Revolut Card

stevemul

Yesterday I purchased flights from Ryanair using a Revolut prepaid multi currency card which had credit in both Euros and Sterling.
The flights appeared in Euros as the departure country was Spain.
The site automatically converted to Sterling on the payment page presumably as my residential address for the card is UK. However, by clicking through from the " info on exchange rate" I was given the option to decline the conversion rate by unticking a box. This I did.
The summary box reverted back to Euros so I continued to pay with my Revolut Card.
The payment was then taken in STERLING by Ryanair ( as confirmed by Revolut customer service.
On querying this with Ryanair, they say that:
"Customers who pay for their flights with a credit card billed in a currency other than the currency of the country from which the flight departs will be charged in the currency of issue of the credit card, inclusive of a ‘foreign user’ charge but you can check the actual amount to be billed in the currency of your card prior to payment being made."
They also say that "you used a Sterling credit card to pay for the flight and the amount was due in Euro."
My two questions are:
1. Is a Revolut card a Sterling Credit card?
2. What is the point in offering to decline the conversion if this is then ignored?
Any answers or comments please?

worried_jim

I would tweet a shorter version to Revolut- they answer all queries pretty quickly (09:00-17:00).

https://twitter.com/RevolutApp

stevemul

I have been keeping Revolut in the loop. They say Ryanair is wrong but refer me back to them

eDicky

stevemul wrote: »

1. Is a Revolut card a Sterling Credit card?
2. What is the point in offering to decline the conversion if this is then ignored?

Revolut is recognised by ATMs and payment systems as a UK issued card and assumed to be GBP denominated, so 'conversion' is often offered. There's obviously not much Revolut can do about this, I would say that Ryanair are at fault if they offered conversion and the choice to decline it, then negated the choice of declining that you made.

PeterLWilson

I would say that if Ryanair allowed you to select Euros as your method of payment on their website, and then billed you in GBP, they are liable for the additional costs you incurred because of this as long as there was no disclaimer on their website that clarified the default to currency of issue.

stevemul

Ryanair came back to me with a formal letter dismissing my claim saying that my Revolut card is a " Sterling Credit Card"
I put this to Revolut who gave me a link to their FAQ which states that it is a Mastercard Debit Card and incurs no fees to the vendor.
I have relayed this to Ryanair and claimed back their Credit card fee in addition to the conversion rate difference.
I await their response! In the event of further rejection, what further recourse do I have ( as a matter of principle and legal clarrification) ?
Is Ryanair subject to UK law ie Moneyclaim Online or an Ombudsman?

eDicky

Most prepaid card cards, including Revolut, are recognised and treated by a Vendor as a credit card, because the same interchange fees etc are incurred by them as for a credit card. So it's better not to confuse the issue by including a claim about this.

Your main issue is their using conversion for your payment when you selected to decline that by paying in euros. It's likely that there's not much they are able or willing to do about their system recognising Revolut as a 'sterling card' and overriding your choice to pay in euros, Revolut being a unique instance as a multi-currency card. Perhaps the only solution in general is to pay Ryanair in GBP with it, let's see what they say.

I've not actually heard of this problem before, I've often paid easyJet in euros with Revolut, but not Ryanair. There's a long Revolut thread on the Overseas board where it would be useful to post your experience as a warning, depending on the outcome

concernedSaver

I think Ryanair's at fault here. They explicitly state that "you can check the actual amount to be billed in the currency of your card prior to payment being made", but obviously OP was presented with a checkout amount in EUR, not GBP.

I'm a regular Ryanair customer, and tried to pay in Euros before with a foreign credit card, only to be presented with the amount in sterling before checkout. I can understand that, but charging a card for different amount than the one presented to the customer is extremely dodgy.

fifeken

stevemul wrote: »

. . . . Is Ryanair subject to UK law ie Moneyclaim Online . . . . .

Where people use MCOL for EU261 claims against airlines with a UK presence, they are reccommended to use the European Small Claims Procedure when tackling Ryanair. Should be similar for you if you go that route.