Beat Ryanair, Easyjet, BMIBaby etc booking fees.

Former_MSE_Dan

This has now been replaced by the full guide:

BUDGET AIRLINE FEES: HOW TO BEAT THEM

[title=http://images2.moneysavingexpert.com/images/dp/wtd_underline.gif] What's this about?[/title]It's possible to fly for as little as £1 each way on budget airlines, yet many of them charge a host of hideous extra fees. This is a sneaky trick to beat the nastiest of them and wipe out the shocking additional charge of up to £40 per family for paying by debit or credit card; by using a special, cheap prepaid card.

[title=http://images2.moneysavingexpert.com/images/dp/wtd_underline.gif] What are the charges?
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Outrageously, paying by debit or credit card is often seen as an added extra, and the costs can be huge; more than doubling the price of some flights.

Sadly, these aren’t the only charges whacked on top; you’ll commonly pay extra for baggage, checking in via specific methods, and of course ever present taxes.

Airline by Airline charges

• Ryanair: Charges a ‘Payment Handling Fee’ of £5 per person, each way, when you book using a credit or debit card (so a family of four return is £40). Other charges: See a full list.

• Easyjet: A ‘Booking Fee’ of £2.95 is payable on all debit and credit card transactions, plus use a credit card and you get hit with an extra 2.5% (min £4) charge so for £200 of flights that's £7.95. Other charges: See a full list.

• BMI Baby: You’ll pay a ‘Processing Fee’ of £3.75 per person each way (so £7.50 return) when you use a credit card, or £2.75 each way (£5.50 return) on a debit card. Other charges: See a full list.

• Flybe: You’ll pay a booking fee of £1.50 per person each way on a debit card (min £2/booking), and £3.50 per person each way on credit card (min £5.50/booking). Other charges: See a full list.

• Aer Lingus: Charges a handling fee of £5 per person each way. Other charges: See a full list.

• Jet2: Here the booking fee is multi-layered. Every payment type attracts a 3.5% fee (min £4.99). Then anyone paying by debit card is hit with an extra £2.49, and credit card users pay an extra 2.25%. Other charges: See a full list.

Yet if you do jump through the hoops, dirt cheap deals are there to be had. The budget airline Flightchecker lets you find all flights under a certain price (e.g. £10) and the Cheap Flights guide lets you find the cheapest on specific days.


[title=http://images2.moneysavingexpert.com/images/dp/wtd_underline.gif] Beat payment fees with a Prepaid card!
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There is a glimpse of light here, which can be exposed, for free. These booking charges do NOT apply to ‘Visa Electron’ cards. This is a specific type of debit card, issued less frequently than ‘Visa Debit’ or ‘Maestro’ cards, so fewer people have one. This system may exist to make it easier for airlines to call debit & credit card charges ‘add-ons’.

Yet there is a simple, free way to get an Electron card, which will then enable you to avoid the nasty booking fees. The Travelex Cash Passport* card is an Electron prepaid card where you load cash onto a card to then spend (see full Prepaid Card guide for more info) so use it and you don’t pay the booking fees.

How to get one

It’s intended for overseas spending, yet you can get a UK Pounds version of it, which can be used for purchases in this country.

You can get one a few different ways, though the cost varies depending on how you get it. You have to be over 18 and be able to provide proof of ID.

• Online. Sign up via Travelex’s website*. The direct page is currently broken, so go via this link and choose 'Prepaid Currency Card' from the toggle buttons at the top left. Then pick any card that is in UK Pounds (eg. Bahrain), enter the amount you want to put on it (min £100) and click Buy.
  
  There's no fee for opening the card, no fee for spending, and can load it with cash for free online. There is a minimum top-up required of £100, and it charges £2.50 if you make an ATM withdrawal (though obviously you can spend it use it normally in shops too).

• In Thomas Cook/Co-op Travel branches. These two travel agents also sell the card, with very slightly tweaked conditions. You can still buy one for free (make sure you get the UK Pounds version), and there’s still no fee for spending, and a lower £1.50 ATM withdrawal fee.
  
