Survey suggest airlines impose rip-off credit card charges

We've all experienced it - that frustrating moment when you come to make a purchase, only to face extortionate credit card charges. And airlines have been found to impose particularly high fees.

Which? has issued a report revealing that Ryanair, Bmibaby, easyJet, Monarch, Emirates, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomson and Saga Holidays all have excessively high credit card charges on their flights. Irish Ferries and Brittany Ferries are also making a tidy profit on credit card bookings.

Many airlines charge up to £5 for a credit card transaction, and some charge a percentage of the overall prices of the transaction. Banks usually charge around 10p to process card transactions, so it doesn't make sense that airlines impose such high credit card charges.

A spokesman for Which? said: ‘People don't like card surcharges and it's no surprise when the costs they pay don't match those incurred by the retailer. There can be no justification for high card surcharges. While companies may want to recoup merchant fees, these charges need to be fair and transparent, so consumers know the real price before they begin a transaction.'

Some companies claim their credit card charges are high to pay for bank charges, but that's proven not to be the case. It seems that many companies are using credit card charges to make an extra bit of profit.

Other airline charges that affect air passenger budgets include charges for hold luggage and the rise in air passenger duty (APD). One way to make flights cheaper is to only carry hand luggage. It's free to carry hand luggage on flights, and some airlines don't impose any weight restrictions. But be aware that airlines have hand luggage size restrictions - you'll incur a hefty fine if it's larger than the maximum size, which varies across airlines.

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