MSE News: Ryanair slaps 2% credit card fee on flights

NFH

zagfles wrote: »

I don't Ryanair are that large in terms of turnover. I'd have thought the likes of Thomson are far larger and their charges are higher:

http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/legal/credit-card-payments.html

Ryanair are a large merchant compared to an independent restaurant for example. The difference between Ryanair and Thomson is that Ryanair have adjusted their fees to comply with Article 21, whereas I believe Thomson have yet to do so.

NFH

tripled wrote: »

As for the 2%, I suspect they haven't just taken the % "commision" they pay into account but anything they can think of they can book as a cost associated with processing credit cards. Or maybe they have done a deal with their bank where they actually pay 2% and get discounted debit card processing.

Quite possible. Or they may set up their own card processing provider. Some large retailers did this a few years ago in order to reduce their VAT bill. Each retailer's card processing subsidiary charged the retailer an inflated fee (e.g. 2.5%) to process card transactions, meaning that only 97.5% of the price paid was subject to VAT. In this case, HMRC was the loser so the practice was quickly outlawed.

aleph_0

tripled wrote: »

The £6 booking fee will no longer exist, it will be included in the headline fare. Sure they may include it in the cost breakdown, but one airline's booking fee is another's fuel surcharge.

As for the 2%, I suspect they haven't just taken the % "commision" they pay into account but anything they can think of they can book as a cost associated with processing credit cards. Or maybe they have done a deal with their bank where they actually pay 2% and get discounted debit card processing. Or maybe they are still creaming off a few pence per transaction, who knows. However while there are plenty of sneaky tricks Ryanair use which it's fair to berate them for, not sure this is one of them.

Fair point (assuming the £6 fee is included at all stages in the flight cost (I know it has to be included in the 'headline rate' now), and they don't do stupid things to not display the cost at intermediate stages of the transaction). I still think it's cheeky to attribute the 2% charge to the OFT - whilst I understand the reading is ambiguous, I think it's pretty clear that they're trying to make it sound the OFT are to blame for them choosing to charge a CC fee, whereas all the OFT have done is force them to charge a reasonable fee.

budgetflyer

Another victory for the consumer.

zagfles

NFH wrote: »

Ryanair are a large merchant compared to an independent restaurant for example. The difference between Ryanair and Thomson is that Ryanair have adjusted their fees to comply with Article 21, whereas I believe Thomson have yet to do so.

But a restaurant will probably pay more than 2%.

Besides, is turnover the only factor? I'd have thought things like the likelyhood of CCA section 75 protection applying would be relevant to the charges. For something like a restaurant bill, section 75 would never apply because you pay the bill after you've consumed the product, whereas with a flight booking you pay before.

Bob_the_Saver

Use a debit card, problem solved.

JC_Derby

pay in cash even better;)

~Brock~

You could always complain!

avid_traveller

What about debit cards? are they going to charge for these to. As said earlier if after all the fees and taxes have been added up and Ryanair are still the cheapest then I will go with them, otherwise I will shop around for best deals.:)

IrishGypsy

JC_Derby wrote: »

pay in cash even better;)

I can't find where my router would take my £20 notes though...