Ryanair will ship a physical gift card to your doorstep free of charge if it starts from 100 €, but ask 2 € for a virtual one that is sent via e-mail.
From their ToS:
A €2/£2 (or local currency equivalent) admin fee applies to Digital Gift Cards. A €5/£5 admin and delivery fee apply to Physical Gift Cards. This fee is waived for purchases exceeding €/£100.
Additionally the classic “Same number for differently valued currencies” making these fees approximate and not made based on the actual cost.
That statement is also written in a way that can be ambiguous whether fee is removed for only physical or both types.
And another thing is that it seems they are processing these virtual cards manually. You have to wait around 40 minutes between payment and e-mail. Guess that’s why there is a fee, someone has to paste a code in mail and send it out.
you’re paying for the ‘convenience’ of near-instant delivery to fulfill your own time-pressing need.
it’s also possible that their transaction fees are slightly higher for fully-digital goods (the emailed code) vs physical (the actual gift card through the mail).
How on earth is that possible? If an email cost more than printing a certificate and paying postage, there would be a lot less email flying around.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’d love to get less email. But it is not true.
If I simply buy the ticket from their page that’s also very convenient, they should probably add some fee for that as well.