A dad on an all-inclusive £1,400 holiday has been left ‘smoking’ after his party was charged an extra £270 to fly home from Spain.

The 27-year-old, who does not want to be named, and the three other passengers were each hit with a £30 check-in fee and £38 to load their luggage on board. The father-of-one, who enjoyed a five-night all-inclusive holiday in Spain, claimed he was not told he had to check in online for the flight from Palma to Manchester.

The Leeds man, told MEN: “It’s been a brilliant holiday and we had no problems flying from Manchester to Palma. But when we went to check in at Palma airport on our flight back, weWe arrived over two hours before our flight, only to be told, ‘you have six minutes to register.

READ MORE: Ryanair passenger said ‘you look like a terrorist’ in ‘heartbreaking’ racist attack on Manchester flight

“They couldn’t find my reservation. The woman at the check-in counter tried to help me, but my email address which I had used to book everything with (online travel agency) On The Beach, didn’t work.Keep saying there was no reservation available.

“Then airport staff charged all four of us £30 each for registration. We were absolutely furious. We didn’t have to pay that in Manchester.

“It’s a lot of money to pay. We didn’t have cash, so my friend had to pay on his credit card. We are still trying to refund that. I’m a full-time dad, so any money I lose is less money for my son.”

The party had booked the £1,300 four-day holiday through online travel agency On The Beach, which included £475 return Ryanair flights, a four-star hotel and a bus transfer.

They were then stunned to discover there was a £30 charge for each passenger to check in, which the man claimed they had not been informed of beforehand.

After checking in, the group faced an additional £38 charge to check in their bags, as they had not booked priority boarding tickets for the flight.

However, On The Beach insists passengers have been warned that failure to check-in online could result in airport check-in fees, in line with Ryanair policies.

The man said the experience of flying back to Manchester was ‘stressful’ as they did not expect any further charges after booking the holiday online.

He added: “We had to pay extra just to get our bags on the flight, so we paid hundreds of pounds for the four of us just to get back to Manchester.

“Palma airport staff said they couldn’t do anything about it and that’s the rule.It was difficult to communicate with them about this as they were Spanish so there was a language barrier.

” We were all stressed. None of us had our bags with us because they were taken from us and put under the plane with the big bags.

“I don’t understand why Ryanair seems to have this impression that people can go on holiday for a few days with just a handbag or just a backpack.”

He added: “It was literally when we got to the airport in Spain and we were basically told ‘if you don’t pay, you’re not allowed to carry your bags on the flight’.

“It was the same with check-in. They said ‘if you don’t pay the £30 for check-in you can’t get on the flight.’ You will need to book another flight. “”

He said more transparency was needed so that passengers could be prepared for the additional charges.

“They have to stick to a rule at every airport. They can’t have a rule at one airport and a rule at another.

“I would much rather they tell us when we flew out of Manchester airport, than be forced to pay money to bring my own clothes back to England.”

RYANAIR’S RESPONSE

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “The problems experienced by these passengers are a direct result of them having booked their flights through an unauthorized online travel agency (OTA). Ryanair has no business relationship with OTAs and in this case the OTA failed to inform the passenger of Ryanair’s online check-in and baggage policies resulting in the passenger being properly charged an airline fee. airport check-in £30 per passenger at Palma airport. and a £38 gate baggage charge.

“Ryanair urges customers to always book direct, as OTAs may provide Ryanair with incorrect email addresses, contact details and payment information, which prevents Ryanair from communicating directly with the customer to share information and updates. essential flight updates, including check-in prompts, potential departure time, changes, delays, cancellations and refund updates.

THE TRAVEL AGENT SPEAKS UP

On The Beach “strongly rejected any suggestion that we provide false or misleading information to Ryanair or our customers”.

A spokesperson for the online travel agent added: “Our communication with the customer provided all flight information necessary for online check-in, including reference number, unique email address and baggage allowance.

“We have also advised that failure to check-in online may result in airport check-in fees. We are sorry to hear that the customer has incurred these fees, but this unfortunate incident is a direct result of Ryanair’s aggressive anti-competitive campaign against travel agents and their customers, who are being punished and treated like second-class citizens for choosing us over booking directly through Ryanair.

“Millions of customers choose to book with On The Beach every year without difficulty because we offer choice, convenience, competitive prices and protection by ATOL and the Package Travel Regulations – something that cannot be offered when booking flights alone.

“As package operators, we have a responsibility to manage all elements of a package holiday for our customers. In contrast, Ryanair continues to impose onerous conditions on its customers, charging additional fees and creating confusion. It is essential that they put an end to this unfair and anti-competitive behaviour”.

A Ryanair spokesperson replied: “Like any business, Ryanair has the right to determine its own distribution model. Ryanair has decided to deal directly with its customers, not with intermediaries who seek to profit from innovation and investments by Ryanair in many cases just to impose intermediate mark-ups on airfares.

“This innovation enables Ryanair to ensure flight safety, security and public protocols are adhered to, while providing the best choice, care and lowest fares to its customers. We ask On the Beach to respect Ryanair’s distribution policy as well as its own customers (who no doubt understandably assume that a company posing as a package organizer has commercial agreements in place with its suppliers) by ceasing to sell Ryanair flights .

Get the latest headlines delivered to your inbox with our newsletters.

Dirty and illegal chicken factory that provides takeout and restaurants fined after ignoring shutdown order

Ryanair boss urges travelers to get to Manchester airport earlier due to travel chaos