Fig 1.0 Click on the blue, right-arrow, GO button to go to the website that is inside the Address Bar edit box
| HOW TO BUY ONLINE |
Assuming you now you have a Free Hotmail E-Mail Address (read the How To Create A Free E-Mail Address section) you can use it for such things as e-mailing your C.V to companies, "Chit-Chatting" to your friends, Sending and Receiving important e-mail within minutes, Buying Online (buying something on The Internet) and joining Dating Agencies amongst other things. An e-mail address is basically an ID/Membership Pass that can do many things.
In this section I will show you how you would buy an Airline Ticket from the RyanAir website. This
example shows how to fill out an Online Form - How to enter Credit Card details correctly as well as
how to select your flight and enter your Name & Address details. As you fill out more Online Forms
you should begin to realise they have one thing in common and that is to make your online experience
as easy as possible. They want your money at the end of the day - They cannot afford to put you off
shopping.
Begin by typing www.ryanair.com into internet explorer's Address Bar edit box and then either click on the blue, right-arrow,
GO button or press the ENTER keyboard key to take you to the RyanAir website.
After clicking on the blue, right-arrow, GO button Internet Explorer disconnects its Extended Internet Connection from
the current website (or webpage), i.e. your home page, and then makes a new Extended Internet Connection to the website
(or webpage) you have typed into the Address Bar edit box (i.e. www.ryanair.com).
With the RyanAir website displayed in internet explorer's window (display area) the next thing to do is fill in the Book
Cheap Flights form, located on the top-middle part of the display area.
The booking process is split into six sections - SEARCH for a flight (based on your departure/destination/date),
SELECT a flight (from one or more flights based on your departure/destination/date), CONFIRM your
selected flight details, SERVICES (enter your contact details and the service you want), PAYMENT
(enter Credit Card details) and ITINERARY (displays your confirmed Flight/Passenger/Payment details).
The first thing to check on the Book Cheap Flights form is that you have the correct Flight Type selected (Fig 1.1
above) - Either ONE WAY or RETURN (Round Trip). If your flight is one way simply click on the ONE WAY radio (circle)
button, but if your flight is RETURN there is no need to click on the RETURN radio (circle) button as it is the
default (normally selected) flight type.
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Next. Click on the DEPARTING FROM drop-down menu (Fig 1.2 above), which is set to Departing From by default, and then select the airport you want your departing flight to leave from (Fig 1.3 above). In this example I wanted my flight to leave from London (Stansted) Airport so I first pressed the L keyboard key, to list the first airport beginning with L - La Rochelle (LRH) airport - and then scrolled down the list a little further in order to see/select London (Stansted) (STN). Using the keyboard saves a lot of unnecessary scrolling.
In some cases you have a choice of airports. For example. London Gatwick (LGW), London Luton (LTN) or London Stansted (STN). This does not necessarily mean any/all of those airports are in that city, but instead means any/all of those airports could be within 1-2 hours away from that city. This is something to bear in mind when booking, with regards to the extra cost of at least one transport journey. And the same applies for your destination (Going To) airport. For example. If you are visiting Rome, Italy you have no choice but to go to Ciampino (CIA) airport, with RyanAir, which means you will have to pay for transportation (i.e. a bus or private van) to take you into Rome.
After selecting your Departing From airport you then select your Going To airport. Click on the GOING TO drop-down menu (Fig 1.4 below), which is set to Going To by default, and then select the airport you want your Departing From flight to arrive at (Fig 1.5 below). In this example I wanted my flight to arrive at Rome (Ciampino) Airport so I first pressed the R keyboard key, to list the first airport beginning with R - Riga (RIX) airport - and then scrolled down the list a little further in order to see/select Rome (Ciampino) (CIA).
