MSE News: Ryanair to charge for Visa Electron bookings

davidjohnson6

One of the benefits of a "proper" bank account with a full sort code + account number like a Halifax EasyCash account, is that one can very easily transfer money in and out very quickly. With the faster payment service, you can move funds into a Halifax account in about 10 mins.

It looks like prepaid Mastercard accounts make it quite difficult or expensive to move funds out. There is therefore a strong reason to have only the funds you need in the account - instead of having a pile of cash sitting dormant. Furthermore, if Ryanair dicount some flights for a few days, I want to be able to take advantage of the offer - and not have to wait 4 days for funds to clear !

All card issuers say it takes *up to* 4 working days to clear - but does anyone know how long if any of these card providers can *normally* accept funds in just a matter of hours via a BACS transfer in the evening when their call centre and the local post office are both closed ? It seems that this kind of extra control is worth paying for - maybe 1% of top-up amount.

I couldn't get top-up details out of ICE, but the Virgin and Bread cards both seem to have sort codes capable of receiving faster payments. In particular, the Virgin card seems to be based at Clydesdale Bank, while the Bread card is based with Newcastle Building Societym suggesting the Virgin card may be the better bet for faster payments.

Anyone know more details on this ?

apt

The better bet is to have some money sat in the ICE account - which has a minimum initial deposit of £100 anyway - as it costs only 2% as opposed to £9.95 plus 2.95% with the Virgin card.

benjus

JPD23 wrote: »

2% fee seems to be only for the £ card. Would it be a good bet to get a Euro card instead (minimum load £100 still, but no fees ever from what I can see?) Then always make sure to book Ryanair flights in Euros? (i.e. if you wanted Stansted to Hahn return, actually book a return Hahn to Stansted (with "dummy" outward flight) then a single back from Hahn to Stansted??)

Or will Ryanair stuff me on DCC anyway by converting to pounds...................?!

Thoughts??

I thought of that option... it doesn't really work. The problems are:

1. When you buy the card, you pay in Sterling at an exchange rate set by ICE. This amounts to just over 2% worse than the wholesale rate. Using a Nationwide card will not help you, as the transaction is in Sterling.
2. Your method relies on there being a very cheap "dummy" flight available. If you paid more than €1 for the dummy flight it would probably be higher than the fees on most of the other cards mentioned on this thread.

landsker

It's just another Ryanair scam!
Who is going to bother to find a pre-pay card, pay for its issue,often incur monthly maintenance fees, leave money sitting there with no interest, just to book with those scammers?
I live in Spain - can I get a pre-paid Mastercard - do tell me where.
No UK based issuer will consider a non UK resident, as far as I'm aware and despite internet searches I cannot find an issuer in Spain. My bank certainly doesn't issue pre-paids.

benjus

landsker wrote: »

It's just another Ryanair scam!
Who is going to bother to find a pre-pay card, pay for its issue,often incur monthly maintenance fees, leave money sitting there with no interest, just to book with those scammers?
I live in Spain - can I get a pre-paid Mastercard - do tell me where.
No UK based issuer will consider a non UK resident, as far as I'm aware and despite internet searches I cannot find an issuer in Spain. My bank certainly doesn't issue pre-paids.

Try the "la Caixa" Cybertarjeta (http://portal.lacaixa.es/tarjetas/cybertarjeta_es.html) - a virtual internet-only card.

Here's another card, a physical card this time: http://www.larocavillage.com/es_ES/shopping/gift-card

Or if you're a fan of Sevilla FC: http://www.tarjetasevillabanesto.com/ (various other similar cards available from Banesto, available as normal or pre-paid cards)

hsbcarter_2

I got this back from Caxton today. It seems like there will be no fee to use the Caxton Global card on the Ryanair website (I'm sceptical as Ryanair charges UK fees for UK travel):

Thank you for your email.

There is a £1.50 fee per transaction for using the card in the United Kingdom. So basically it depends on where the airline is from. 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 from.

Example:
Easyjet and British Airways are UK based companies so there would be a £1.50 charge.
Ryan Air is a Irish based company so no fee. Air France, Lufthansa etc flights would not incur a fee as based outside the UK.

In regards to the card that best suits you, if you travel to the Eurozone a lot we would recommend the Euro Card. Otherwise the Global Traveller card covers all places outside the Eurozone, so Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Thailand etc etc. The US dollar card is just for the USA.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

--
I hope this is true, as I will be applying for a Caxton card today!

HSB

benjus

hsbcarter wrote: »

I got this back from Caxton today. It seems like there will be no fee to use the Caxton Global card on the Ryanair website (I'm sceptical as Ryanair charges UK fees for UK travel):

Thank you for your email.

There is a £1.50 fee per transaction for using the card in the United Kingdom. So basically it depends on where the airline is from. 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 from.

Example:
Easyjet and British Airways are UK based companies so there would be a £1.50 charge.
Ryan Air is a Irish based company so no fee. Air France, Lufthansa etc flights would not incur a fee as based outside the UK.

In regards to the card that best suits you, if you travel to the Eurozone a lot we would recommend the Euro Card. Otherwise the Global Traveller card covers all places outside the Eurozone, so Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Thailand etc etc. The US dollar card is just for the USA.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

--
I hope this is true, as I will be applying for a Caxton card today!

HSB

That's very interesting... it's not at all what I expected, but it's pretty clear from the message. At least you have something in writing so you can go back and complain if they are wrong.

Maybe if enough people ask they'll post the answer in their FAQ...?

pompeyrich

Entropay do a prepaid Mastercard, £4.99 delivery charge and 4.95% loading fee. I found their virtual Electron card very easy to use and although 4.95% sounds bad its only 50p per £10. Link HERE

enigma368

I've just ordered a cartonfx one.

Moneybookers.com do offer one that is 10 Euro a year and is virtually fee free (except Atm withdrawals) but I think cartonfx is better.

To be honest, this decision of Ryanair's is a good one for us, as the fewer people who have the cards that they dont charge for, the more able they are to offer cheap/free flights. As most people on this site are prepared to work for our free fee card, we benefit the rewards.

apt

Even if the Carton Global card does not levy a £1.50 charge there's still the disadvantage of having to load a minimum of £100 a time. So the change is not good for Ryanair customers.