Why 2.5% charge for paying for a holiday with a credit card?

jussiep

I like to use a credit card for paying for holidays due to card protection and ease of payment.
I have been stung with £63 charge for using a credit card for a holiday that has to be paid in full 3 months in advance. Surely it doesnt cost the travel agent that much to process a credit card payment or a need to have the money that soon, surley they will get interest on my early payment. Debit card is free but 3 months in advance I havnt quite got that cash to hand.
I am happy to pay a fee for using a credit card but that much????

InsideInsurance

It is unlikely the card fee is that high for them but there is also the general considerations of the cost of being able to accept creditcards in terms of software, hardware, PCI compliance etc.

2.5% has been the upper limit of what is considered acceptable in most cases but I suspect at some point some people will challenge it

CLAPTON

the retailer is charged anything up to 3% fee for credit cards usage by the card provider so 2.5% isn't bad

you can get card protection as long as you pay 100 deposit against the holiday.

many companies charge about this rate or simply refuse to take CC except for a deposit... travel agents, car dealerships being quite common.

_Andy_

jussiep wrote: »

I like to use a credit card for paying for holidays due to card protection and ease of payment.
I have been stung with £63 charge for using a credit card for a holiday that has to be paid in full 3 months in advance. Surely it doesnt cost the travel agent that much to process a credit card payment or a need to have the money that soon, surley they will get interest on my early payment. Debit card is free but 3 months in advance I havnt quite got that cash to hand.
I am happy to pay a fee for using a credit card but that much????

You could also say the holiday doesn't cost them that much, so should they give that to you at cost price?

If you don't like it, don't buy it

bigadaj

You only need to pay a small deposit for card protection to work, so long as the holiday sum is over £100.

You can always negotiate, do they really need full payment three months in advance, or try haggling over the fee.

If you haven't got he money now then that might suggest you can't really afford the holiday.

yangptangkipperbang

jussiep wrote: »

I like to use a credit card for paying for holidays due to card protection and ease of payment.
I have been stung with £63 charge for using a credit card for a holiday that has to be paid in full 3 months in advance. Surely it doesnt cost the travel agent that much to process a credit card payment or a need to have the money that soon, surley they will get interest on my early payment. Debit card is free but 3 months in advance I havnt quite got that cash to hand.
I am happy to pay a fee for using a credit card but that much????

1. You are right when you say it doesn't cost the travel agent 2.5% - it costs him more !!! Some card issuers have charged up to 5%.
2. The travel agent doesn't keep the money - it goes to the travel/company/airline or whatever - they then waste it on buying aeroplanes and silly things like that !
3. Debit card are (usually) free because there is a fixed, relatively low, charge on these transactions, so the travel agent can factor that into his overheads.

Pinkypants

Why do you think so many companies refuse to take American Express? It's because their charges are sky high!

chattychappy

Why 2.5% charge for paying for a holiday with a credit card?

Because:

jussiep wrote: »

I like to use a credit card for paying for holidays due to card protection and ease of payment.
I have been stung with £63 charge for using a credit card

Why did Tescos charge me for bananas I bought today?
I like bananas because they have an interesting shape and they taste good. But when I got to the checkout they wanted money.

dld2s

chattychappy wrote: »

Why 2.5% charge for paying for a holiday with a credit card?

Because:


Why did Tescos charge me for bananas I bought today?
I like bananas because they have an interesting shape and they taste good. But when I got to the checkout they wanted money.

I'm sure Tesco only asked for the ticketed price for the bananas and didn't add a charge, so not really the same is it, the op was not buying a 2.5% credit card charge

jussiep

wow this has prompted some good discussion, some who feel that I shouldnt have a holiday, some who feel that its high, some who feel that its ok and others with some good advice.
Thanks for letting me know about the £100 payment, I wasnt aware of this, very useful to know.
Its good to discuss as long as its friendly

YorkshireBoy

jussiep wrote: »

Thanks for letting me know about the £100 payment

There isn't a "£100 payment" requirement.

The 'item cost' has to be between £100 and £30K, but you can pay as little as £1 (or even less!) on a credit card, if the retailer will accept it, and secure section 75 protection...subject to there being a qualifying debtor-creditor-supplier (D-C-S) relationship of course.