Ryanair has long had a credit card surcharge on their tickets. Of course, Ryanair is also the airline whose CEO seriously talked about pay toilets, so it’s hardly a mainstream carrier.
But now the credit card surcharge is just beginning to take hold with major European airlines. Apparently both KLM and Finnair already have such a surcharge – 7.50 Euros – in the Netherlands. KLM’s only covers the cheapest fares, Finnair charges the surcharge for all reservations.
In addition, both KLM and Air France already have a surcharge in Sweden, as well as Australia.
Why just a few countries? Because there are laws about charging different prices for credit and cash sales.
According to an executive quoted in Business Travel News
“It may only be possible in the Netherlands, Sweden, the U.K. and Switzerland. These are the countries which have not prohibited discrimination between payment methods as laid down in the European Payment Services Directive.”
But now Finnair is hoping to institute a surcharge for all bookngs made through travel agents in Europe. Apparently next spring, there will be legislation introduced in Finland to eliminate the current rules.
And Petri Schaaf, vice president of global sales for Finnair, states “In general, as long as there is a legal and technical possibility, we will consider it.”
Currently, there is no federal law in the U.S. against credit card surcharges. Some states prohibit them, and Mastercard and Visa prohibit them as part of their merchant agreement. American Express also strongly discourages adding any additional costs for its cardholders. (And Amex forbids merchants who also accept Visa or Mastercard from charging any fees to their cardholders, to keep their product competitive.)
So travelers in the U.S. are not looking at changes anytime in the immediate future. But currently, airlines absorb merchant fees. And since the major carriers have shown a penchant for passing any and all costs on to consumers, credit card surcharges surely are on their wish list.
Since U.S. airlines are already, to put it mildly, already struggling with their public image, and with reregulation becoming an increasingly large whisper, it’s probably not a great time for them to push for credit card fees. On the other hand, since it’s potentially the chance to hit the consumer with a three percent fee (or higher) it’s hard to imagine that airlines won’t try, just as soon as they think they can get away with it.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
