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AIRLINE HIDDEN CHARGES
The Consumer Council has received a number of complaints about airlines operating from Jersey and elsewhere that charge fees when booking on-line using credit and debit cards. Some (BMI Baby, Aurigny and Flybe for example) charge a processing fee PER PASSENGER, PER FLIGHT –This means when booking a return flight for two people you are charged 4 times – that is a transaction charge, per flight, per person, for one total credit card transaction.
Jersey Consumer Council Chairman, Alan Breckon said, “If a consumer was shopping in the High Street they would not, and do not, pay transaction fees per item. If you bought different items of clothing or a lawnmower with other electrical items and garden furniture, you do NOT have big ticket or other items separated and charged to a card separately – indeed most retail outlets do not pass on this charge to the customers, – so why should airlines? I have written to the Office of Fair Trading and asked them to look at charges airlines are making because I am not convinced that they are justified in the circumstances or transparent”.
Flybe’s General Manager, Ian Taylor, said in a response to the Consumer Council, “The credit card processing industry levies a number of costs upon us… which are reflected in the per passenger sector charges” and state that their only other option to not having these charges would be to put up fares.
However, BA only charges a fee for credit card use only (not debit cards) and then it is per person, not per flight. Blue Islands and CityJet do not charge for credit or debit card use at all and manage to keep their fares competitively priced. With these companies you pay the advertised price and no more hidden charges. So there are inconsistencies between airlines which need further investigation. Alan Breckon also says, “This seems to me an ideal issue for the OFT to investigate as it has wider consumer implications across the U.K.”.
Booking Flights If you decide not to book-online, you can be hit with premium rate telephone numbers to call a booking call-centre. You may also incur an additional charge (£15 with BA) if you book direct - so deductions can be given with one hand and taken away with the other. To try to make a saving, you book online, but to book on line you have to use a credit/debit card, so you lose some of the saving. For example the BMIBaby website states: “Flights purchased on the bmibaby.com website are subject to a discount of £7.50 for each one way flight - a saving of £15.00 per return journey per passenger. All bookings and changes made using a credit card are subject to a processing fee of £3.75 per passenger per one way flight. Bookings made using a debit card are subject to a processing fee of £2.75 per passenger per one way flight.” So it appears one cancels out the other.
Alan Breckon said, “So what is the real truth about prices and added charges? We should not have to search the small print to see what other ‘extras’ we have to pay for and charges should be fair, reasonable and transparent I believe airlines and these hidden charges are a matter that are well-worth looking at in more detail”.
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