Ryanair has repeated accusations that online travel agents (OTAs) such as eDreams, Tix & Vola are marking up Ryanair’s prices by up to 176%, despite court rulings that previous claims made by the Irish carrier against eDreams ODIGEO are untrue and unlawful and must be retracted.
In its October OTA Survey, Ryanair claims that eDreams is “the worst offender, selling a reserved seat that costs just €5.67 on Ryanair.com for €15.67 – almost 3 times the Ryanair price.” What’s more, the carrier says “eDreams is overcharging its unsuspecting customers €27.07 for a 10kg bag which costs just €12.99 on Ryanair, an overcharge of more than double Ryanair’s price.”
These OTAs, the airline points out, “do not have distribution agreements with Ryanair, because they wish to continue overcharging consumers” rather than follow “the transparent pricing being delivered by all Ryanair’s “Approved OTA partners.”
Using strong terms, Ryanair, which is in an ongoing dispute with the Spanish government about airport operator charges and fines over its cabin baggage pricing, says it is “extraordinary that eDreams – a Spanish OTA – continues to overcharge its unsuspecting Spanish consumers while Spain’s useless Consumer Minister, Pablo Bustinduy fails to take any action to defend or protect his own citizens from overcharging.”
Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer, Dara O’Brady, has called on “EU governments and Consumer Protection Agencies to take action to address these OTA overcharges, which are imposing avoidable additional costs for consumers across Europe, and particularly in Spain where eDreams has a large presence.”
Many of the larger OTAs, such as Booking.com, Kiwi, and Kayak, stopped selling Ryanair tickets in early 2024 following the airline’s complaints. Yet, in July 2025, a court ruling found that details of Ryanair’s anti-OTA campaign are illegitimate and not factual. Still, the airline is not entirely wrong in saying OTAs mark up some prices. Consumer champion Which? analysed and compared OTA prices with airlines in 2023 and found OTAs can charge €115 more than a direct booking with the carrier.
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In fact, OTAs tend to draw customers in with cheap basic ticket prices but charge more for add-ons such as baggage or a seat selection. Ironically, this practice is not dissimilar to Ryanair’s own business model (as some online commentators have noted).
Would-be flyers can best avoid egregious surcharges by booking directly with airlines or by using an approved “aggregator” or global distributor, such as easyJet partners Amadeus, Duffel, Kyte, Peakwork, or Travelport, or WizzAir’s partner Travelfusion. It is always a good idea to add up the total fare on different sites, comparing the prices of any extras, before committing.
