It seems that British Airways are still trying to be the airline sponsoring the year that is 2016, with an announcement they are to change their credit card fees.
British Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner taxing at Heathrow Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
Currently, the fee is a flat £5 to use a payment method other than a debit card – meaning payments like PayPal and Credit Cards are subject to an excess on sales from the UK.
This is changing to 1% credit card fee, with it capped at £20 according to Buying Business Travel.
At first instance, this sounds awful…. but is it? The answer of course – it depends.
For short-haul fares, you’ll be paying a lot less – especially if you’re buying only hand baggage only fares you’ll be saving money. If you’re more of the person buying long haul or premium fares, you might be a bit worse off.
Here’s some basic numbers
- Fares under £500 – at 1% fee, you’ll be paying less than the current £5 fee.
- Fares at £500 – you’re paying the same fee
- Fares above £500 will be paying more, up to £20
In addition, Spain, Switzerland and Finland will also join the charge with fees capped at €25/CHF30. Other countries are unaffected… so far.
The fee will be introduced on 14th December 2016.
So, those looking at long haul and premium tickets will seeing their costs rise (unless they use a debit card).
Interestingly – or rather unsurprisingly – British Airways continues not to offer any waiver or discount for using co-branded credit cards (such as their American Express card)… which seems mind-boggling and an easy way to drive customers towards the card.
But then this is British Airways and International Airlines Group, who seem to enjoy chipping away at the passenger experience with a large blunt pick-axe.
This change has upsides and downsides depending how you travel. A win for the short-haul traveller and low spend and for those who go long haul… well – To Pay, To Fly.
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