Your Co-Op Visa Electron is now a Visa Debit: alternatives for flight bookings?

StuieUK34

i'd say standards are well low, and the way some businesses and banks are run, its more to suit them, not the customer, hence things going pete tong ages ago!
Well, i hope either way, this scenario with Co-Op gets sorted, as i do book flights with ryanair and flybe now and then, and dont like there fees! i need another basic account with electron and a basic with visa debit!

holywoodmum

Hey
Just reading through this... anyone had issues with Halifax? I've been trying to book on flybe, and unlike the pp I didn't get told I would be charged a fee, the transaction was just declined - again and again and again (after scrupulous checking of account balance, correct number and dates etc)...
Spoke to flybe technical and they told me about electron -> debit rebranding and said that halifax was one along with coop (my other electron card...). Spoke to halifax they said their electron is definitely an electron. Spoke to flybe customer services, they said it was halifax declining my transaction. Spoke to halifax and I have to call back later (my husband is main account holder)... so I'm a bit stymied.
I was wondering I guess if this is an issue with anyone else? The tech guy suggested putting it through as debit card to see if it worked (and get charged the fee) - disinclined to try this as they've said it's halifax declining the transaction. Guess I will have to wait til hubby is home and convince him this is worth kicking off about - I will be severely hacked off if the price goes up before I can book!!

dzug1

tightarsey wrote: »

It only seems to benefit the likes of Cooperative Travel Business/FlyThomasCook.com that charge £2.50 per fight, per passenger. i.e. £10 extra (minimum 2 passengers) when I have a Genuine Visa Electron Card by classifying my card as Visa Debit. Vested Interest it seems, or am I just jumping to conclusions regarding the tie up with between Coop and Thomas Cook, and the travel industry as a whole?

You are probably jumping to unwarranted conclusions if you think it's all a Wicked Conspiracy.

It's either a complete ****up or they thought (and may still think) that it was a trivial and insignificant issue.

jamesbrownontheroad

holywoodmum wrote: »

Hey
Just reading through this... anyone had issues with Halifax? I've been trying to book on flybe

Uh-oh. I got a Halifax Easycash card as a substitute for my duff Co-Op card. I haven't used it in a few weeks, but perhaps this has now been converted too. Will check back in when I next have to buy a FlyBe flight...

tightarsey

holywoodmum wrote: »

Hey
Just reading through this... anyone had issues with Halifax? I've been trying to book on flybe, and unlike the pp I didn't get told I would be charged a fee, the transaction was just declined - again and again and again (after scrupulous checking of account balance, correct number and dates etc)...
Spoke to flybe technical and they told me about electron -> debit rebranding and said that halifax was one along with coop (my other electron card...). Spoke to halifax they said their electron is definitely an electron. Spoke to flybe customer services, they said it was halifax declining my transaction. Spoke to halifax and I have to call back later (my husband is main account holder)... so I'm a bit stymied.
I was wondering I guess if this is an issue with anyone else? The tech guy suggested putting it through as debit card to see if it worked (and get charged the fee) - disinclined to try this as they've said it's halifax declining the transaction. Guess I will have to wait til hubby is home and convince him this is worth kicking off about - I will be severely hacked off if the price goes up before I can book!!

It wouldn't surprise me if Halifax/flybe.com did follow suit. After all there are still hundreds of genuine valid Smile Visa Electron Card Holders (with Electron logo) charged £18 for two flights, which should have no fee/charges - so they probably think - hey - why not? Didn't get a slap on the wrist for that, here's a card with identical characteristics, they can always blame it as a technical glitch.

I'd assume flybe.com are sitting on a pot of at least £20,000 by now just from the Cooperative Visa Electron issue. Money debited from customers with flybe.com having complete knowledge there are customers with Valid Electron Cards being charged. I've spoken in detail to flybbe.com about the issue, with no resolution.

Actually Flybe.com seemed more than happy when I pointed out the error was the result of the Cooperative Bank. The retailer's card processing, get the bin information from issuing bank, so they are covered. Morally their position is very suspect, legally they are fine.

koningskaars

Apologies if this has already been posted elsewhere, but there is still (to my knowledge) a prepaid Visa Electron card available if you don't want the hassle of applying for one of those basic bank accounts. It's called the Airmiles Cash Passport (from Travelex - search for it on Google).

You have to register with Airmiles, and then you can get this card. If you get the GBP version there is a 2% commission fee to load money on to the card, but this still nearly always works out far cheaper than paying the airlines' card fees. There are no other usage fees as far as I know, and there are also euro and dollar versions for which there is no commission fee when loading. Hope this helps :-)

tightarsey

koningskaars wrote: »

Apologies if this has already been posted elsewhere, but there is still (to my knowledge) a prepaid Visa Electron card available if you don't want the hassle of applying for one of those basic bank accounts. It's called the Airmiles Cash Passport (from Travelex - search for it on Google).

You have to register with Airmiles, and then you can get this card. If you get the GBP version there is a 2% commission fee to load money on to the card, but this still nearly always works out far cheaper than paying the airlines' card fees. There are no other usage fees as far as I know, and there are also euro and dollar versions for which there is no commission fee when loading. Hope this helps :-)

Gives a mention of the fees related to the card here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1107491-ot-airmiles-cash-passport-prepaid-currency-card.html
Doesn't look to be that much cheaper, but if your charged per person per leg, would be.

koningskaars

Just to give an example: in my experience as long as you have the GBP card and are being charged in GBP (so no exchange rate charge), this works out much cheaper on EasyJet, BMI Baby and Flybe (not tried any of the others) since these airlines' own credit/debit card charges usually work out at much more than the 2% I spend on topping up the Electron card.