Paying in Euros

luke_ant

Hi,

Please excuse my ignorance if this is a silly question!

I'm looking to book a single flight between Portugal and the UK in September (I live in the UK and have a UK bank account). I'm planning on flying with Ryanair, but all the prices on their website are in euros. The whole fare seems to come to 202 euros, but I have no idea what will happen if I pay for this on my Natwest Visa Debit card. I assume somewhere along the line the cost will be exchange to pounds, and depending on the exchange rate I may get pretty ripped off. I was wondering if anyone has any idea of the rate I will get (is it set by Ryanair or Natwest) and what I can expect to pay in pounds. I can't seem to find any information anywhere...

Apologies again if this is obvious - I've never paid on my debit card in a foreign currency before. Is it a good idea?

Thanks very much in advance!

SaveTheEuro

At today's exchange rate €202 is £162. If you use a NatWest debit card and pay in euros the deduction on you account will be £162 plus an exchange rate transaction fee of 2.75%, or £4.45. I'm not certain but NatWest may also charge another Point of Sale fee of £1.25. That's a total of £167.70.

Ryanair will give you the option of a "guaranteed exchange rate." They will tell you at this stage the amount in sterling. If you choose this option the sum shown will be the exact deduction from your NatWest account. It would likely be in the region of £171 because their exchange fee is always poor.

Ryanair make it tricky. The guaranteed exchange rate only appears on screen after you have typed in your 16 digit card number. You have to click on the words "click here" and then unstick a box if you don't want the guaranteed exchange rate.

A far better option is to use a prepaid MasterCard instead of your debit card. The charges will be a lot less than NatWest and you won't have to pay the €6 fee imposed on all debit and credit card transactions.