Travel Tips

How to cancel a Ryanair flight: step-by-step guide

Gert Svaiko

02.05.24 (last updated)

Read time 2 minutes

Had a change of plans? If you’ve booked a flight with Ryanair and can no longer travel, you might be looking into how to cancel it.

In this guide, we’ll cover all the essential info on how to cancel Ryanair flights, including whether you can get a refund. We’ll even give you a hot tip for low fee holiday spending from the money services provider Wise, the Wise multi-currency account, for when you do actually make it abroad.

But first, let’s look at whether you actually need to cancel at all.

How to cancel Ryanair flights - is it possible?

Ryanair doesn’t actually give you the option to cancel flights, but you can change your bookings.¹ This means that if you can’t travel at all and no longer want the flight, all you need to do to cancel is not show up at the airport.

You don’t need to notify Ryanair and you won’t be charged a penalty.

What to do if you make a mistake when booking Ryanair flights?

If you accidentally book a flight for the wrong date or destination, you don’t have to cancel. If you act fast, you can make changes without having to pay any fees.

Ryanair offers a 24-hour grace period within their cancellation policy² where you can change dates and times (and reverse the routing destinations if you accidentally get your airport arrivals and departures the wrong way around) free of charge.

Will I get a refund for cancelling my Ryanair flight?

Unfortunately, Ryanair does not offer refunds on cancelled flights - except in certain circumstances. These include:³

Cancellation of a flight by Ryanair.
The flight or the scheduled time of departure is delayed more than 5 hours
Cancellation due to bereavement of an immediate family member (whether or not they were travelling with you). In these circumstances, you can call Ryanair customer services to let them know. As long as it's at least 28 days before your travel date, you should receive a full refund for the cancelled flight.
Cancellation due to serious illness or death of someone due to travel. Ryanair will use its discretion, but you should be able to cancel your flights and receive a refund.

In all other situations, you’ll lose the booking fee for your flights if you can’t travel, unless you wish to amend the booking instead.

📚 Read more: How to cancel an EasyJet flight?

What’s the Ryanair flight cancellation policy?

If your flight is cancelled by Ryanair, you’ll be notified as soon as possible. According to the Ryanair flight cancellation policy, you can then choose whether to take the rescheduled flight, change your flight to another date for free, or apply for a full refund.⁴

If you’re the one considering cancelling a flight but don’t want to lose your booking fees, you can change your booking. All Ryanair flights are changeable, even close to the time of departure.

You can change your flight date or route up to 2.5 hours² before you’re due to take off, making changes on the ‘Manage My Booking’ section of the Ryanair website. Fees and charges may apply depending on the changes you make, and the cost of the new flights.

The only flights that can’t be changed are domestic flights changed to international flights due to taxation rules. You also can’t change details online when you have a multi-person booking or when you need a partial change on your return flight. In these cases, you need to contact Ryanair directly to make the changes.²

Get ready for low-fee holiday spending with Wise

Once you get your Ryanair flights sorted, it’s time to start planning the rest of your trip. If you’ve managed to avoid cancellation or amendment fees, continue your money-saving spree with a multi-currency account from Wise. It’s not a bank account but offers many similar features.

You can spend on a linked Wise debit card in 150+ countries worldwide for low fees and the mid-market exchange rate. You’ll even get two free international ATM withdrawals up to £200 a month, which should help to top up your travel budget. Note that some third-party providers may still charge you some ATM fees for withdrawals.

So, you now know how to cancel a Ryanair flight - just don’t turn up! But if you don’t want to lose your money, consider amending your booking to a different date instead, if that fits with your plans.

Sources used for this article:

Ryanair - refund policy
Ryanair - booking changes
Ryanair - refunds
Ryanair - flight cancellations

Sources checked on 11-April-2024

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