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When you book a package holiday, you probably expect that one company will deal with all the arrangements so all you have to do is pack and check in. But some Rip Off Britain viewers have been getting in touch to tell us they were also asked to ‘verify’ their flights. Some who failed that process lost their holiday.

Customers of online travel agents such as On The Beach, Lastminute.com and others, whose package holidays included flights with Ryanair, tell us they were selected at random for a process which can include being asked to log in with a new, computer-generated email address, upload your passport details again and complete an ID check, facial similarity test and liveness test.

The same verification process applies to standalone Ryanair flights booked through an online travel agent (OTA).

It might sound unusual or unnecessary, but fail to complete it and you could forfeit your trip altogether, which is just what happened to some Rip Off Britain viewers.

Diane Agro from Cheshire booked a package holiday to Rhodes with On The Beach and got an email from the company nine days later saying she’d need to verify the flights directly with the airline before she could check in.

She was asked to log in using the email address ‘dianeagro@surfsidebartender.com’, which she’d never seen before. The email told her this unique address would allow On The Beach to continue to manage the booking on her behalf.

“I was slightly horrified because they’re using my name on an artificial email address. It didn’t seem right,” Diane told Rip Off Britain.

She followed the instructions in the email, but the Ryanair website refused to accept the email address and instead blocked her booking.

She turned to On The Beach, but the OTA was unable to help. Diane was asked to settle the remaining balance but instead decided to cancel the holiday, losing £440 for the non-refundable flights.
“When I realised that I wasn't going to get any help from either Ryanair or On The Beach, it was a feeling of anger that I'm going to have to pay for flights that I'm not going to be able to access,” said Diane.
“I'm not going to be able to go on this holiday, even though it was totally not my fault. This was something they’ve created between themselves, On the Beach, and Ryanair. And the middle person, the customer, is the person who suffers.”

Patricia McDonagh from Lincolnshire booked her Ryanair flight to Dublin on Lastminute.com and was also asked to complete verification.
Unlike Diane she successfully logged on, but after carrying out each of the checks, her verification failed.
“What a palava,” Patricia told Rip Off Britain. “They want an ID check, facial similarity, liveness check and profile data check. To go through this, you really have to jump through hoops, moving your head around, smiling, nodding, closing your eyes.”
It transpired Patricia had failed because her booking did not include the middle name that appeared on her passport. And because the booking could not be verified, Lastminute.com was unable to help.

She was given the option to check in at the airport instead (at a cost of £55 per seat) but it worked out cheaper for Patricia to write off the £150 flight and book another one with a different airline.

Patricia and Diane are just two of the thousands of people caught up in a battle between Ryanair and online travel agents including Booking.com, eDreams Odigeo, Expedia, Kiwi.com, lastminute.com, Skyscanner and On the Beach.

Since at least 2010, Ryanair has been trying to restrict OTAs from selling tickets on its flights because it said they were breaching its terms and inflating prices.

The airline claims that OTAs block it from communicating directly with customers ‘to share essential flight information and updates, including check-in prompts, potential departure time changes, delays, cancellations, and refund updates’.

To prevent those companies managing flight bookings on behalf of passengers, Ryanair introduced a process to verify their identity.

Several OTAs have now joined together to urge UK regulators to put an end to Ryanair’s demands for additional verification, and some – including On the Beach – have launched legal challenges against Ryanair’s actions. Meanwhile Ryanair has also launched legal actions against a number of OTAs.

But Patricia and Diane both feel their travel agent should have made them aware of the process before they’d made their booking.

“We help customers get through the process,” On The Beach’s Zoe Harris told Rip Off Britain. “We know it's unnecessary and we know that Ryanair puts it in place to try and be as obstructive as possible for businesses like ourselves. But we give customers all of the information, and help to check in and get through that process.”

But Ryanair told the programme its verification process was put in place to protect passengers from what it called the ‘illegitimate practices’ of OTAs.

The airline said that OTAs ‘screenscrape’ its website to mis-sell its services to ‘unsuspecting customers’ and apply ‘hidden markups for no useful service’.

But On The Beach said this isn’t the case, arguing that OTA customers have the advantage of value for money, choice and ATOL protection as well.

“The fact remains that the customer is being negatively impacted by this,” Sarah Dennis, editor of the Travel Trade Gazette, told Rip Off Britain. “Customers definitely should be aware that [verification] problems might occur, that’s the crux of the issue, but neither side is publicising that at the moment.”

As the legal battle rumbles on, OTAs can continue to sell Ryanair flights, while Ryanair’s verification process remains firmly in place. Though not every customer is asked to complete verification, it pays to be aware of the process – and the risks involved.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “[Diane Agro and Patricia McDonach] booked their flights through an online travel agent (OTA) whom Ryanair has no commercial agreement with and are not authorised to sell our flights, and therefore needed to complete Ryanair’s Customer Verification process to check-in.

“We have no record of [Diane] attempting to complete the verification process. [Patricia] passed the face and liveness check of the verification process, however the name on the booking did not match the name on her travel documents therefore we could not verify the booking.”

A spokesperson for On The Beach said: “We’re sorry that Ryanair’s arduous verification process led Ms Agro to cancel her booking.
“It’s completely valid and lawful for online travel agents to book and package services with different suppliers, such as flights, hotels and transfers, and then manage that booking for consumers. Travel agents are not a new concept, and consumers should have choice available to them and be able to book their holiday with whoever they want, problem-free.

“Ryanair’s onerous verification steps are harming consumers, and scaremongering language leads them to believe their booking isn’t valid. Ryanair is targeting only those consumers who book their flights with an online travel company, and we are one of many other UK online travel companies affected. As such, we have joined together as ‘Online Travel UK’ and written to regulators to outline the issues it’s causing, asking for it to be stopped urgently.”

A spokesperson for Lastminute.com said: “We are sorry [Patricia McDonagh] had such a stressful experience.
“In the sale of standalone flight tickets we act as an agent and consumers’ contract is between the customer and the airline directly, therefore we are obliged to follow the rules set out by the airline. Using the customer’s full name as it appears on the passport is clearly requested in the booking process and each airline then has a different policy regarding name changes or modifications. We always recommend our customers contact the airline directly in such circumstances.

“While, unfortunately, we are not notified by Ryanair of which bookings are randomly selected to follow their new verification process, our priority as travel agents is always to offer our customers the best choice and travel options across hundreds of airlines and accommodation providers. We can’t influence or change the outcome of this verification process required by Ryanair and can only advise our customers on what to do in case they are requested to complete the process. We have already implemented a notification via email and My Account Area.”

Watch Rip Off Britain’s report on Friday 13th October at 9:15am, 大象传媒 One, or on 大象传媒 iPlayer