Unfair fees for using credit cards

JonIn_SpainVLC

It really makes me mad...
When buying things on line (especially flights etc.) there's usually a whopping fee added for opting to pay using a credit card.
It's clear that the sensible and safest way to purchase things on line is to use a credit card.
Why should there be a penalty for using a credit card to make the purchase?
To me it's a bit like going into a supermarket and being asked to pay extra if you want to pay by card.

PROLIANT

I agree, this is an age old thing more so in small corner shops etc they make it out that it is a privilege to use a debit or credit card to pay for your goods - err no my dear friends wake up and get in touch with today, cash should be phased out over time and business should encourage the use of plastic.

olly300

I've looked into this.

There is a flat rate fee that business get charged for doing a debit card transaction. Larger business absorb the cost but smaller businesses charge you simply because due to the low level of transactions they actually get charged a lot more per transaction than a large business.

With credit cards the business gets charged a % fee. Again larger businesses tend to absorb this but smaller businesses due to the low level of transactions pass it on. The only time larger businesses don't tend to absorb the cost i.e. travel agents is when they are in a cut throat market. (Travel Agents still do not charge you for using a debit card)

However certain big businesses like Ryanair and Ikea exploit this and charge customers more then it actually costs them.

PolishBigSpender

olly300 wrote: »

However certain big businesses like Ryanair and Ikea exploit this and charge customers more then it actually costs them.

Nothing wrong with that, it means sensible consumers like myself can pay using cheap/free methods and reap the benefits from it.

StevieJ

JonIn_SpainVLC wrote: »

It really makes me mad...
When buying things on line (especially flights etc.) there's usually a whopping fee added for opting to pay using a credit card.
It's clear that the sensible and safest way to purchase things on line is to use a credit card.
Why should there be a penalty for using a credit card to make the purchase?
To me it's a bit like going into a supermarket and being asked to pay extra if you want to pay by card.

You are S75 covered if you just pay a deposit (£100 min I think), for travel I always pay the deposit on CC and the rest in cash ( I object to paying those fees).