UK Airlines Charge Travelers For Paying Via Credit Card

Paying with credit cards for airline tickets is a way of life for millions of people, but it turns out that airline operators may be charging travelers in the U.K. to use their credit cards at the ticket counters.

According to Fairer Finance, the U.K. consumer group, up until a few months ago, airline companies in the U.K. were charging around 2 percent for paying by credit card. Those fees were capped in December thanks to a new European Union rule that put a lid on the interchange fees, which accounts for the biggest cost when making a transaction with a credit card. That prompted a lot of airlines to cut the amount they charge for using a credit card, with some getting rid of credit card fees altogether. But according to Fairer Finance, some airlines did nothing, and both Flybe and Monarch are charging 3 percent for paying via credit card. Ryanair charges 2 percent, according to the report.

“We’ve found over 100 companies that are charging fees in excess of 1 percent, and we believe this is the tip of the iceberg,” the company said in a blog post. “The true cost for each of these organizations will be different. But the variability in the charges highlights that some companies are not playing straight by the rules. If easyJet is charging 1 percent, how can Ryanair justify charging double that?”

Fairer Finance says that, in highlighting these fees, it wants to see Trading Standards increase enforcement against companies who aren’t following the rules and for ministers to make examples of them. Over the longer term, it says it wants to see charges for paying by credit card outlawed altogether, which it said many countries in Europe have already done.

“Taking people’s money is a basic cost of doing business. People often forget that it costs money — a lot of money — to take people’s cash. Once you’ve handed it over at the till, it has to be counted, boxed up and securely delivered to a bank. But you couldn’t imagine a company charging you a fee for paying in notes and coins,” the company said.