Airlines make £100m a year from 'excessive' card booking fees

Updated

Most travellers will be well aware of the added extras that airlines charge on top of their oh-so-cheap deals.

Airline debit card booking fees
Airline debit card booking fees



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But you might be surprised to find that the money garnered from credit or debit card booking fees is reportedly around the £100 million mark.

Despite the Office of Fair Trading ordering companies to put an end to rip-off card charges in June, many travel firms are refusing and it could take a High Court battle to ban the fees.

Research by Which? revealed that the a family of four could pay £48 in credit or debit card charges when booking their holidays and the consumer watchdog estimates that British customers are paying more than £265,000 a day in airline booking surcharges.

Though the cost of processing a debit card payment estimated at just 20p, budget airlines such as Ryanair (which charges £6 per person each way) and Easyjet (which charges £8 per booking) look to be cashing in unfairly.

Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, said: "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 online booking process.

"Thousands of people have complained to us that these hidden card fees are unfair. The Government must act so that consumers can easily compare the cost of their flights."

Have you been caught out by debit card booking fees? Leave a comment below...

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