We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

MSE News: Airline price transparency to be investigated

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Rules on how airlines display prices are being investigated by the European Commission ..."
«1

Comments

  • richardw
    richardw Posts: 19,458 Forumite
    First Anniversary 10 Posts
    edited 10 August 2011 at 11:21AM
    "However, some airlines stretch the rules to the max by charging consumers to pay by plastic unless they have an extremely rare type of card."

    But they aren't 'extremely rare', they are just 'not as common as" other cards. They should just pass on the 'actual cost' of card charges, so the headline price should include the 'actual cost' of the most expensive card they accept.
    Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.
  • callum9999
    callum9999 Posts: 4,405 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    I know it's not really in the spirit of consumer good - but I'm personally glad they do this. Because many people are either too thick or too lazy to do a simple google search and avoid the card fees, the huge revenue airlines get from it means it's cheaper for me to fly.

    The two major budget airlines (Ryanair/Easyjet) require a Prepaid Mastercard/Visa Electron. Although not exactly common, these cards are incredibly simple to get so anyone paying these exorbitant fees only have themselves to blame.
  • malkie76
    malkie76 Posts: 6,170 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary First Post
    The thing is, you get to see the bottomline price BEFORE you click purchase, so I fail to see the issue.
    Legal team on standby
  • Ryanair say that card charges are "avoidable" & so dont have to include them in the costs advertised as they dont charge for PrePaid MasterCards. However, I tried to pay with a PrePaid FairFx MasterCard recently (as per advice given on this site) & Ryanairs booking system would only accept it if I said the card was a Standard MasterCard - & they duly charged me £36!
  • antenna
    antenna Posts: 1,776 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary 10 Posts
    I paid with a FairFx pre-paid mastercard yesterday and last week, and payments went through straightaway........what are you doing wrong?
    Political?....I dont do Political....well,not much!
  • Consumerist
    Consumerist Posts: 6,310 Forumite
    First Post Name Dropper Second Anniversary
    Rules on how airlines display prices are being investigated by the European Commission (EC).
    Will I live long enough to see any change?
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • Day light robbery
  • Consumerist
    Consumerist Posts: 6,310 Forumite
    First Post Name Dropper Second Anniversary
    malkie76 wrote: »
    The thing is, you get to see the bottomline price BEFORE you click purchase, so I fail to see the issue.
    I think the thing is that you need to complete several pages of a booking form before you get to the bottom line and this makes comparisons very time consuming so that making comparisons is positively discouraged.
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
  • callum9999
    callum9999 Posts: 4,405 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    dobby99 wrote: »
    Ryanair say that card charges are "avoidable" & so dont have to include them in the costs advertised as they dont charge for PrePaid MasterCards. However, I tried to pay with a PrePaid FairFx MasterCard recently (as per advice given on this site) & Ryanairs booking system would only accept it if I said the card was a Standard MasterCard - & they duly charged me £36!

    I paid with a FairFX Mastercard 2 days ago and it worked fine - it's clearly a quirk and not something they are doing deliberately. If anything, I'd imagine it's a problem on FairFX's end for not properly registering the card type in whatever database is used. (That's only a guess considering mine works perfectly though - I have no idea how the backend works).
    I think the thing is that you need to complete several pages of a booking form before you get to the bottom line and this makes comparisons very time consuming so that making comparisons is positively discouraged.

    No you don't. You can pay the price you see on the very first page - only extras like paying with the wrong card, baggage, priority boarding etc. are added later on. On Ryanair these are all added on the 2nd (maybe 3rd) page - hardly torturous.
  • Consumerist
    Consumerist Posts: 6,310 Forumite
    First Post Name Dropper Second Anniversary
    callum9999 wrote: »
    I paid with a FairFX Mastercard 2 days ago and it worked fine - it's clearly a quirk and not something they are doing deliberately.
    :rotfl:

    Forgive me for suspecting that you work for the airline industry.
    >:)Warning: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 346.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 251.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 451.1K Spending & Discounts
  • 238.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 613.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 174.5K Life & Family
  • 251.3K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.