Easyjet Credit Card Fee - What a rip Off

[Bodjit]

Hi all,
Just booked our flights with EZY and was astounded by the royal rip off credit card fees.....

£12.65 in total for any and all credit cards..... I wouldn't mind but credit card is THE only way to pay to safeguard yourselves against cancellation etc.

Sorry Stelios but you are taking the p1ss now. Looking less and less like a low cost airline each and every day..... (miles better than ryanair though)

Regards
Bodjit

[PAXboy]

Whilst I too would prefer to have the actual cost shown up front, the market has determined that people want to see low prices first. Lowest common denominator. Almost every area of commerce shows this, If the market can take it - then it will happen. Flights are not as cheap as they were - or are going to be.

[Haven't a clue]

So their (and others) booking systems let you select flights etc and when it comes to payment you have a choice - typically a debit card costs £x and a credit card costs £y. And they don't take any other form of payment. So, and I'm sorry if you've heard it before from me, why aren't they obliged to include this fee (or at least the minimum payable) in the taxes and charges lump? After all you can't escape it, can you? Aha they say. If you pay by something called, say, Electron there's no charge. So you do have a choice. So we needn't include it. Catch 22, I'm afraid!

[heidelberg]

credit card charges

Coming to an airline near you!

CREDIT CARD CHARGES
starring
Easy Jet, Ryanair, Aer Lingus.

Can someone name the remaining supporting cast?

HB

[agent x]

bmi & bmibaby.com

[Avman]

£12.65 certainly sounds high but it means nothing without knowing what the total cost of your tickets were. CC commission is excluded from the advertised fare and I guess has to be passed on to the customer as yet another extra. Of course, if the airline is charging say 10% of the fare as CC costs than that's worthy of investigation as the CCs themselves generally never charge more than around 2-3%.

[PaperTiger]

Is that actually legal in the UK ? A merchant (which includes airlines, surely) cannot charge a consumer for the use of a credit card over here.

[WexCan]

Wonder if CC fees will be waived with the soon-to-be-launched easyJet credit card?

[redsnail]

BA charge a fee for using a credit card. Even if you use their own Amex.

[alangirvan]

Is PayPal a viable way to pay for air travel? Some US carriers are accepting it. CC charges sound similar to the charges that Banks have been investigated for - fees for using another Bank's ATM or currency exchange fees. Some Banks have paid large settlements to Consumer Affairs Agencies around the world. So now airlines will have to demonstrate that their charge to the customers are a reasonable recovery of the cost they pay to have a payment processed.

[Flying_Frisbee]

Ryanair charges per passenger per sector, even though it's one credit card transaction.

[PAXboy]

WexCan

Wonder if CC fees will be waived with the soon-to-be-launched easyJet credit card?

Oh surely not. Really, that is very rude of you to make such a suggestion.

[TotalBeginner]

I wouldn't mind but credit card is THE only way to pay to safeguard yourselves against cancellation

I'm sorry, but can you explain this to me. What exactly are your credit card company going to give you in the case of cancellation that the airline won't? If your flight is cancelled, the airline WILL refund you.
What else are you going to ask your credit card company to pay for?
Take my advice, book with your debit card!

£12.65 certainly sounds high but it means nothing without knowing what the total cost of your tickets were. CC commission is excluded from the advertised fare and I guess has to be passed on to the customer as yet another extra.

easyJet charge 1.95% or or a minimum of £4.95 for a credit card. The only exemptions are Carte Bleue and Visa Electron.
All other Debit cards (switch, Delta etc..) are subject to a fixed rate (£1.50 I think)

[coolfatty]

Credit Card Fees are a rip off

I can guarantee that easyjet are only paying around 1.00% for the card fees. Amex would be around 2.8% if they are negotiating correctly. This applies to domestic consumer cards.

Paypal charge more than the banks currently. My best guess is that you'd pay around 1.5% at the least to paypal for a payment.

Switch / Maestro / Visa Electron cost around 30p at most typically.

There is other costs associated with processing a payment but no more than 2p a transaction typically.

So 1.95% is a bit of a markup - but they are probably blending the rates together but still seems high. Some of the online guys only charge around 1.5% typically.

Its not illegal in the UK to charge the fees but Amex claim that you should charge the same fee on all cards (even though they charge the most).

[coolfatty]

if you pay by credit card and the airline fails then the credit card provider has to re-imburse you under the consumer credit act.

If you pay by debit no such protection exists (coz its not credit).

Airlines are not covered by ATOL bonding currently whilst tickets purchased from travel agents are. (Due to all change in April next year)

So i'd always purchase either with an agent or a credit card (or both...)

[bealine]

Is that actually legal in the UK ? A merchant (which includes airlines, surely) cannot charge a consumer for the use of a credit card over here.

Yes - before Margaret Thatcher, it was illegal!
(Rest of post criticising her decision deleted - bad form to introduce politics to Pprune!)
However, in the USA shops don't show the total price you have to pay including taxes and service charges. Over here, it is illegal for shops to display a price for an item without the total price, including applicable taxes, being clearly shown. (Shops selling exclusively to VAT registered businesses are allowed to show prices excluding VAT as this amount can be reclaimed.)

[Bodjit]

Hi all,
sorry for the delay in replying..... too much work n not enough hols
Total price was £550, I did expect a CC fee but not quite so HIGH...
The obvious reasoin for the CC as coolfatty rightly says is if EZY go bust (and I'm not implying they will) I'll get my hard earned back from the CC company... so I can book elsewhere
Just kinda get the impression that its another Easyrevenuestream so to say from an area where pax will nearly always try and pay with a CC..
And remember its Easy to have hols now and pay later with a CC..
Just something to be aware of.

[jimma]

I think charging £12.95 to use a credit card is rediculous. I can accept a minimal charge, upto, say, £4 or so, but anything more than that is a rip off!

Agree with PAXboy, like to see all the cost showing up front and not have all the "extras" like luggage added afterwards. Taking FlyBE as a good example, price of ticket £23.99, then tax, then luggage. Just gives me the feeling of being ripped off as I cant get that flight for £23.99.

BA have it right, price you see includes flight, tax and luggage.

[Haven't a clue]

But not the credit card fee.......