No cash, no Coke, no chill.
A British couple were booted off a Ryanair flight and met by police over a failed $9 snack payment onboard — all for a Coke, a bottle of water and some Pringles.
Ann-Marie Murray, 55, and her partner were flying to Bristol from Tenerife on March 28 when their Barclays card wouldn’t go through.
With all their cash spent following a four-night Canary Islands vacation, the duo claimed they offered to pay after landing at the airport.
Instead, as reported by South West News Service, flight attendants called the cops.
Murray, a housing association assistant from Gloucester, Gloucestershire, said the crew confiscated their boarding passes, accused them of “refusing to pay,” and warned that police would be waiting for them at the gate.
Despite other passengers defending Murray and her companion, the crew doubled down — and once on the ground, the pair were escorted off the plane by officers, who Murray claims called the incident “ridiculous.”
“It was really embarrassing — they stopped everyone from getting off and had us escorted out,” recalled Murray, who recorded the incident on her smartphone.
She added, telling the outlet, “I think they thought we had another card or cash, but I emptied my bag and showed them I had nothing else.”
After multiple failed attempts to run their card, Murray recounted offering to withdraw cash at their destination — but the crew instead took their boarding passes and contacted authorities.
“Other passengers stuck up for us, saying it was their machines not working,” she shared, “but the crew doubled down, saying we were rude and refusing.”
Murray added that one crew member admitted similar card issues had happened on previous flights.
To add insult to injury, the couple returned to Bristol Airport’s Silver Zone Parking to find their car’s front bumper “smashed.”
“We got in and heard scraping — got out and saw the whole bumper was busted,” Murray said.
“They told us it wasn’t their problem and said the car was undrivable. We had to get it towed and eventually they put us in a taxi home.”
When Murray and her partner asked Ryanair for CCTV footage, she claimed they were told it couldn’t be released. “I’ve emailed, but they’re refusing to take responsibility,” she alleged.
However, according to Ryanair, the couple became “disruptive” on board the aircraft after their card failed, SWNS reported, accusing them of ignoring “crew instructions” and consuming the items “prior to payment.”
The budget-friendly Dublin carrier said crew “called ahead for police assistance” and stood by its zero-tolerance policy, insisting all fliers must follow the rules “without unnecessary disruption.”
