Hello there!

Edit: I’m sure this post belongs in Privacy@lemmy.ml because this post’s concern is with shilling facial recognition, promising benefits for it and overall describing it like the only sane option - “you wouldn’t want to stay in line for an hour, now, would you?”.

Just bought a Ryanair ticket that was, like, 17 euros. I saw that price and said “Wow! That’s like going to a movie but the movie is Slovakia!”. Bought the ticket, then received a looooot of spam, among which there was a letter saying that, since I bought from a third-party, I need to verify my identity first. On top there were 2 nice looking buttons that said “Verify Now” and above them there were two ways of verifying my identity enclosed in a nice frame. The first one would only take me 2 minutes and cost only 0.59 cents, and would utilize facial recognition technology,

Uses facial recognition technology. Verify in approx. 2 minutes. Requires a copy of the passenger’s identification documentation and a device with a camera.

the other one didn’t look so appetizing, because it might have taken up to 7 days (I’d be leaving in 4), it would have no cost (for free) and would use no facial recognition technology, hence the 7 day wait

Verifies the passenger’s signature. Verify within 7 days. Requires a copy of the passenger’s identification documentation and a device with a camera.

Following the two ways there was a third way, which was in no way highlighted as the first two, and it said that if I wanted, I could go there myself and hand them my passport, but they explicitly dissuade me from doing so because “it would imply a payment of a check-in fee”

Passengers who do not avail of Express Verification or Standard Verification to verify their bookings can verify at the Ryanair ticket desk up to 60 minutes before departure.

However, we do not recommend this option as an airport check-in fee will apply (please see our Table of Fees).

The facial recognition way sounded like an angel’s voice among the devil’s screams, when compared to the other two. It was presented almost like “an offer JUST for you”, like “Look. I normally don’t do this, but since you’re such a nice guy…”. I obviously discarded the facial-recognition way as soon as I read “facial recognition”, but also because they so strongly suggested against me paying 55 euros (I called and asked) to them. Now, if the 55 euros are going to Ryanair, it sounds so unreasonable for them to almost refuse taking my money [However, we do not recommend this option as an airport check-in fee will apply (please see our Table of Fees).]. Who doesn’t want an extra 55 from each old person that buys their ticket? I would, however, understand if that 55 were to go entirely to the airport, not Ryanair, but I don’t think that’s how it works (correct me if I’m wrong). It seemed like they wanted to own my face more than my 55 euros, so it must be that they would earn much more from my face than from my wallet. I don’t want to allow that. I assume that, when applying to the facial recognition option, I would need to accept a specific ToS allowing them to store and sell my pretty little face around. I can’t allow that. I also understand that this is a low-cost flight and they need to reach a certain earning with alternative methods (i.e. selling my face to third-party and whatnot), but since they allow to pay for the ticket AND the 55 for the check-in then that sum must cover the whole thing and it must be the non-low-cost full price. Why then would I sell you my face allowing you to use me to make much more money than you should? For the commodity of doing the verification from my couch in 2 minutes? That’s not enough for me to sell myself, and neither should it be for anyone else (who has some, if not pride, then self-respect).

The whole picture looks a bit manipulative to me and I’d rather waste the money I spent on the two-way ticket and airbnb, stay home and never have anything to do with Ryanair.

  • poVoq@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    So besides all the (justified) Ryanair hate here… 3rd party ticket resellers are also scum and you should never use them.

    I haven’t bought a Ryanair ticket in a while, but on their own website it is AFAIK “just” the usual dark pattern trying to upsell you BS you don’t need.

      • Ben Hur Horse Race@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        yeah man thats nuts… satanic black magic- sick shit!

        honestly you could have just gone to the ryanair website and gotten another ticket for 17 and not done any of this

        • Rentlar@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          I don’t know if there are European regulations that prevent it but I could see the cancellation fee being like 25€, lol.

          • Ben Hur Horse Race@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            oh no, you’d just buy another one. I recently bought a ryanair flight and then realized I’d have to come back earlier, so I just got another ticket. The fee to change your flight was €50, but the flight was €19

              • Ben Hur Horse Race@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                more. more than 2x the cost of a new ticket, its wild. you’d figure they’d want to be able to resell the other one at a higher fare closer to the flight time, but I guess not

    • Bazsalanszky@lemmy.toldi.eu
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      1 year ago

      I don’t think it’s necessarily a third-party reseller thing. I bought tickets a few days ago literally from their app, only to get the same email that said I needed to ‘verify my identity’ because I bought the tickets for an ‘unauthorized third-party reseller’.

    • skybox@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Absolutely. My friends and I just flew with Ryanair from Rome to Barcelona, and besides almost losing my mobile boarding pass because I almost lost my phone, it was completely fine. I’ve heard a lot of things about them strictly enforcing luggage sizes, so I just made sure I only bought the tickets through the official website while ignoring the upselling dark patterns and got bags I knew would absolutely fit the stricter luggage requirements.

      Given the alternatives were either Wizz, Lufthansa, or Easyjet for a direct flight, I think I made the right decision.

    • library_napper@monyet.cc
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      1 year ago

      I always buy from third party. Cheapair accepts cryptocurrency.

      I’ve had many terrible past experiences with my payment failing with a credit card, most likely due to false positive fraud detection systems (I do a lot of things to protect myself on the internet)

      I’ll never buy a flight again with fiat. Cryptocurrency is push-based and permissionless, so they couldn’t block my payment even if they wanted to. It works every time.

      • 3yiyo3@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        But unless you’re paying with Monero, you paying with cryptocurrency is not private at all. Idon’t know a lot about cryptos but I’ve heard blockchain is even more traceable than fiat and even less private as paying with cash.

        • LufyCZ@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You can always go through a non-kyc exchange, buy monero for anything, send to another non-kyc exchange, sell monero for eth, withdraw to a fresh wallet, boom, privacy

        • library_napper@monyet.cc
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          1 year ago

          This is payment for a flight. I don’t need it to be private or anonymous. But I do need it to let me pay.

          I do know a lot about cryptocurrency. IMHO the most important features are that they are permissionless and push-based.

          This makes them more secure and unblockable.

          If I wanted anonymity, I’d pay with Monero. But that doesn’t matter for a flight that requires me to auth with my passport…