Another debit or credit card question re flights...

downhillfast

Sorry to ask a question that has been asked before but it's not quite as straight forward in my situation at the moment.

I need to book £2k worth of flights for my honeymoon...

I have the money sitting in my bank ready but I appreciate using a credit card affords a lot more security should something go wrong - this is my problem... I don't have a credit card due to bad credit history. I have been approved for an Aqua credit card but this will not have a high enough limit to cover the flights...

My bankruptcy should drop off my credit history next week but I've never truly cleaned it up so bits of it may not drop off straight away...

So my dilemma is this do I book the flights on my debit card to ensure I don't lose them at this price or do I wait and see if I can get a better credit card??? What separate insurance could cover for what booking on a debit card leaves at risk?

TIA :cool:

Westin

If you are booking direct with a major airline, such as British Airways or Easyjet then I'd say that a debit card payment will be just fine as you are unlikely to have to make a claim via a credit card for their failure. Some smaller airlines then a credit card would afford you more protection.

downhillfast

The booking will be for US Airways which I'm assuming are a pretty big airline?!

jpsartre

They're currently merging with American Airlines so they're unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

luci

Yes they are, but I believe they are in Chapter 11 which protects them from bankruptcy. However almost all the American airlines are so not too worrying.

Would you be booking direct with the airline or via a third party?

If you are booking online you have to pay the whole lot at once so won't be able to use two methods of payment.

There is something called Visa Chargeback that you could use if you use a debit card.

However if you can find a way to pay a small amount, even £100, on the credit card then you will have full Section 75 protection, but only if you book and pay direct.

downhillfast

Thanks for the advice so far. The best price I can get is with Expedia, the exact same combination of flights costs £100 or so more to book direct... What difference does booking direct make?

jpsartre

Mainly that you won't have to through Expedia if there are issues with your booking. Once the merger beings I would expect to see a fair bit of schedule changes with US Airways. If so, you might need to discuss rerouting options. I'd rather do that directly with the airline myself but whether that's worth £100 is up to you.

downhillfast

Thanks again.

Having had a brainwave (!) I decided to see if there was a UK version of the USAirways site (Kayak was directing me to US site and I wasn't really thinking properly!!!)

Booking the exact same flights on the UK site has them pop up even cheaper (only about £3) than Expedia! Result!

downhillfast

luci wrote: »

There is something called Visa Chargeback that you could use if you use a debit card.

I don't think this will be much good tbh having read the guidelines of the scheme...



Debit cards - It applies to all debit cards for goods costing less that £100, although exact rules may vary between the Visa, Maestro and American Express networks.


Flight purchase In the case of an airline going bust after you've booked a flight, the breach of contract would be from the day the flight was due to depart. However, if an airline had told you at an earlier date that the flight would not be going ahead, the breach of contract that allows for chargeback would not apply.

Westin

Well done. I think you will be fine with US Airways (shortly to merge with American Airlines) and would have done the same and used a debit card to book. Enjoy your trip.