MSE News: Airlines forced to display debit card fees upfront

NFH

HelenaHandcart wrote: »

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.

Very well put. But as we all know, Ryanair would never do it that way because it wouldn't allow them to lure consumers misleadingly with advertised fares that are less than the true fares.

callum9999

bagand96 wrote: »

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!

Yes I'd feel exactly the same... And it is a nanny state approach, just because it's something you like doesn't stop it from being nannying. I don't think it's too much to ask either. I also don't think it's "too much to ask" to pop into a shop and ask for a tissue because you need to blow your nose - doesn't mean I think government should legislate it.

If you don't like it, then don't shop with them. I have no idea why people keep going on about being sucked in by advertising like it's an enormous ordeal for them... Firstly, Ryanair only externally advertise dirt cheap fares - an extra £6 on top will still make it far cheaper than other airlines.

If you were "sucked in" by the first stage of their booking system, it clearly says "Optional charges such as admin fee of £6/€6 per person/per sector and checked baggage fees are not included. Click here for details" right next to the price. If you then click for more details, the very first line in the table details payment surcharges. If you were unfamiliar with the charges Ryanair impose, logic dictates you would click the box. The worst case scenario, you spend 5-10 mins filling out the booking form and discover the surcharge at the end.

I call this "nannying" because it's not preventing any material loss, it's pandering to the ignorant so they don't waste 10 minutes of their time.

NFH

callum9999 wrote: »

I call this "nannying" because it's not preventing any material loss,

It does prevent a material loss. When a consumer reaches the end of the booking process, having gone to the trouble of entering all the passengers' names and other details, when they are presented with an additional £48 fee (4 x 2 x £6 for a family of 4 on return flights), some consumers will begrudgingly pay the £48 rather than invest more time looking for cheaper flights elsewhere.

bagand96

I'm gobsmacked!

I went to Greggs in Glasgow earlier for a sausage roll. Imagine my surprise when the cashier asked for over £6 for my sausage roll....

She explained that they have a new policy, all payments now have a "Cash admin fee" of £6. She explained it was completely avoidable as orders payed with notes issued by Royal Bank of Scotland get the fee waived. Unfortunately I only had Bank of Scotland and Clysedale bank notes on me, so it was a very expensive sausage roll

Mr_Wang

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.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^ is quite possibly the best post I have read on MSE for a long time.
Talk about hitting the nail on the head.

Bob_the_Saver

bagand96 wrote: »

I'm gobsmacked!

I went to Greggs in Glasgow earlier for a sausage roll. Imagine my surprise when the cashier asked for over £6 for my sausage roll....

She explained that they have a new policy, all payments now have a "Cash admin fee" of £6. She explained it was completely avoidable as orders payed with notes issued by Royal Bank of Scotland get the fee waived. Unfortunately I only had Bank of Scotland and Clysedale bank notes on me, so it was a very expensive sausage roll

Should have had a Pasty

bagand96

Should have had a Pasty

You think I'm made of money?! I couldn't afford the <retrospectively applied> tax!

Bob_the_Saver

Lets put this in perspective.
Some time ago I collected Mrs Bob the Saver in London (visiting her Mum). We drove for 2 long days to the Very South of France. Had a puncture on the motorway, put up with high winds and driving rain - eventually arrived at our destination.
Tomorrow I collect Mrs Bob the Saver from an airport just down the road (after visiting here mum in London - I had to stay here )
About An hour and a half after leaving Stansted she can shed the wellys and plastic mac and step into 30c and sunshine.
The question is, would she care a monkey's if she hadn't been told about the card fees at the start of her booking for this £10.99 flight (including taxes and on-line check-in) or at the end, actually didn't have to pay them anyway. Even if she'd paid the £6 it's s*dding
peanuts, Less than £17 for all that way in a £70m (ish) aircraft including taxes!
Compare that per mile (even with the credit card charge if you must) with your
local bus.

bagand96

Bob, in your perspective it's absolutely correct, the £6 makes c*ck all difference when you are getting something at so much under cost price.

Tomorrow I'll board a blue and yellow version of Seattle's finest and head for a European capital. Under £80 return... It's a steal.

Thing is not everyone pays ryanair's bargain basement fares. In fact the majority of pax don't. We all know it's simply a way of adding £12 to their bookings. Call it what they like but it's no card fee (debit card transactions are typically under 20p).

They obviously need that revenue, so they should just absorb it into their pricing strategy (like every other business in every other sector).

And before you say it, they don't even need to raise their bargain basement fares and penalise all of the people out there who are not ignorant (I appreciate you weren't the one calling people ignorant bob) They could incorporate the revenue into their higher tiers of fares without anyone even noticing.

It's become one of many Ryanair crusades just to prove a point. Not even sure what the point is though.

Bob_the_Saver

bagand96 wrote: »

Bob, in your perspective it's absolutely correct, the £6 makes c*ck all difference when you are getting something at so much under cost price.

Tomorrow I'll board a blue and yellow version of Seattle's finest and head for a European capital. Under £80 return... It's a steal.

Thing is not everyone pays ryanair's bargain basement fares. In fact the majority of pax don't. We all know it's simply a way of adding £12 to their bookings. Call it what they like but it's no card fee (debit card transactions are typically under 20p).

They obviously need that revenue, so they should just absorb it into their pricing strategy (like every other business in every other sector).

And before you say it, they don't even need to raise their bargain basement fares and penalise all of the people out there who are not ignorant (I appreciate you weren't the one calling people ignorant bob) They could incorporate the revenue into their higher tiers of fares without anyone even noticing.

It's become one of many Ryanair crusades just to prove a point. Not even sure what the point is though.

That's OK then, as long as MY fares don't go up.