I am writing as a regular user of Ryanair (almost monthly) to say how disgusted I am at my treatment when I checked in on the Stansted to Dublin on 28th April 2007. I was traveling alone and thought I would try out the online check-in facility, at a cost to myself. My husband had travelled in similar circumstances on the Stansted to Dublin route on 3rd March 2007 and returned from Dublin on 5th March 2007. He had used his UK photo ID driving licence to check in on both these dates and was waived through with no incident. I passed passport control with no problems and was waiting to board the flight. Once the flight was called a very rude attendant said this was incorrect and we should have read the terms and conditions and I was not to board. Well please can you tell me the difference between checking in online and checking in face-to-face and why the terms and conditions should differ (if indeed they do). There seems to be no rational explanation except to catch some people out as other airlines clearly state that you can online check-in with driving licences with no problem. Ms Shadbolt, Cambridge

A response from a Ryanair spokeswoman: It is clearly stated during the web check-in process that driving licences are not acceptable forms of ID when checking in online. Ms Shadbolt agreed to this, and confirmed that she would provide the correct form of ID on three separate occasions before completing the online check-in process.

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