Surely they can't do this!

Legacy_user · 21 May 2006 at 8:00PM

In the past couple of weeks I booked flights and a car through Expedia and I paid Expedia with my Skycard credit card. I went on to get an idea of my current balance and found the total had been broken down into individual items ie:

4 x tickets (£343.70 each) and 1 car

but the car was charged to Expedia and the flight tickets to Aer Lingus which then resulted in a 2.5% foreign transaction fee per ticket.

Now we are flying from Dublin to Manchester on Aer Lingus and from Manchester to Orlando on Virgin Atlantic so the major portion of the flight is with Virgin Atlantic. I suppose that doesn't really matter because as far as I was concerned the whole payment was to Expedia and they are in the UK so I don't see how that incurred a foreign transaction fee.

Can anyone tell me if this is right before I call Sky tomorrow?

grumbler · 21 May 2006 at 8:10PM

If Expedia quoted the price in £s, then they cannot charge you more than you authorised them. I'd contact Expedia first. If they refuse to refund the surcharge, dispute the transaction(s) with Sky card. Do you have any proof of the original price (printout, e-mai)?

P.S. There is no anything in Expedia terms of use stating that they can charge you in currency different from £s.

System · 21 May 2006 at 8:27PM

Thanks Grumbler but Expedia didn't charge me extra it was the Skycard. They also charged me for another transaction but it was an American Dollar purchase so I knew there would be a fee for that one.
My problem is that as far as I was concerned I was purchasing from Expedia which charges in GBP and indeed their bill was quoted in GBP. However on the Skycard statement it comes up as a charge to Aer Lingus and a separate charge to Expedia for the car.
What really galls me is that only a very small part of the journey is provided by Aer Lingus yet I have been charged a fee for the full cost of the flights as if I was flying all the way by Aer Lingus. I don't understand what way this works at all.

grumbler · 21 May 2006 at 8:45PM

Sky charged you extra only because Expedia (or Aer Lingus) charged you in foreign currency instead of GBP.
You authorised Expedia to charge you some amount in GBP. You have the bill in GBP from Expedia. You didn't authorise any company to charge you in foreign currency.

For me it is absolutely clear how to dispute the thansaction with Expedia and Sky card.

P.S. BTW Skycard charge 2.75% for foreign currency transactions, not 2.5%

System · 22 May 2006 at 5:36PM

Well today I have been in contact with both Expedia and Skycard.

Expedia have said that when you book flights through them it is the airline who charge your credit card and since the first part of our journey is with Aer Lingus it was them who charged the card. They did say that if Aer lingus charged in Euros hence causing me to be charged a foreign transaction fee that I could complain in writing.

Sky however have told me that Aer Lingus charged me in GBP but Mastercard imposed the foreign transaction fee because the transaction was in a foreign country.

Where do I go from here?

grumbler · 22 May 2006 at 9:58PM

Pam17 wrote:

.Expedia have said that when you book flights through them it is the airline who charge your credit card and since the first part of our journey is with Aer Lingus it was them who charged the card. They did say that if Aer lingus charged in Euros hence causing me to be charged a foreign transaction fee that I could complain in writing.

This is rubbish. You bought tickets from them and they billed you.

Sky however have told me that Aer Lingus charged me in GBP but Mastercard imposed the foreign transaction fee because the transaction was in a foreign country.

This is lie. Place of the transaction doesn't make any difference. Only currency makes. Ask Sky and they will confirm this. Use this argument when complaining to Expedia. And how much was the charge: 2.5% or 2.75%?

Where do I go from here?

I think you need to complain to Expedia first. If no result, dispute the transaction with Sky. Probably, it is worth informing Sky about the problem and that you are trying to resolve it with Expedia now before asking Sky about charge back.

System · 22 May 2006 at 11:25PM

You were right Grumbler it's 2.75%.

I've just written a complaint letter to Expedia because, as you said, ultimately I was buying the package off them. I feel that if I had booked the same flights in Thomas Cook or Lunn Poly then they would have been named on my credit card bill or if I had paid by cheque I would have been asked to make it payable to them not Aer Lingus or anyone else.
I have spent most of the evening searching the Expedia site and can find nothing which indicates that anyone other than them would be debiting my card and I have made that point to them.

Thanks for your help.

I know it's only £37.80 but what's the use of them promoting themselves as a low cost alternative to the high street when the customer incurs other charges because of their very untransparent billing practise. Besides it's my £37.80.

System · 8 June 2006 at 3:51PM

Just an update re this mess of mine.

I wrote off a letter of complaint to Expedia as advised here and on the email their customer care department sent me. I haven't got a written reply yet but I did get the following email.

"We were concerned to note from your email that you had incurred further charges upon booking with Expedia.co.uk. We now refer to the questions raised in your email. The amount £37.80 is charged by your bank, as a foreign transaction charge. This has been charged because Aer Lingus are a company based outside the UK, and they have made the charges in the currency of the Euro. The reason you have been charged by the airline is because they take the amount for the flights directly, we simply act as a vendor for the airline.

Aer Lingus have charged the whole amount for this trip because they are the airline issuing the ticket for this trip. This means that the tickets for all segments of the flight are issued by their system.This does not affect any part of your journey.

To receive a refund of the £37.80 charged to your account, we advise you contact your bank for further information."

I particularly liked the bit about them only being the "vendor for the airline". Going on their reasoning the next time I go to Tescos I'm going to hold up the queue paying Heinz, Dolmio and every other manufacturer individually at the checkout. I put that point to them and asked for a written response so goodness knows what they will come up with next. I'm taking it up with Skycard too because according to my statement Aer Lingus debited my card in GBP not Euros.

King_Of_Fools · 8 June 2006 at 4:47PM

Pam17 wrote:

I'm taking it up with Skycard too because according to my statement Aer Lingus debited my card in GBP not Euros.

The transaction will always show on the statement in pounds even if made in another currency as the conversion is done automatically.

grumbler · 8 June 2006 at 9:29PM

Not always. For example, my Nationwide card (the only one I use for foreign currensy transactions) shows:

TRANS DATE ...
REF NO ...
DESCRIPTION DIE BAHN REISEZENTRUM 8.60 EUR@ 1.4527 ...

Amount £ 5.92

System · 11 June 2006 at 4:01PM

I made separate purchase, of attraction tickets, using my credit card and it showed up on my statement as USD $ with the exchange rate given separately. So since Aer Lingus was not itemised as Euros but in GBP I took it that there was no currency change involved hence why the foreign transaction charge?

Surely they can't do this!

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