The Way This Student Avoided Paying Ryanair's Extortionate Ticket Fees Is Amazing

Ryanair has never knowingly been accused of being fair to the customer: its devious ways of extracting extra money from passengers to add to their seemingly cheap fare are legendary. But this time a customer has fought back with an ingenious plan.

19-year-old Adam Armstrong and his 17-year-old girlfriend India Lomas were due to fly to Ibiza on holiday next week with Lomas' stepfather having bought them their tickets. However, when he did so, he took Adam's surname from Facebook, where he had renamed himself Adam West, in honour of the legendary Batman actor.

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When they rang Ryanair to enquire about the cost of changing the name on the ticket, they were told that the administration cost was an astronomical £220 - £110 per person as his girlfriend was on the same booking. But Armstrong decided to find a better way: he promptly changed his name to Adam West by deed poll, for free, and then got a new passport for £103. The result: less than half the cost of what it would have been.

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Ryanair claims that the fee is in place to dissaude people from buying their tickets and then reselling them for a profit but, clearly, there needs to be some sort of middle ground. After gaining a bad reputation for ripping off consumers, the airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary has been on a charm offensive - profits soared 66 percent in the year period up until March, compared to the previous year, with passenger numbers growing.

​Whichever way you look at it, £220 is plane stupid.

(Images: Rex/Adam West)