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Next is the Departure Date. This consists of two separate drop-down menus. One for the DAY your flight departs and one for the MONTH & YEAR your flight departs. The DAY drop-down menu is set to the current DAY (depending on your GMT time zone) and the MONTH & YEAR drop-down menu is set to the current month and year. Simply change each drop-down menu to represent the DAY and MONTH & YEAR of your flight's departure.
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After changing the Departure Date you need to change the Return Date, in exactly the same way as you did the Departure Date, otherwise the Return Date will be earlier than the Departure Date and you will receive an error (Fig 1.8 below). The Return Date is the date when your flight returns from its destination of course.
Fig 1.8 The Return Date is set earlier than the Departure Date |
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If you are the only person travelling you can click on the BOOK CHEAP FLIGHTS button to continue (Fig 1.9 above). Otherwise, you will need to change the number of travelling Adults, Children and/or Infants using the relevant drop-down menus. The numbers include you in the total, so if you and another adult are travelling set the ADULTS drop-down menu to 2. Once the relevant drop-down menus have been set click on the BOOK CHEAP FLIGHTS button to continue (Fig 1.9 above). RyanAir will then search for flights based on the travel information you have just set.
Ryanair's search of its Flights Information Database only takes a few seconds, normally, by which time available flights based on your travel information are displayed (Fig 1.10 and Fig 1.11 above) together with their prices. Simply select your Departure and Return flights, by clicking on one of their appropriate radio (circle) buttons, and then click on the SELECT AND CONTINUE button to continue (below). You will have to scroll down this page to see the relevant information and buttons.
After clicking on the SELECT AND CONTINUE button (Fig 1.12 above) you are taken to the Confirmation
page above. The first thing to do here is check that your flight details are correct, especially the
dates, as it is easy to make a mistake with drop-down menus. The second thing to do is put a tick next
to the IMPORTANT check box to let RyanAir know you have read their Terms & Conditions - If you do not
put a tick next to IMPORTANT check box you will not be allowed to proceed. And the last thing to do is
click on the CONFIRM FLIGHTS button. It will take you to the Services page, below.
The first part of the Services page requires your Title, First Name, Last Name, Number Of Aeroplane Bags
(Not Hand Baggage), whether or not you want to be one of the first passengers to board the aeroplane and
whether or not you require Travel Insurance. Regardless of the number of bags you check in the combined
weight of those bags should be no more than 15kg, at this time.
If you want Travel Insurance select your Country Of Residence (i.e. United Kingdom) from the TRAVEL INSURANCE drop-down menu, otherwise select NO TRAVEL INSURANCE REQUIRED from that drop-down menu. Many people do not read this part properly and assume they need to select a country of residence - A bit sneaky of RyanAir to play on this assumption. They should of made the default setting: No Travel Insurance Required in my opinion.
The next part of the Services page requires Contact Details - These are standard Name & Address details of the passenger. When you get to the phone numbers, and in particular the International Codes, you can click on the Question Mark (?) to see a list of international phone codes (Fig 1.17 below). When you have filled in the contact details put a tick next to IMPORTANT (Fig 1.16 below), to let RyanAir know you have read their Terms & Conditions with regards to Travel Insurance and the Passenger, and then click on the CONTINUE button to continue (Fig 1.16 below).
If you have chosen NO TRAVEL INSURANCE REQUIRED (Fig 1.15 above) you will be presented with the following message, after clicking on the CONTINUE button (Fig 1.16 above), that reminds you about Travel Insurance and to click on OK to continue.....if you are happy having chosen NO TRAVEL INSURANCE REQUIRED.
Next is the Payment page, which is the page that asks you for Credit Details. The payment section is made up of drop-down menus and manual typing. For example. The type of credit card to use comes from the Card/Payment Type drop-down menu, whereas your credit card's 16 digit number has to be typed in manually.
