MSE News: Airlines forced to display debit card fees upfront

Jew

SaveTheEuro wrote: »

You should be grateful, getting all that administration for just £9. Where else can you get such great value when buying administration?

So true.

Anyway, there's a discussion about the scammy RyanAir admin fee of £6 here.

Mishomeister

mervyn11 wrote: »

Probably be a good thing charging for hand luggage to be honest.
Its getting absolutely ridiculous now the amount & size of hand luggage.
In fact its now delaying departure in some cases.

Very naive of you to think that they would stop humiliating you by measuring your hand luggage even if you have paid for it.

jpsartre

I think maybe what mervyn11 is referring to is the time FA's are wasting trying to figure out how to fit all the carry-on luggage in the overhead lockers, not the time it takes to measure the luggage at the gate. Often it can be quite a puzzle.

I don't see how having your hand luggage measured is any different from being asked to show a valid ticket in the train or at the cinema. None of those things are something to feel humiliated about.

Bob_the_Saver

jpsartre wrote: »

I don't see how having your hand luggage measured is any different from being asked to show a valid ticket in the train or at the cinema. None of those things are something to feel humiliated about.

The security check can be humiliating though
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq_WcHDWzJ0/T48OUhyTMPI/AAAAAAAACHU/-rL_A19pfKg/s1600/nakedairportguy.jpg

callum9999

NFH wrote: »

Why should you have been able to pay less when using a Visa Electron card? It costs Easyjet the same to accept Visa Electron as it does for them to accept other Visa debit cards. I don't understand why this should have entitled you to any discount.

I'm sure you know full well...

Having 1 free payment method means they can advertise their fares for less, as a certain proportion of their customers will be paying extra on top.

I also believe we have had this discussion before... I am firmly in the camp of "if you're too ignorant to research beforehand then tough", whereas you prefer the government nanny approach. I suspect neither of us are going to change our minds, so there is probably no reason to even discuss it...

NFH

callum9999 wrote: »

whereas you prefer the government nanny approach.

It's not a nanny approach but preventing businesses from using unfair commercial practices, for example by giving a misleading indication of price. We need strong consumer legislation to protect consumers from businesses who don't operate in a way that a reasonable consumer would find honest.

bagand96

whereas you prefer the government nanny approach.

Thisnis one of the few things that i think isn't a nanny state approach.

In todays society, debit cards are fast replacing cash as the de facto method of payment for goods/products. For goods or products ordered by distance where cash is not an option they are THE direct replacement for cash.

The cost to the merchant is tiny and all businesses build it in to their operating costs and therefore price their products accordingly.

Would you feel the same if Asda stopped accepting cash tomorrow, and then whacked a £6 fee when you produced your plastic? Or bp when you fill the tank? Or amazon.co.uk?

The idea of having a different fee free card (that has its own inherent costs) for each different merchant we deal with is nonsensical. How big would everyone's wallets need to be to lug them all round?

For some reason it seems to have become the norm with airlines as they battle for lowest headline fares. For some reason people seemed happy to accept it.

I think being able to pay for something with the most common type of payment method in use without being penalised is hardly too much to ask.

I'm not however naive enough to think Ryanair won't come up with some other method!

budgetflyer

bagand96 wrote: »

Would you feel the same if Asda stopped accepting cash tomorrow, and then whacked a £6 fee when you produced your plastic? Or bp when you fill the tank? Or amazon.co.uk?

If BP could provide me enough fuel that would allow me to drive from Edinburgh to Malaga for £12.99 , Id gladly pay a £6 admin fee.

HelenaHandcart

callum9999 wrote: »

I am firmly in the camp of "if you're too ignorant to research beforehand then tough"

If you research the Ryanair Cash Passport and decide that the fees and charges (cashpassport.com/1/en/Ryanair/About-Cash-Passport/Fees-Limits/) make it too expensive for your single Ryanair flight then you are neither ignorant nor idle. The card only works for people who take Ryanair flights at least once every five months.

The Ryanair Cash Passport is effectively a loyalty scheme which provides a discount of £6 per flight for frequent Ryanair users. I have no objection to that. All I want is the flight prices to be advertised honestly which means that the headline price should not include the frequent flyer discount.

There is no reason why, after the headline price, the ads/website cannot have equally large lettering advertising "£6 per flight discount for Cash Passport holders". In fact, Ryanair might find that this strategy leads to a considerable increase in the uptake of Cash Passport.

stoneman

budgetflyer wrote: »

If BP could provide me enough fuel that would allow me to drive from Edinburgh to Malaga for £12.99 , Id gladly pay a £6 admin fee.

Ahh but it's only £12.99 because you and another 144? people have paid that or more to all be together on the same form of transport, so the analogy doesn't really work does it.