Ryanair to add 2% surcharge for credit cards – ontop of the £6 admin fee

Once again, the Ryanair comedians of the air are it again.

All bookings made a credit card and flying with Ryanair after the 30th November will be subject to a 2% total surcharge on top of the £6 Administration fee that you are required to pay to book a ticket .

This fee is per person.

In addition, the £6 booking fee was avoidable by paying with a Ryanair Cash Passport. This benefit is now being withdrawn too, making the Cash Passport a very expensive purchase for very little gain.

So lets put this into a list to see if you’re going to be charged lots or lots and lots

Payment method            Admin Charge     Extra Card Fee? 

Ryanair Cash Passport      £6               None
Visa Debit Card            £6               None
Mastercard Debit Card      £6               None
Maestro Debit Card         £6               None
German ELV Payment         £6               None
Visa Credit Card           £6               2% of transaction total
MasterCard Credit Card     £6               2% of transaction total
American Express           £6               2% of transaction total

Ryanair Cash passport users in Ireland, Germany and Spain have different dates to avoid being charged more:

• Ireland –  1 February 2013
• Germany – 15 February 2013
• Spain – 21st March 2013

Ryanair blames these change on the UK Office of Fair Trading ruling on Credit Card fees to promote transparency. Ryanair has taken it as a challenge to charge more money.

It goes without saying, my standard advice comes into play if you’re even remotely thinking about flying with Ryanair (or any low cost carrier):

• Remember if you fly Ryanair, you have to play their game. How much you loose by is by how much you don’t read their rules, regulations and fees.
• Always ignore the headline fare too. Work it out the final before you hit the book button.
• And as usual, if you’re considering Ryanair, please remember – they are not the only game in town 9/10 times. Do a bit of research, and you may find that a traditional airline or one of the other Low Cost Carriers may suit your needs better.