Although the credit card section is easy to fill in, once you know how, beginners tend to get stuck on the CVV Number and the Switch/Solo Issue Number. The CVV Number is the last three digits of the six digit number on the back of your debit/credit card. So if the six digits on the back of your debit/credit card are 395 719 you type 719 into the CVV Number edit box. The Switch/Solo Issue Number is a number that is used with Switch/Solo debit/credit cards only, so if your debit/credit card is Visa for example the Switch/Solo Issue Number is not required (leave the Switch/Solo Issue Number edit box empty). The switch/solo issue number is normally a single digit issued by the Bank, so give them a call if you do not know your switch/solo issue number.
After entering your credit details you must supply the Billing Address of the debit/credit card owner,
which is normally the same address as the contact address in the Services page. If so, simply put
a tick next to USE MY CONTACT ADDRESS AS DETAILED ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE HERE and the contact address
from the Services page will automatically be filled in for you (Fig 1.19 above). If the billing
address is different, perhaps because the Services page contact address is the passenger's address and
the debit/credit card owner is paying for the passenger's flight with a different (debit/credit card)
address, you must enter the debit/credit card owner's billing address manually. When all the necessary
payment/billing information has been entered click on PURCHASE NOW to continue.
If all your details have been entered correctly clicking on the PURCHASE NOW button brings up a message requester
(Fig 1.21 below) asking that you do not press or click anything basically until the (last) Itinerary page is
displayed - It is very important you follow this advice, otherwise you could mess up the payment process or pay for
something twice and so on. Basically, just wait until the Itinerary page is displayed. If it does not display after
45 minutes for example you should call RyanAir to see if the payment went through successfully. If it did it could
just be that your computer crashed/froze the payment process at the last hurdle. This can happen with Dial-Up (slow)
connections. If you have not entered your details correctly you will be warned of this (below).
If you see the Error page appear (Fig 1.23 below), instead of the Itinerary page, it usually means you have mistyped something and/or have typed something correctly but in the wrong edit box. Whatever the reason(s) for the error page appearing you should go back to the Payment page and examine your details more closely, correct the wrong details and then click on PURCHASE NOW again.
Sometimes going back to a secure (padlock icon) page, such as the Payment page, might fail the whole booking process. Unfortunately, mostly due to security reasons (preventing ID Theft/Internet History), this behaviour is quite normal. All you can do when this happens is start the whole booking process again - So type slowly and carefully and examine your details properly before clicking on the PURCHASE NOW button.
As said above, this RyanAir payment/booking process can apply to many other online stores. Most of them ask you to select what you are buying (i.e. a pair of shoes, a flight, a cake and so on) and then ask you for debit/credit card details. In the case of RyanAir, when the Itinerary page is displayed it confirms to you your entered billing/contact and flight details as well as your flight Internet Number. Instead of issuing/sending you a ticket these days they give you a unique Internet (PIN) Number which you produce when you get to the airport. Ryanair then checks the number to make sure they match your passenger details before issuing your Boarding Pass.
Always look for the Security (Padlock) Icon on a website's payment webpage (window), which is normally on the web browser's (Internet Explorer's) Address Bar. It means that website is sending (uploading) your payment information securely (i.e. encrypted) from your computer to that website's computer. If you do not see the security icon by the time you get to the payment webpage you should be asking yourself and the website owner questions. In the case of RyanAir their website displays the security (padlock) icon just before the payment webpage, on the Services (passenger details) webpage. This means those details are sent (encrypted and uploaded) securely as well.
Anyone knowing your Name, Address, D.O.B and Credit Card details can buy online in their name with your details, so be careful. For example. Someone could book an Airline Ticket in their name with you as the payer/buyer. They would simply submit your, stolen/unauthorized, credit card details - Account Number (on the front of the credit card), Expiry Date (on the front of the credit card), CCV Number (on the back of the credit card) and in some cases the Issue Number as well (on the front of the credit card). With regards to your Name, D.O.B and Address these would be easy to submit for someone who knew them of course, but also easy for someone who has found those details in your Dustbin and for someone who has looked over your shoulder while you were filling out an online Application Form in an Internet Cafe for example.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
