Buying budget flights with Visa Electron

Chris1962blue

Hi, just a quick query regarding purchasing budget flights (not Ryanair).

I have a Co-op Bank Cashminder acount, which comes with a Debit Card which is badged as Visa but is actually a Visa Electron card

Would I be able to purchase flights for third parties so they avoid the debit card charges even if I was not the person / persons flying?

cactusdust

Yes, done this many times.


Edit: Following the post below mine.. I'm clarifying that it generally is possible to book a flight for someone else using your card or vice versa. Sometimes there is a tick box saying "The person paying is not travelling" or something.

tightarsey

Chris1962blue wrote: »

Hi, just a quick query regarding purchasing budget flights (not Ryanair).

I have a Co-op Bank Cashminder acount, which comes with a Debit Card which is badged as Visa but is actually a Visa Electron card

Would I be able to purchase flights for third parties so they avoid the debit card charges even if I was not the person / persons flying?

Hi Chris, answer is NO, Since October 2010 the Cashminder Online Debit Cards have being reassigned as 'Visa Debit' for card processing purposes. Cooperative made this change in the run up to Winter, to keep it 'below radar', customer's were not notified of this change with updated t&c's.

Cooperative Banks Cashminder 'Online Debit Card' is technically a Visa Electron Card 'offline' / internally, i.e. the chip when read by a card reader sees the card as Visa Electron, but Cooperative have removed the Electron logo for one reason - so they can associate fees related to the card as Visa Debit.

Cooperative call this card in vague terms a 'Online Debit Card' avoiding Visa Branding terms such as Visa Electron, Visa Debit (formally Delta), Visa Credit.
All Cards issued by Cooperative / Smile are now processed as Visa Debit for card processing purposes, even existing Valid Cooperative Visa Electron Cards which have a Visa Electron logo!, i.e. you will be charged £18 for booking two flights with flybe.com etc - Visa Debit Card fee, even though flybe.com state the charge for Visa Electron is zero. Note: The blame lies clearly with the Co-operative (whatever they say), and not with flybe.com

For more information regarding this see the thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/41116952#Comment_41116952

Banks are starting to get to grips with making small technical system changes, which can increase profits dramatically. Technical System changes which most customers won't understand enough to complain, yet reap millions in extra profit when you multiple this figure across the board. Also the sums are often small- so its not worth individuals complaining.

The Financial Ombudman only compensates individuals, so customer wide complaints fall between the two - FO and the OFT (Office of Fair Trading), who don't deal with individual complaints. Its actually difficult to work out who to complain to. Perfect for banks to exploit.

I recommend complaining to Cooperative if you are charged fees, but unless the card is one of the older cards showing an Electron Symbol, you have little chance of getting back the charges.

A thank you is appreciated if this is useful!

Chris1962blue

Many thanks for the replies.

I have had trouble in the past using the card at local stations on Merseyside as they usually reject for being a Visa Electron card. Will try later this month as I have to make a train journey at the end of the month.

Chris1962blue

Hi, just checked a BIN database online and my card still comes up as Electron...checked another, comes up as Visa...lol