However, beware when trying to book other kinds of travel, such as flights and cottage stays by phone. You could be hit with an unexpected fee of up to £50. It’s a charge that’s likely to particularly affect people who are less able to book online, such as blind or older travellers.
Holiday cottage phone booking charge
We found a one-bedroom Sykes Cottage in Looe, Cornwall, priced £436 for a seven-night stay.
But when we phoned up to book it, Sykes told us it would cost £445. Only when we asked if it’s cheaper online did staff admit that there’s a £9 charge for booking through the call centre.
We couldn’t find this charge mentioned on its website. Sykes told us that its customer services team are able to remove the phone booking fee ‘where appropriate’. So if you do want to book a cottage over the phone with Sykes, remember to ask them to remove the fee.
Blind and disabled travellers - ripped-off by Ryanair
Lots of people, including those less comfortable with technology, the blind or otherwise disabled, might feel uncertain about making a booking on the computer, but too often they’ll be charged a premium for their disadvantage.
Ryanair charges an astonishing £50 for booking by phone. Ryanair says it charges this fee to encourage people to book online to allow it 'to avoid unnecessary costs which we then pass on to customers in lower fares'. When we challenged this it told us that blind people can use screen readers on Ryanair.com, or get somebody else to make the booking.
We put this to accessibility consultant Adi Latif, himself blind, who told us: ‘Not all blind people have someone to help them, or feel comfortable to ask.’
Some firms say that they charge a phone fee, but waive this for disabled people, but Ryanair hasn’t made this promise. None of our Which? Recommended Provider cottage firms or airlines, charge for booking by phone.
Ryanair told us it encourages passengers to book online ‘to avoid unnecessary costs’ and keep fares low.
Other airlines phone fees
British Airways, easyJet and KLM all also charge a fee for phone booking but they all said they waive this for disabled travellers if they can't book online. BA and EasyJet both said that they provide a separate, free customer support telephone service for passengers requiring special assistance, which can also provide booking assistance.
Ryanair, easyJet and British Airways all also have additional fees, on top of the standard fee, for making changes to your booking over the phone.
Fees for booking by phone*Additional fees are charged for making some changes to your booking by phone, on top of standard admin fees.
How to avoid fees for phone booking
If there is a fee for booking by phone then always ask the call handler if that can be removed. In the case of a disabled person who’s not able to book online, we think removing the fee should be a legal obligation.
The Equality Act 2010 says that firms have to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to make sure disabled people are not disadvantaged in accessing a service. What’s ‘reasonable’ is, according to the law, up to firms themselves to decide. We think this should include waiving fees for blind, or otherwise disabled people, to book over the phone.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/why-booking-holidays-by-phone-could-mean-youre-ripped-off-auilA3h3guAx