Credit Card Surcharges

[tsaboy]

I just spoke with a very friendly flight school in Titusville called DeBenair aviation. It appears to be run by a friendly man from England. However my only complaint is that when I asked if I could pay with a credit card he said that they charge a 2% surcharge.

I called around and DeBenair is the ONLY flight school that charges this surcharge!

So I called a friend of mine at the Better Business Bureau - they advised CREDIT CARD SURCHARGES ARE ILLEGAL IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA! Don't pay them, report anybody to the BBB that tries to charge you a surcharge.

BE WARNED

<<edit: Well, you didn't call very far. Numerous places charge the handling fee for credit cards. I hired a Seminole just last week and I was charged 2% handling fee - just like the big notice said on the desk. At least they told you in advance - most places would wait until you turned up at their premises. Seems very fair to me.>>

[Global Pilot]

Anyone know how long it has benn illegal to apply surcharges in the State of Florida?

[GulfStreamV]

You've got me started on this one! :mad: :mad:

If a retailer signs up to be a merchant for Amex / Visa / Mastercard etc...Then they know the score when they get all their merchant stuff installed.
It really gets my goat that they then try palm off the charge to the customer. Happens all over the world, and in all industrys.

Thats better....

Hmmmm....need to go and lie down now.....
:ugh:

GV

[NACGS]

Its not illegal, just against the contract the company/corporation has with their card service provider. I know this as I have dealt with many card companies, and recently renegotiated the NAC card provider contract.

There are ways companies can get around the contract clause and charge you a fee. I just paid for my drivers licence renewal here in Florida with a credit card , the Collier County Tax Collector called it a ' convenience fee' which in this case was $2 or 2.5% which ever was the greater ! ( they are more or less a government body!)

Its a bit of a crock really as the fee is normally only 1.3 to 1.5% anyway to take money off a credit card, and they bank the money for you at the end of the day saving you the time and hassle of doing banking ! So any company who charges a fee is not worth doing business with in my opinion. There was a well known other school in Florida who used to charge a fee also, but they are no longer.

Chris

[FlyingForFun]

When I did my hour-building (at a very good school in the US, but not in Florida), the school didn't actually charge a surcharge for credit-card bookings. Instead, they offered a discount scheme if you paid by cash - which amounts to the same thing!

Easy way around it - for me, anyway - was to pay by travellers cheque. It saved me having to carry vast amounts of cash everywhere or sorting out a US$ cheque book, but meant I was still entitled to the cash discounts. It does mean you have to have the funds available up-front, though...

FFF
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[harrip]

Urm, is it better to pay a credit card surcharge or have a cross- the-board increase? I guess the guy either charges 2% more for taking credit cards or increases his costs for every payment method by 2%.

[Charlie Zulu]

Normally pay by travellers cheques when flight training in Florida. However signing over $14,000 worth of cheques does get a little tedious.

Next time will be a bank wire transfer before I go.

I like to be debt free whilst training, so save up all of the money required before each course and leave the cards alone if at all possible. Thus its taken me 7 years so far but only a year or so away from the JAA CPL/IR.