MSE News: Ryanair to charge for Visa Electron bookings

skituscanycom

benjus wrote: »

Not entirely true... if you get a Euro card you have to load it using Caxton's own exchange rate, which (based on today's rates) is equivalent to a charge of about 1.7%.

The point that I was trying to make is that a lot of people booking Ryanair flights are travelling to Eurozone destinations.

The Caxton EURO card exchange rate is the best I've found other than FairFX (who I mentioned before) and the ability to conveniently access your money without ATM or other charges when you are there is IMHO an important money-saving benefit too.

Using it to cut Ryanair return sector fares and to avoid Ryanair fees is an added bonus. e.g. Ryanair return sector fare of £100 is only €100 if booked separately. I got €1.10 for my £1 when I topped up the Caxton EURO card, so the £100 fare only cost me £90.91, saving £9.09 in addition to saving the £5 Ryanair fee.

benjus wrote: »

If you then use the Euro card to buy a flight in GBP you will pay a further 2.5% to convert back to GBP.

To avoid Ryanair fees on the outbound sector at zero cost, I have now applied for Caxton's free GLOBAL card as well. Load in £s. Pay in £s. No charges to avoid Ryanair fee if (as posted previously by benjus) Ryanair is deemed not to be a UK company.

Note: DON'T use the card in UK shops or ATMs or online with UK companies or you'll be charged £1.50 (why would you do so anyway? )

pompeyrich

nbaki82 wrote: »

Wow in comparison Entropay, Neteller's Net+ is much, much cheaper. Entropay charges you to load, almost 5%, whereas, Net+ is free to load and free to spend. Imagine if you have to load 300, you end up paying 15 quid, which is already more than the Ryanair charge. What's the point then?

But no-one would pay £300 for one return flight with Ryanair, would they? I tend to go for the £1-£10 deals personally, there are, usually, 4 or 5 in my party so worst scenario 5 X £10 X 2=£100 or £105 with Entropay charges or £150 using my normal card with RA. Maybe I did rush things and maybe Neteller is a better option but I had hassle free dealings using Entropays virtual Electron card so stuck with them, better the devil you know etc.

nbaki82

pompeyrich wrote: »

But no-one would pay £300 for one return flight with Ryanair, would they? I tend to go for the £1-£10 deals personally, there are, usually, 4 or 5 in my party so worst scenario 5 X £10 X 2=£100 or £105 with Entropay charges or £150 using my normal card with RA. Maybe I did rush things and maybe Neteller is a better option but I had hassle free dealings using Entropays virtual Electron card so stuck with them, better the devil you know etc.

Well as Tesco says "Every Little Helps", so in the in the long run if add up all your purchases over years it should exceed 300. Moreover, if you say that you go only for 1-10 quid flights, it means you are a big saver, therefore, you are spending too much on this Entropay and unnecessarily. I think I should send you are Neteller referral so that both you and me could earn smth;)

grand_march_aida

I have a prepaid Mastercard from myCashPlus. Does this count?

jfdi66

Oh come off it you whinging tightwads! Forget what Ryanair add on or what they call individual charges, just look at the bottom line and be very, very grateful that Ryanair let you fly for such small amounts. I fly with them a dozen times a year or more, and always the cost of the airport carpark (or fares getting to and from the airport) is more than the flights. Last week I flew from Spain to Bristol for eighteen euros return, so hoorah for Ryanair. If you don't like their fares or fare structures try taking a train.............

jammin_2

jfdi66 wrote: »

Oh come off it you whinging tightwads! Forget what Ryanair add on or what they call individual charges, just look at the bottom line and be very, very grateful that Ryanair let you fly for such small amounts. I fly with them a dozen times a year or more, and always the cost of the airport carpark (or fares getting to and from the airport) is more than the flights. Last week I flew from Spain to Bristol for eighteen euros return, so hoorah for Ryanair. If you don't like their fares or fare structures try taking a train.............

I think you're on the wrong website.

benjus

jfdi66 wrote: »

Oh come off it you whinging tightwads! Forget what Ryanair add on or what they call individual charges, just look at the bottom line and be very, very grateful that Ryanair let you fly for such small amounts. I fly with them a dozen times a year or more, and always the cost of the airport carpark (or fares getting to and from the airport) is more than the flights. Last week I flew from Spain to Bristol for eighteen euros return, so hoorah for Ryanair. If you don't like their fares or fare structures try taking a train.............

I think you'll find that apart from a handful of posters, the majority of people on this thread are quite happy with Ryanair. However, this is a money saving website, so why fly for £6 when you can have the same flight for £1? Up until now I have used a special account with a Visa Electron card to pay for Ryanair flights - I've lost count of how much money I've saved compared with using my normal debit card. This thread is about finding the best method to recommend to people who want to travel as cheaply as possible. It's not about rejecting Ryanair's fare structures, it's about working with them to maximum benefit.

poppie123

Damn I have been quite happily using my Daughters Visa Electron card for a couple of years.

However, a few weeks ago she took out a contract on a new phone at phones4U.
She was given in the package a card and a leaflet all about the escape pre paid mastercard.
The other day she got another escape card through the post this time with her name on and an expiry date. I asked her if she had paid for it and she said no it was some promotion they were doing.
There is a number to call to activate it but i am not sure if there is a charge for doing this? does anyone know?
If there isn't then all i need to do i suppose is activate it, put some money on it then i am sorted.

pompeyrich

nbaki82 wrote: »

Well as Tesco says "Every Little Helps", so in the in the long run if add up all your purchases over years it should exceed 300. Moreover, if you say that you go only for 1-10 quid flights, it means you are a big saver, therefore, you are spending too much on this Entropay and unnecessarily. I think I should send you are Neteller referral so that both you and me could earn smth;)

Too late this time I'm afraid at £10 a time that would be 30 flights @ £5 booking fee vs £15 loading fee. "every little helps" but the hassle of setting up a neteller account and possible non-usage fees, $30, make it not worth the hassle for me, Thanks anyway.

jamesbrownontheroad

Be sure to read the Neteller T&Cs when you upgrade your account to add a prepaid Mastercard...

Financial Services Compensation Scheme Policy

This document was last updated on 01/07/2009

1. Electronic Money Service

NETELLER (UK) Limited offers an e-money service and not a banking or escrow service. NETELLER (UK) Limited is not acting as a trustee for balances that you choose to keep in your Account but is only acting as an issuer of electronic money. You are not required to maintain a balance in order to use the service. A balance will be created whenever you use the service to make a payment funded from your bank or card. If you do have a balance in your Account you will not receive interest or any other earnings on this balance because NETELLER (UK) Limited is prohibited by regulation from paying interest on an e-money balance.

2. Financial Services Compensation Scheme

As an applicant for the Extended Account limit you are alerted to the following conditions that legally apply to your NETELLER account:

1. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) does not apply to funds stored in your NETELLER account;

2. If NETELLER (UK) Limited becomes insolvent the funds stored on your NETELLER account may become valueless and unusable; and

3. Consequently, if NETELLER (UK) Limited becomes insolvent you may lose the funds stored on your account.

If you do not wish to be able to have an Account with a balance of over 1,000 GBP (or account currency equivalent) you may still open an 'Express' Account. An 'Express' Account will have limits imposed on certain types of transactions (for a full explanation please see the NETELLER Account Limit Policy).

So I would keep the minimum balance on your account that you need. Realistically you can depend on Ryanair sales running for at least 48hrs at a time, so be ready to send money into the account before you're ready to buy flights.