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A captcha from November 2012. Christina McSorley via DailyEdge.ie

No more captchas for individual bookings on Ryanair.com

Plus, the airline is making its app free – it will no longer cost €3, thanks to its new digital strategy.

IF RYANAIR’S CAPTCHAS have had you baffled in the past – like this one, which proclaimed ‘I fancy you’ – then you may be glad to hear that things are changing.

The budget airline announced today at its AGM that it is to remove recaptchas for individual bookings from 30 October. It will also, in a surprising move, make its mobile app free to download from 1 October – up until then it will cost €3.

Milestones

At the AGM today, the airline will outline recent milestones, including the fact that it was the first EU airline to carry 9 million passengers in a calendar month (August) and the first EU airline to carry 80m passengers per annum.

Traffic is set to grow from 80m to 110m per annum in the coming years, it said. Ryanair has ordered 175 new B-737 aircraft and concluded a 10-year low cost deal at Warsaw Modlin. It has also agreed a 10 year low cost deal at London Stansted.

Digital strategy

Ryanair is now changing its digital marketing strategy, which includes a new website, plus a number of other features.

It recently launched the @Ryanair Twitter account, for example.

It will also remove the Recaptcha security feature for individual passengers from 30 Oct next – though the feature will remain in place for high volume bookers, screenscrapers, travel agents etc.

It will have a redesigned booking flow which will go live in December, and a passenger registration/retention service live for summer 2014, which it says will substantially reduce the time it takes to complete bookings.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said the past summer saw Ryanair’s operations set new record highs, with 94 per cent of flights on-time in August, less than one bag per 3,000 passengers misplaced and less than one cancellation for every 10,000 flights operated.

He added:

Our primary focus this winter will be to significantly invest in, and improve, the Ryanair.com website, our mobile platform and our interaction with passengers using social media.

He said that the forthcoming improvements will be accompanied by a new digital marketing strategy “which will see Ryanair switch a significant proportion of its marketing budget from old to new media, with a particular focus on mobile and social media platforms”.

Read: Ryanair chooses Stansted over Dublin for major growth surge>

Read: Ryanair issues profit warning, sees €1 billion wiped off share value>

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13 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Maria Clery-Breen
    Favourite Maria Clery-Breen
    Report
    Sep 20th 2013, 12:44 PM

    I liked the funny ones

    58
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Begrudgy
    Favourite Begrudgy
    Report
    Sep 20th 2013, 1:21 PM

    Hope they redesign the whole site. It’s pig ugly.

    52
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Carroll
    Favourite Michael Carroll
    Report
    Sep 20th 2013, 1:08 PM

    Michael O’Leary admits Ryanair have an image problem. You are not joking, Michael.

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ciaran Morgan
    Favourite Ciaran Morgan
    Report
    Sep 20th 2013, 1:49 PM

    If you don’t like celery don’t eat it. if you don’t like Ryanair don’t use them, and don’t comment on them!.

    27
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sandra Martin O'Connor
    Favourite Sandra Martin O'Connor
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    Sep 20th 2013, 12:54 PM

    €3 will disappear but god knows how
    Much more will b added to your eventual booking…

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute lostintallaght
    Favourite lostintallaght
    Report
    Sep 20th 2013, 1:39 PM

    Took a look at the app on the Play store a minute ago – 29 of the 58 reviews were 1 star! Not surprised they have stopped charging for this, it looks like it hardly ever worked.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute AICS (Steve Tracey)
    Favourite AICS (Steve Tracey)
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    Sep 20th 2013, 6:03 PM

    Great, hate the dammed things particularly those in an almost illegible font.
    Hope lot more businesses will follow suit.
    Wonder haw many people, like me have broke off filling in a form/placing an order online due to problems entering the capcha.
    The whole idea of online buying is to make things easy and then they put a capcha in there. Contradiction?

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Annette Temple
    Favourite Annette Temple
    Report
    Sep 21st 2013, 8:28 AM

    When you redesign the website, can you put in a button for ‘I want absolutely NO extras… No priority boarding, no bag, no car hire, no hotel etc. the booking process takes as long as the bloody flight!!

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cpm
    Favourite Cpm
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    Sep 20th 2013, 1:50 PM

    I don’t think they’re reCAPTCHA, I’d say it’s their own CAPTCHA system.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Bob Murphy
    Favourite Bob Murphy
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    Sep 20th 2013, 11:00 PM

    Michael O Learys quote “Our Interaction with passengers” is an absolute joke ….. on the day when we discover he charged Muhammad Taufig Al Sattar an extra €180 to change his ticket to get back to London after his Family were murdered .Great PR Ryanair what a shower of money grabbing Muppets ……

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cpm
    Favourite Cpm
    Report
    Sep 20th 2013, 1:52 PM

    They’re still €3 in the Play store

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Robbert K.
    Favourite Robbert K.
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    Sep 20th 2013, 7:42 PM

    After you pay it will be free!

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute SMcB
    Favourite SMcB
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    Sep 20th 2013, 8:42 PM

    Welcome to 2013 Michael O’Leary…..

    2
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