Budget Travel - Easyjet ends cc fees, starts admin fee

Easyjet have just changed their fee structure (presumably to comply with new EU legislation that credit and debit card fees must be 'fair).

Previously there was a £8.00* fee (per booking) to pay by any card other than a Visa Electron, plus an extra 2.5% for credit cards.

No there are 'no card charges' but there's a £9.00 'admin fee', plus 2.5% for credit cards.

The difference is subtle, but it means that one can no longer circumvent the card fee by using Electron.

It also means that there is no way to achieve the headline prices quoted on the website, or even those on the first page of the booking process. (The first page notes that £9 'is included in the final price', whereas 'will be added' is more honest.) I think they are on shaky ground here.

Also note that the £9 admin fee is per booking. It doesn't matter if that's for one person on a £20 one-way domestic flight, or a family of 6 spending £500pp on a return to the other end of the continent.

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* It was £8 a few months ago. It may have increased to £9 recently, so I don't know if today's change includes a price rise.

And is anyone surprised? No...

As I understood it, when there was the previous system, and card fees were charged, an alternative had to be available, like Visa Electron was.

With the new changes, since it is an admin fee and not a payment related fee, does this mean there does not have to be any way to avoid it?

If so, then was this not a bit of a shot in the foot?

It also means that there is no way to achieve the headline prices quoted on the website, or even those on the first page of the booking process. (The first page notes that £9 'is included in the final price', whereas 'will be added' is more honest.) I think they are on shaky ground here.They may adopt the Ryanair route and offer admin fee "free" tickets occasionally. I do hope that someone does challenge them and Ryanair on this though even if they do lose it won't affect the final ticket price only the headline price.

Also note that the £9 admin fee is per booking. It doesn't matter if that's for one person on a £20 one-way domestic flight, or a family of 6 spending £500pp on a return to the other end of the continent. Better than charging a hefty fee per person per flight like Ryanair but for most people booking it means paying an extra £1 per booking as they used CCs in the past. It's only Electron Card users who are losing out significantly.

BTW the CC fee is 2.5% or £4.95 whichever is greater.

@Syme They're meant to include *all* compulsory charges in the headline rate. Doesn't matter whether it's a payment fee or something else. The card charges row is a separate, newer piece of legislation. I think they are trying to get around it by arguing that it appears on the first booking page (albeit only after you have selected a flight). Flybe did the same, I think.

@alanR Better, maybe. Certainly I wouldn't want a hefty per person fee. And it's up to U2 to decide which travellers they want. (Maybe a single passenger on a domestic is not very lucrative - less likely to have ancillary spend.) But £9 on a £20 flight is a significant disincentive, and no doubt £10 is round the corner.

To be honest, the price is the price is the price. It's just that I've always thought of U2 as being fairly reasonable, agreeable airline. Sneaky hoop-jumping efforts like this just leave a sour taste.

But £9 on a £20 flight is a significant disincentive, and no doubt £10 is round the corner.
Unless you used an Electron Card you are paying £1 more than you would have paid yesterday. Would you be happier if they advertised it as a £29 fare?

Well, looks like I booked just in time (yesterday).

But... I don't think they'll be able to get away with adding an admin charge at the end. They got away with it with card charges because they were offering Electron as a free option. If they're no longer offering that then the admin charge has to be included in the headline price.

I know Easyjet and Flybe both used to have booking fees, but it didn't bother me much because:

the Electron card loophole,
I have an Electron card. :cool:

A tad selfish, but I think there are many people in the same boat as me.

Would you be happier if they advertised it as a £29 fare?Yes, that's the whole point of the legislation mentioned. Fees added on top of the advertised fare make it much harder for customers to compare options and find the cheapest one.

Unless you used an Electron Card you are paying £1 more than you would have paid yesterday. Would you be happier if they advertised it as a £29 fare?

Well, I'd be happier if the fares remained as they were and they totted up all the £9's they were expecting to earn, and apportioned them more evenly than a flat fee.

