Bri and Katee

Today WHICH?, the consumer group, start a super complaint in the courts. This takes the form of a complaint against companies who use over inflated credit/debit card surcharges to help make up for cheap products. ie--

Ryaniar £10 flight but it will cost another £5 to book the outward leg and a further £5 to book the inward leg of a flight using a credit card to pay. For a family of four this can add Forty pounds to their cheap flight.

They contend it is illegal to charge in the case of the family, 8 times for one actual card transaction. Further The actual credit card charge is measured in pence and not the amounts currently charged.

So it could be good news for air travellers, not only Ryanair but all companies, they are all doing this insidious charging.

agoreira

It's certainly a bone of contention and is friggin' annoying, and I'd much prefer to see the amount I'm going to pay upfront, however they can't realistically run a profitable business charging £5 for UK-Spain. It's a lead in figure to get you interested and then hit you with all the add ons afterwards. If they are forced to reduce their charges I can only see the equivalent amount being added to the flight price, I can't see the overall amount coming down. Certainly if you are a regular traveller it's worth jumping through all their hoops, and getting the appropriate card to avoid the charges. Personally I think if you can fly UK-Spain for a total price of say less than £50, that's not a bad deal, £50 doesn't get you very far on a train in UK!

anonimouse

Funny thing is, a guy from RA on Sky news today said "we don't charge for card payments" load of cobblers

Mitzyboy

Thats because they call it an administration charge, even though it is only applied when you choose your method of payment.

It's a bit like the Spanish referring to the import tax on cars as an import registration charge, or something like that

Bri and Katee

Yes, since Which? started its action, Ryanair says it has never had a charge for using credit cards. What it charges is an 'administration fee'

What are they administering? all the work is done electronically by yourself and your computer, no Ryanair staff come close to your tickets or the money.

At then end of the day Its more honest to say the ticket will cost you £60 up front. Rather than the current the ticket will cost you £10 but hey we have these add ons that are compulsory and wow, the ticket price becomes £60 after we add them.

Its not only Ryanair, its not only other airlines, the whole consumer industry that charges outrageous fees for using cards to purchase is under review in this action.

jdr

Is this Cryanair ?