Air travellers are paying an estimated £265,000 per day in debit surcharges to airlines, according to consumer group Which?
After thousands of complaints from travellers, the consumer watchdog submitted a “super-complaint” to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in March, in the hope that the regulator would investigate airlines for what they deem “excessive” credit and debit-card surcharges.
On 28 June, the OFT proposed that charges for paying by debit and credit-card should be banned. The 90-day OFT investigation found considerable evidence of carriers adding payment charges to the fare only after consumers have filled in a number of web pages. The OFT estimates that UK consumers spent £300 million on payment surcharges during 2009 alone.
It is estimated to cost companies as little as £0.30 to process a single debit-card transaction, or 1.8 per cent of the overall costs for a credit card, however, many airlines charge considerably more for paying with plastic.
Despite the calls for reform, Which? estimates that since 28 June airlines have pocketed £18 million in additional revenue from surcharges. Two airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss, announced on 8 August, that they will charge a fee of £4.50 on all card bookings from 2 November.
“With most airlines yet to drop these card surcharges and some introducing new fees, it’s time for the Government to put a stop to this, said Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director.
“A minor change to the law is all it would take to ban the charges on debit cards that you only find out about at the end of a lengthy on-line booking process”.
“Thousands of people have complained to Which? that these hidden card fees are unfair. The Government must act so that consumers can easily compare the cost of their flights.”
