Why are full flights available to book?

Travel Q&A

Ryanair does not advertise on Skyscanner (PA)

Q. We have been searching Skyscanner.net for flights home to England from Tenerife on 4 January. Ryanair is advertising flights for £18 on this day. We have gone through the booking process and then the airline e-mails us a few hours later saying that the flight is full. The flight is still showing as available on Skyscanner. Please solve this mystery for us. Rachel Croft

A. Ryanair does not advertise on Skyscanner. The airline says: "We have licensed Skyscanner to publish our fares on their website, for price-comparison purposes only." The independent fare-comparison site "screen-scrapes", making automated test bookings. This allows it to present fares that are often up-to-date, and gives passengers an idea of how much they can expect to pay. However, it is not foolproof.

The fare of £18 for the 7.05pm Ryanair flight from Tenerife South to Manchester on 4 January is wildly out of line with the market for 4 January. The typical range is £250-£400 one-way to most UK airports, with many flights sold out. Sure enough, on Ryanair.com the flight is full. The "£18" offer is available, or rather not available, through a firm called Bravofly.

We made a test booking and shortly afterwards received an email saying seats were not available. If you possibly can, shift your travel date: Ryanair has availability from Tenerife to Manchester for €88 on 14 January. Otherwise, I advise you to book the best deal that you can find for 4 January, which could well be Monarch to Gatwick.