Beat Budget Airline Charges Article Discussion

jay161964

re. using a Neteller pre-paid mastercard to avoid Ryanair admin charges: it took 3 weeks for my card to arrive (Neteller don't use a postcode on the address so letter went round the country) and then Lloyds put a total block my direct debit card when I tried to use it to load the pre-paid card - Lloyds seem suspicious of Neteller's link with on-line gambling

2sides2everystory

Yes some banks/credit card issuers are a bit anal about their accounts being used to top up Neteller Prepaid Mastercards.

I most often use my old Smile VISA Electron (just did) but have used one or two others successfully too including Barclays and First Direct I think.

I was most pleasantly surprised this evening that Neteller seem recently to have waived any charges for using a debit card to top up - that is extremely convenient of them.

I am not sure if any money deposited on a Prepaid Mastecard like this has any FSCS protection, so it suits me just fine to keep it at or near zero balance and just load what I need to spend just five minutes before I use it on Ryanair

Last time I tried it their FOREX charges were just fine and dandy too for buying single sector Ryanair tickets back from Europe. Do remember to take the tick out of the box to decline Ryanair's Rotten exchange rate.

Butts

vinrouge wrote: »

I need to book some Flybe flights, so need a Visa Electron card. Following the advice on the Budget flight fee-fighting article I first tried the Post Office Travel Money Card, but no joy, that currently says: "The Post Office® Travel Money card is currently unavailable to new customers". I then tried for a Halifax Easycash account. I was able to apply OK online, it confirms they will issue a Visa Electron card, but warns: "We are currently experiencing very high volumes of the Easycash application both online and via post. This means that it may take longer than 7 days for us to begin the review of your application." So it looks like too many people are reading MSE and ways of getting a Visa Electron card for flight booking are disappearing fast!

Having been stirred into action by FLY BE'S continual jacking of card fees I finally took the plunge and applied for an Basic Halifax Account that comes with the "fabled visa electron card"

I did the whole thing online and it only took 10 days from the application to receiving the card - it did say 7 days etc on website but turned out to be fairly quick. I didn't have to "touch a branch" in the whole process.

It is dead easy to TX cash into the a/c when you need to book a flight (instant with the FPS).

So don't be put off they are available from "a computer terminal near you" - have just saved £9 on my first booking - for free:D

RufusRoo

Rufus Roo Jacket, Four large pouches for your low cost traveling relief, Google RufusRoo

tightarsey

[QUOTE=I most often use my old Smile VISA Electron (just did) but have used one or two others successfully too including Barclays and First Direct I think.
[/QUOTE]

Which Airline Website did you use your Smile Visa Electron Card on?

Cooperative no longer issue Visa Electron Cards, in place they issue a 'Online Debit Card', note, not a Visa Debit Card - its different - it does not have the full characteristics of a Visa Debit Card - just its charging structure.

All Cooperative existing Visa Electron Cards and Smile Visa Electron Cards with the Electron Logo have been 'reassigned' Visa Debit Cards, due in part to Cooperative / Smile issuing this new card with the same Bin Number (cards starting 4508).

The problem is the new 'online debit card' card was changed over to Visa Debit, and in the process Cooperative - Smile converted all existing Visa Electron customers to Visa Debit. This happened around 1st Oct 2010, note the time of year - most people won't realise till its too late, ie. booking a summer holiday 2011.

Its possible that some sites have old 'bin information', but new information issued by the bank is marking these cards as Visa Debit, so on flybe.com you will be charged £18 extra booking 2 flights - they are very fast at updating their bin info!

I know Flybe.com, Aer Lingus don't recognise the card as a Visa Electron Card, pretty sure Easyjet, (Ryanair doesn't matter - same fee applied for Visa Debit and Visa Electron)

Cooperative are being fast and loose, just like the airlines - i.e, what they can get away with, they did it previously with Visa Debit Cards by quietly hiking the fees for foreign transactions to match Cooperative Credit Cards. They got away with that one. That little change along probably made them an extra million pounds.

Lots more on here about it just search the forums for 'Smile Visa Electron'

Toe-Jam

jay161964 wrote: »

re. using a Neteller pre-paid mastercard to avoid Ryanair admin charges: it took 3 weeks for my card to arrive (Neteller don't use a postcode on the address so letter went round the country) and then Lloyds put a total block my direct debit card when I tried to use it to load the pre-paid card - Lloyds seem suspicious of Neteller's link with on-line gambling

If your bank has faster payments you can send a payment to your neteller account and it will credit next day usually. and its free.

doug3101

Just thought of another way to save money! Has anyone in the UK tried to book Ryanair outward and return flights as two singles? The return from EU would be in Euro's but is quoted the same as GBP (as in 29.99eur or £29.99) As I write this the exchange rate is 1.00 to 1.10. Wouldn't make you a millionaire but people with large familys or groups etc would save enough for a transfer.

richardw

Yes doug3101, many have.

vinrouge

Which? (consumer magazine) are launching a 'super complaint' to the OFS about no-frills airline debit/credit card charges:
which.co.uk/campaigns/personal-finance/card-surcharges.
You don't need to be a subscriber to read this and in fact they are looking for as many people as possible to sign their petition. If you want to sign up, follow their link to 'Pledge your support'.

ask66

Martin_Hill wrote: »

In addition to the "extras" charged by airlines, the airport authorities are at it too.
At East Midlands Airport (EMA) if you do not have a sealable plastic bag to contain your tubes, lotions and liquids they insist that you buy one from a dispensing machine at a cost of £1.00 (Yes One pound)
Martin Hill

Not quite correct - at EMA for your £1 you get TWO bags! Instead, if you are near to a branch of Wilkinson's, they do a pack of 40 small resealable food & freezer bags for £1.35. They are just the right size - i.e. just under 20cm square. I was stopped in EMA by a G4S security jobsworth a couple of months back because my clear bag was not fully sealable (i.e. it could not be made airtight). Fortunately, a very kind G4S colleague produced a suitable bag from his back pocket, put my toothpaste etc inside his bag and then put his bag inside my original bag. It's nice to know EMA are leading the fight against terrorism...