Is it ok to pay for flights in Euros?

stulaunch

I have been searching for flight for next year, 2018. I have a Halifax Clarity. Is it ok to change payment to Euros? As it works out quite a bit cheaper.

[Deleted User]

You can pay in whatever currency the flight seller offers. There's no forex fees on Clarity.

agrinnall

I think you need to double and triple check that the flight that is much cheaper when paid for in Euros is actually the same as the one that is priced in Sterling, or at least meets your needs in the case of the Euro flight.

firefox1956

If you are booking with Ryanair make sure that you deselect the DCC box or you will use their rate of exchange & not the Halifax Clarity rate.

ricky_v

Yes in the case of Ryanair, a couple of times I opted to pay, say 21.99 Euros instead of £21.99, but I have to book the outgoing and return flight seperately and it only seems to allow you to pay in Euros on the return leg, usually a saving of a couple of quid after the credit card fee.

A word of warning, chances are when it detects that it's a credit card denominated in sterling, it automatically changes the currency to sterling and the exchange rate is via DCC (i.e crap), look for an opt out box and make sure the amount to debit is in the currency of your choosing before confirming.

ricky_v

firefox1956 wrote: »

If you are booking with Ryanair make sure that you deselect the DCC box or you will use their rate of exchange & not the Halifax Clarity rate.

I giggle a little when the "warning" comes up about opting out of "Ryanair's guaranteed exchange rate" when you deselect that box:rotfl:

pvt

I thought it was the case that airlines have to quote the airfare in the currency of the originating country, so a flight originating in the UK must be quoted in sterling, a flight originating in Switzerland in Swiss Francs etc.

When it's a return trip the whole trip is in the currency of the outbound origin.

Thus if you search for a single or return fare from London to Calgary it will be in Sterling, but if you search for a single or return ticket from Calgary to London it'll in Canadian Dollars.

If the airline offers the fare in any other currency I suspect it'll just be doing a DCC, as has been suggested above. In the case of sites like Kayak it'll be an indicative price, and once you go to book it you'll be invited to pay in local currency.

fifeken

pvt wrote: »

I thought it was the case that airlines have to quote the airfare in the currency of the originating country, so a flight originating in the UK must be quoted in sterling, a flight originating in Switzerland in Swiss Francs etc.

You used to be able to trick both Ryanair and easyJet websites to allow you to pay in other currencies, often to your advantage. It looks like easyJet have recently removed that ability. Not sure about Ryanair.