Holiday Companies charges for using credit card.

stormbringer888

I'm about to pay for a holiday with Thomson, on a credit card.
They are charging me 2% for the privilege(58 quid)I then want to do a balance transfer onto another card(30 quid).Anybody know a better way. Cheers

yangptangkipperbang

They are not charging you "for the privilege" - they are just passing on some of the charge that the credit card company imposes on them.

Trying_to_be_good

A cheaper way is to pay using a debit card, for which there normally aren't additional charges, because the travel agent/holiday company doesn't pay such high charges as with a credit card. Or cash, and then you can sometimes get an additional discount. You lose all extra insurance cover that you'd get by using a credit card, (or VISA debit, I think) though.

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pippitypop

Why do you need to do a balance transfer? Personally, I'd pay by credit card for the extra card benefits - likely a Tesco CC where I'd get Clubcard points back, or perhaps on a Virgin Atlantic CC where I'd earn Airmiles.

Nasqueron

pippitypop wrote: »

Why do you need to do a balance transfer? Personally, I'd pay by credit card for the extra card benefits - likely a Tesco CC where I'd get Clubcard points back, or perhaps on a Virgin Atlantic CC where I'd earn Airmiles.

Think it likely OP wants to go on holiday and not pay for it upfront but rather over the length of the BT 0% period

grumbler

stormbringer888 wrote: »

I'm about to pay for a holiday with Thomson, on a credit card.
They are charging me 2% for the privilege(58 quid)I then want to do a balance transfer onto another card(30 quid).Anybody know a better way.

Get a card with 0% on purchases, pay by it and save 30 quid.

• Spending 0% Cards

InsideInsurance

Trying_to_be_good wrote: »

A cheaper way is to pay using a debit card, for which there normally aren't additional charges, because the travel agent/holiday company doesn't pay such high charges as with a credit card.

Credit Card fees are typically a percentage
Debit card fees are typically a fixed amount

Hence vendors charge you a percentage for paying by credit card.

Trying_to_be_good wrote: »

You lose all extra insurance cover that you'd get by using a credit card, (or VISA debit, I think) though.

There is no automatic "insurance" by using a credit or debit card unless your explicit card provides travel insurance.

With a Credit Card there is Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act that provides some statutory protection but this is not insurance and is not a suitable replacement for travel insurance with it only covering breach of contract from the company you pay.