Ryanair makes it very difficult and complex even to obtain a refund for tickets due to a flight canceled by the airline. We were involved in a story that we're telling you in detail because we're convinced that this experience, a huge waste of money and time, is shared by many passengers. Let's start from the beginning.
In February 2025, we purchased a round-trip ticket from Venice Marco Polo to Reggio Calabria, scheduled to depart in June. We did so well in advance, as it was the only way we could afford to pay for the flight at an acceptable rate, following the most basic rules for saving on airfare and using a credit card.
Upon our return, the flight was canceled by the airline following a strike, and from that moment our ordeal began. Ryanair was unable to "protect" its passengers, as they say in technical jargon, and give them the option of taking another flight on the same route, and so they were entitled to a full refund. But here we discovered, almost by chance, that the process for getting your money back was scientifically designed to make a refund extremely difficult, if not impossible, as in this case.
First of all, the airline isn't doing the simplest thing, which it should have done given that it canceled the flight: refunding the passenger's money with a simple and quick bank transfer to the account provided by the customer. Instead, Ryanair has carefully crafted a mechanism to "trap" passengers, already suffering from the inconvenience of the flight cancellation.
The refund isn't made directly, but involves two steps. First, the funds are credited to the regular customer's wallet on their website. The customer then has two options: purchase a new Ryanair ticket and see the refund amount deducted from the amount due, or request the credit, currently virtual, be converted into a credit, this time directly to the passenger's account. The two-step trick has a logic that's quite frustrating for the customer: if they choose the first option, Ryanair hasn't lost a single euro of the ticket price for the canceled flight and has simply transferred the purchase to another trip.
Having chosen the other solution, transferring the money directly to the account, the times instead of shortening became longer, and a series of incredible surprises arrived.
The problem arose when we realized the credit card used for payment had since expired . We immediately contacted Ryanair to provide the new card details, explaining the situation, but from that point on, a grueling back-and-forth between chats began, without ever having the opportunity to speak to a representative on the phone or receiving clear instructions on how to proceed. No one gave us concrete instructions on how to provide the new details for the refund—neither the new card number nor an alternative IBAN. We found ourselves in a vicious circle, without effective support and unable to resolve an actually rather simple issue. A truly frustrating and unacceptable process.
Finally, a Ryanair representative advised us to contact the bank directly, claiming they could resolve the issue. We then contacted Poste Italiane, as it was a Postepay card. At the counter, we were told that since the card had expired, the refund would never arrive and would automatically be returned to the sender. Over the phone, however, we were advised to ask the airline for a specific code to track the transaction and attempt a recovery. However, Ryanair categorically refused to provide it.
The result? Despite numerous attempts, we were unable to obtain a refund.
Ryanair, in its terms and conditions, specifies that refunds are made exclusively to the original payment method. But we wonder: how is it possible that there is no valid alternative for those who purchase well in advance and, in the meantime, lose their card, see it expire, or have it stolen? It's a far from uncommon situation , yet there seems to be no concrete solution.
Please note that another passenger on the same flight, with the same expired card, received a refund without any problems, simply because she had purchased her ticket via PayPal . In this case, PayPal received the refund from Ryanair and automatically redirected it to the new card linked to her account. Those who had paid directly by credit card, like ours, found themselves with no concrete possibility of recovering their money.
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