In February 2008, Ryanair took its site offline for a few days to change their booking system. The move was taken to step in line with British Office of Fair Trading (OFT) suggestions on how airlines should display flight prices.

In an Office of Fair Trading statement, dated February 7, 2007 and entitled OFT warns over misleading holiday and travel pricing, airlines are reminded that "[the OFT] Code of Conduct, which is binding on all members, requires all fixed non-optional costs to be included in the basic advertised prices of their holidays".

So how has Ryanair implemented these recommendations?

• What has changed on the new Ryanair booking site?
  
• The total price of your flight, inclusive of taxes and 'optional' fees, appears on the flight search results page, after you have selected your flight. This is an improvement on the past situation, where you had to wait until the next page loads.
  However, the price listed when you first search is not the price inclusive of taxes (you still need to click to get the true price). Surely it is this first price to which the Office of Fair Trading's 'basic advertised price' suggestion applies?
  
  What has not changed on the new Ryanair site
  
• Ryanair still adds on the 'optional' fee of checking luggage into the hold (and it forces you to check in any bag over 10kg). As it is largely only business travelers who can travel with under 10kg of luggage, this fee hits those on vacation hardest.
• Ryanair still charges the 'optional' fee of checking in at the airport (rather than online) . You can't, of course, check in online if you have baggage - therefore, if you are checking bags in, you are charged twice for this privilege.
  Other airlines, such as easyJet, do charge to check a bag into the hold but have no weight limit for hand luggage. Few other airlines charge to check in at the airport.
  

• Ryanair still adds on the 'optional' credit and debit card fees of paying for your tickets.
  easyJet does too, however, easyJet's credit fees hit solo travelers (such as businessmen) hardest, while Ryanair's fees hit groups (such as families) the hardest.
  
• Ryanair still adds the Priority Boarding Fee as standard - you must remove this if you don't want to be charged for it.
  easyJet offers this to you but doesn't add it as standard.
  
• Ryanair still adds insurance as standard - you must remove this if you don't want to be charged for it.
  easyJet does the same.
  

In summary, while Ryanair has made it slightly easier to see how much you will be paying for your flights, they do not appear to have quite met the standards they were asked to meet. Furthermore, Ryanair's 'optional' fees, though adherent to the letter of the law (and OFT's recommendations) do not, in my opinion, adhere to its spirit.