Change Your Ryanair Flight Without Fees (UPDATED for COVID-19/coronavirus)
I have a confession: a few months ago, I was so excited to book a particular flight that I didn’t double-check the dates. Usually I’m paranoid about triple-checking everything on the pre-purchase “review your details” screen, but this airline didn’t have one... and we ended up with tickets for exactly a month later than we needed.
I realized it instantly, and immediately tried to change the dates or get a refund, only to be told that the flight was already confirmed and I would need to pay a change fee that cost more than the tickets themselves.
Ouch!
If only the tickets had been with Ryanair! This Irish-based budget airline realizes that people sometimes make mistakes, and is kind enough not to hold you to them. At least, not if you realize the problem quickly enough!
Can I Change My Ryanair Flight Without Fees Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19)?
Ryanair’s official policy is that they’ve taken all necessary precautions by cancelling flights to Italy. If your flight is affected by this, you should have been notified of the cancellation, and can either change your flight without a penalty or request a full refund.
You can check the list of affected destinations here to see whether your route has been cancelled, or go to the “My Bookings” section on Ryanair for a notification.
If you’re feeling nervous about traveling because of coronavirus (COVID-19), but Ryanair hasn’t cancelled your flight, theoretically the normal change fees apply. However, I recommend you use Ryanair’s live chat service or give them a call at 0818 30 30 30 to talk to an employee. Some airlines are willing to make a lot of exceptions to help deal with the coronavirus situation, so it’s worth getting in touch to see if you can make changes without fees.
If You Realized Your Mistake (or Your Plans Changed) Within 24 Hours of Booking:
Ryanair generously offers a 24-hour grace period. If you catch a mistake or decide on different plans during this time, you can change the date and time without paying any penalties. (You will need to pay the fare difference, so don’t try to find a loophole by booking the cheaper wrong flight and then thinking you can change it to a more expensive one for free!)
Interestingly, Ryanair also lets you change your destination within 24 hours, but only if you accidentally got it exactly reversed. For example, if you intended to fly from London to Dublin but accidentally booked from Dublin to London, you can correct the mistake and reverse the departure and destination airports. There’s no penalty for doing this within 24 hours, but of course, you’ll also need to pay any difference in the fare between the flight you originally booked and the new, corrected one.
These penalty-free flight changes only apply to changing your date and/or time, or reversing the direction of a flight between two airports. If you need to make other changes, like to a passenger’s name or to a completely different airport, you’ll need to pay a change fee even if you’re making the change within 24 hours of booking the flight.
How Do I Make Changes to My Reservation?
Go to “My Bookings” on Ryanair and log in either with your account or with your reservation number. Click “Change My Flight,” then select the flight that you want to change. From there, the website will walk you through the steps to change your flight.
If you’re making changes within 24 hours of booking your flight, there should be no charge as long as you’re only changing date and/or time, or reversing the direction of the flight (but keeping the same two airports). Otherwise, the site will prompt you to choose how to pay before letting you finish making your changes.
What are RyanAir’s Change Fees?
As of March 2020, RyanAir’s change fees range from about $40 to about $105 USD, depending on what you’re changing, what your route is, and how close to the flight you’re making the changes. In general, the earlier you make changes, the lower the fee. So if you realize you need to change your RyanAir flight, get in touch with them right away!
If you decide to change the name on a ticket and bring someone different with you, a separate change fee applies. You’ll need to pay approximately $130 to $180 USD, depending on when you request the change.
These fees can add up fast, but don’t get lured into thinking you have no choice. Since RyanAir is a budget airline, you might actually be able to find a whole new ticket that costs less than you would pay to make the necessary changes. (This is actually what we did when I messed up the flights I mentioned at the beginning, although those weren’t with RyanAir!)
Have you successfully changed your Ryanair flight without fees, even after the 24-hour window closed? If so, how did you do it? Please let us know in the comments so other readers can know what to expect! We’re especially interested in hearing about whether you were able to change flights due to coronavirus/COVID-19 even if they weren’t cancelled.