  Here the minimum top up is a lower £30, yet the negative is you can only do this in stores, and you are charged a 2% commission fee, with a minimum of £3. So if you loaded £50 onto the card, it would cost you £53 (still cheaper than airline's booking fees though).

The online route is cheaper as you don’t pay commission to top the card up. However, you’ll have to wait a few days for the card to reach you, so for an instant card (if you want to book very soon) the travel agent versions are still likely to save you cash, versus booking fees of up to £10 per person.

The money topped up onto the card can be used in any retailer that accepts Electron, which is a lot (though admittedly a few less than standard Visa/Maestro cards), so don’t panic if you don’t spend the full £100 on flights, it’s not money wasted.

Of course as this isn't a credit card, you won't get Section 75 protection on this, but as budget flights tend to be under £100 anyway, it's not a big deal. For full details read the Section 75 guide.

Don’t be inactive!

All incarnations of the Cash Passport have a potential sting in the tail, but it's easily avoided. If it goes unused for twelve months (or fifteen for the Thomas Cook/Co-op versions), and you have a positive balance, you’ll get charged a £2 monthly inactivity fee.

Combat this by either cancelling the card for free before you’re inactive this long, or by paying for something with it every few months.


[title=http://images2.moneysavingexpert.com/images/dp/wtd_underline.gif]Will this always work to avoid the fee?
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Impossible to say! Currently, for example, Ryanair’s website says that waiving the fee for Electron users is a ‘special offer’ which implies it could be withdrawn at any time.

This would be an interesting development, as if Ryanair did begin to charge Electron customers the £5 per person charge, it would be very hard to see how it could advertise free or £1 flights as it frequently does.


[title=http://images2.moneysavingexpert.com/images/dp/wtd_underline.gif] Other Travel MoneySaving
[/title]
Also see Cheap Flights, Cheap Travel Insurance, Package Holiday Haggling, Cheap Hotels and Travelmoneymax.com.


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You shouldn't notice any difference, the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things I write) is NEVER impacted by the revenue. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it is still recommended and still included. The following Travelex is an identical unaffiliated link provided for the sake of transparency. Click the following link for more details on how this site's financed.[/footer]

lic

I have been using a Visa Electron for a few years now on your advice.
It has saved me a fortune, together with the Nationwide no load debit card..

Thank you very much!:j:beer

OWT_FOR_NOWT

I got my visa electron card a few weeks ago from Abbey National it saved me £40 on fees with bmibaby.

pompeyrich

Obviously not instant but the Abbey were happy to let me have an Electron card, in addition to my Visa debit card that I already had with their current account. It was dealt with, easily, over the phone and took about 10 days to arrive.

Edinburghlass_2

Alternatively you can sign up to Entropay http://www.entropay.com/

There is a small charge for transferring money into it, 50p per £10 and Ryan Air do change any GBP transactions into Euros so you need to make sure you load enough to cover this.
My last flights for £10 in April went through at £10.87 obviously the amount depends on the rate of exchange at the time.

You need your passport to hand when signing up and when using it with Ryan Air you enter Entropay User as the name then the card and security number you are given as normal.

poppy10_2

Great advice

superkeen2save

I recently got a Travel Money Card from The Post Office which was activated the following day. Just a small fee associated with loading it and certainly saved me £30 on Ryanair fees.:j

here

MustStopSpending23

Can someone help me? I want to order one of the cards from Travelex and Martin says to order it in £, but it doesn't give me an option for the UK and £'s, as it's meant to be used overseas. It gives other countries and £'s.....

What do I do!?

LouPapy

Same problem here. if I choose ofr instance Israel, it shows me the currency being UK pounds, but can i choose Israel and spend it in the uk?

Thanks

cheerio

Former_MSE_Dan

Hi folks,

Yep thats right, just choose any UK Pounds version - Israel, Egypt etc etc

Dan

apcd2

One way I've avoided the card fees with Ryanair is to purchase Ryanair gift vouchers. You can pay for these with any type of card and there's no fee. They can then immediately be used to pay for a flight. The only downside is that they come in £25 increments and there's no change given but if your flights are close to one of these multiples it's definitely a lot cheaper than paying the extortionate card fees.