment was reverted to Euros, which the airline warns on its site could cost passengers ‘significantly more’, the total for the flights was just £198 - £16 cheaper.
A family of four travelling from Thessaloniki, in Greece to Stansted on March 5th cost £813.56 when converted from Euros to Sterling by Ryanair.
But paying in Euros with a Visa card meant the flights were only £771.13 - a saving of £42.43.
The same was true of other currencies. Booking return flights from Marrakech to London next week, sold in Moroccan dirham, Ryanair’s exchange rate priced the seats at £381.05 where Visa would have charged £360.01.
It is not the first time Ryanair has been criticised for its currency converting after it came under fire for using a £1/€1 rate for extras such as hold luggage and seat reservations, which means UK travellers pay more.
What YOU can do about it
Rory Boland, Which? Travel Editor, said: “Considering Ryanair markets itself as the airline that’s ‘Always Getting Better’, leaving its customers out of pocket with a rip-off exchange rate is a poor way of living up to this ambition.
“Don’t accept Ryanair’s offer to convert your payment. If you have to pay in euros, it’s better to let your bank, rather than your airline, make the conversion to pounds.”
Ryanair denied it is a sharp practice and said it “complies with EU and national laws on consumer protection”. Which? said it was concerned Ryanair was in breach of consumer protection legislation and had written to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), adding that neither BA, EasyJet or Jet2 “encourage customers to choose an almost certainly worse rate”.
For more advice on travel money and how to buy it, see our guide, here.