MSE News: Ryanair to charge for Visa Electron bookings

melb

I have now signed up for both the neteller and the fairfx cards but as neteller seems the better option according to many on this site I was just about to put some money on it from my debit card and it says there's a 1.75% fee for doing so. Having read many posts on here I thought the concensus of opinion was that Neteller was completely free to use whereas the fairfx had a 1.5% charge when using it to buy ryanair tickets, for example. Where should I put my hard-earned £100?

ozzage

melb wrote: »

I have now signed up for both the neteller and the fairfx cards but as neteller seems the better option according to many on this site I was just about to put some money on it from my debit card and it says there's a 1.75% fee for doing so. Having read many posts on here I thought the concensus of opinion was that Neteller was completely free to use whereas the fairfx had a 1.5% charge when using it to buy ryanair tickets, for example. Where should I put my hard-earned £100?

Yes I see the same thing. Only by local bank transfer does this seem to be free, but that takes 3 to 5 days by which the cheap flights are probably gone...

I also didn't see this mentioned earlier

Edit: Apologies this was discussed earlier. Stupid couldn't be bothered reading all 9 pages. oops.

melb

yes \after I posted i noticed it had been spotted already. I'm hoping that as I bank with barclays it may be quicker. I might relook at fairfx.

premierfella

Neteller can receive Faster Payments, but the credit does not show instantly (usually shows up next day).

Lehman

mjrclay wrote: »

Please can someone confirm that the Neteller card really doesn't charge for spending e.g. buying Ryanair tickets or that there isn't a set up charge etc.. Sorry, if you've moved on a little with this but have spent some time already satisfying myself that the Caxton FX Global Traveller card was best for buying Ryanair tickets in the UK. I've just joined the forum and this is my first post so this maybe covering old ground.
I too like a previous poster noticed that FairFX wasn't the best, certainly not for my particular circumstances but which is recomended as the best prepaid card on Martin's site. For a family like mine of 4 when we spend typically around £500 to £600 every time we use Ryanair (3 times a year) the FairFX card at 1.5% everytime it's used is around £8 for every booking. Caxton FX Global Traveller Card (see correspondance with them below) just charges £1.50 every time you use it with no set up charges etc. This is certainly a much better option for my cicumstances. Obviously, for a single traveller getting cheap flights well under £150 then the FairFX has got to be the better card.
But now is seems the Neteller card is better as there's no spending charge at all... Certainly £1.50 didn't seem bad but free ...



Correspondance from Caxton this morning
Thank you for your enquiry into Caxton Cards.

Firstly, the card I would recommend for you since you are booking Ryanair flights quoted in Sterling, is the Caxton FX Global Traveller Card. When you use the Global Traveller Card, you will incur a flat fee of £1.50 per transaction. This means that a family of four booking return flights originating in the UK would pay £1.50 only. This charge is levied by Caxton FX not Ryanair.

You absolutely can apply for the card now even if you will not be using it until later this year. Once you have loaded your card, the funds are ready to be used within 2hours. These funds do not need to be used straight away and it is fine to leave them sitting in the account, as there are no charges and no dormancy fees. If at any stage you would like to transfer the left over funds back onto your debit card we can refund any amount over £10 back to your account, for a fee of £1.50.
I hope that answers all of your questions.
Thanks.

Hi Mjrclay.

It is indeed free to set up a Neteller account and Ryanair does not charge you any booking fee when you use your Neteller prepaid Master Card. If you upload money to your Neteller Barclays account, no fee apply and you have Barclays yourself, funds clear on your account same day.

Just bought my 4 quid one flight with Ryanair and it seems we are gowing down to 1 pound flights soon. I think Ryanair is responding to all the negative press about its charges.

Good luck. Oh, and if somebody refers you to Neteller, you get 10% on top of your first upload. I was referred and got EUR 8 for transferring EUR 80. Not bad.

Ciao.

Lehman

melb wrote: »

I have now signed up for both the neteller and the fairfx cards but as neteller seems the better option according to many on this site I was just about to put some money on it from my debit card and it says there's a 1.75% fee for doing so. Having read many posts on here I thought the concensus of opinion was that Neteller was completely free to use whereas the fairfx had a 1.5% charge when using it to buy ryanair tickets, for example. Where should I put my hard-earned £100?

In Belgium and Netherlands there is iDEAL form of uploading money to Neteller account, which appears instantly and free of charge. Too bad UK doesn't have iDEAL.

SaveTheEuro

Has anybody used a CaxtonFX Global Pre Paid Mastercard yet? CaxtonFX said there would be no charge for booking Ryanair flights. Is this the case?

CaxtonFX say: "It does not matter whether you book the flights on a UK website or whether you purchase the flights in stirling, it all depends on the country the airline originates/operates from...Easyjet and British Airways are UK based companies so there would be a £1.50 charge.
Ryanair is a Irish based company so no fee."

mjrclay

Dear SaveTheEuro,
It seems you DEFINITELY do pay Caxton £1.50 to buy Ryanair tickets in the UK. I had this correspondance from Caxton only yesterday morning:

"Firstly, the card I would recommend for you since you are booking Ryanair flights quoted in Sterling, is the Caxton FX Global Traveller Card. When you use the Global Traveller Card, you will incur a flat fee of £1.50 per transaction. This means that a family of four booking return flights originating in the UK would pay £1.50 only. This charge is levied by Caxton FX not Ryanair".

However, it seems they are very quick at uploading the funds as they went on to say:

"You absolutely can apply for the card now even if you will not be using it until later this year. Once you have loaded your card, the funds are ready to be used within 2hours. These funds do not need to be used straight away and it is fine to leave them sitting in the account, as there are no charges and no dormancy fees. If at any stage you would like to transfer the left over funds back onto your debit card we can refund any amount over £10 back to your account, for a fee of £1.50.
I hope that answers all of your questions.
Thanks."

Best regards

mjrclay

Dear Lehman,
Thanks for your reply. If you don't have a Barclays account how long does it take for funds to clear?
Cheers

Lehman

mjrclay wrote: »

Dear Lehman,
Thanks for your reply. If you don't have a Barclays account how long does it take for funds to clear?
Cheers

In that case from 1 to 3 days, I think. I suggest you to put on Net+ more than you need and then if you have excess on the card, you can use it at any point of sale without comission where MasterCard is accepted.