And yes, I'd much rather see a £29 fare and know that there were no extras than have to play detective every time I book a flight.

I have an Electron card that my bank tacks on to my regular Visa card just for this purpose. I just got it renewed days ago, and it cost me an extra fee to do that. EasyJet are real stinkers to do this without notice!!!!!!!

As a resident of France, I fly on easyjet regularly. I was able to book with my "Carte Bleue" (my normal, everyday bank card) without paying an additional fee. Now, I'll be shelling out an extra €11 every time I city break. About a 20% increase on my average airfare.

First world problems I suppose... but still.

Unless you used an Electron Card you are paying £1 more than you would have paid yesterday. Would you be happier if they advertised it as a £29 fare?

Yes, considering that is what it is.

I want to go from A to B.

The legacy carriers want anywhere from $135 to $246 ai for the trip.

EasyJet gets me there for $59 plus some fees.

Do I really care what they call them as long as I find them out before I click on "confirm booking"?

I know we Ft'ers are always looking for ways to shave the price, but at the end of the day we get where we want to go and the price is reasonable.

Just one man's opinion.

I want to go from A to B.

The legacy carriers want anywhere from $135 to $246 ai for the trip.

EasyJet gets me there for $59 plus some fees.

Do I really care what they call them as long as I find them out before I click on "confirm booking"?

I know we Ft'ers are always looking for ways to shave the price, but at the end of the day we get where we want to go and the price is reasonable.

Just one man's opinion.Well, I guess it depends on the price you put on honesty in commercial dealings. In effect, what we are talking about is what would be called in US terminology 'bait and switch'.

Some people must be misled by headline prices otherwise there would be absolutely no point in LCCs trying to outwit the legislator in finding ways around price transparency requirements.

Of course, everybody can have their opinion and nobody is required to object to people being misled and feel uncomfortable about airlines being allowed to actively seek to deceive people.

Of course, everybody can have their opinion and nobody is required to object to people being misled and feel uncomfortable about airlines being allowed to actively seek to deceive people.Oh, come on.

If someone is so inclined to believe that all advertising is honest and straightforward, that person is either well below puberty or has been living in a cave.

The airlines are desperately trying to attract customers so they use 'teasers' to get you interested. Once you go through the process a couple of times, you quickly learn that you don't find out the final price until just before you agree to it. Not much different from buying a house, a car, a refrigerator, or pretty much anything else.

In no event do you sign a blank check.

The only exception, to which I do object, is these bogus baggage fees which used to be very difficult to find, especially if you were so green you weren't aware that such things existed. Now they have to tell you in a fairly obvious manner.

For the person making the first (and maybe the last) air trip of their lives, the process can be quite disconcerting. But once you've done it a few times, there's no mystery involved.

Are airlines sleazier than many other businesses? Probably. They're also in a business that's really good at losing money unless they scramble hard, so welcome to price-driven capitalism.

As I said, it is entirely up to you to feel that it is a waste of time for a legislator to try to introduce more transparency and honesty in advertising on the ground that anybody who believes that the adverstised price is the genuine price is a mug who should know better.

I have, again, to ask: if it really makes no difference because everybody knows the score, then why do airlines do it?

Well, I priced an Easyjet flight today and saw they charge me both the admin fee and credit card booking fee

Correct.

The credit card surcharge is still there - the same as it always was.

If you had paid by debit card, there wold have been just the admin fee.

Would you be happier if they advertised it as a £29 fare?

Yes, absolutely.

As I said, it is entirely up to you to feel that it is a waste of time for a legislator to try to introduce more transparency and honesty in advertising on the ground that anybody who believes that the adverstised price is the genuine price is a mug who should know better.

Why are you saying that? There are airlines that actually offer fare as advertised, sometimes you can have it even a little cheaper. Been there, done that, oftentimes.

Most "western" airlines don't offer cash payments in order to save tons of money (for running offices people can walk into and pay). OK - but then they shouldn't charge costumers because the airline wants to save money.

If the airline doesn't like credit card fees, they should get a better deal or stop accepting credit cards. It is that easy.