Frank, yes, paying with a gift card -- or coupon -- still subjects you to the ridiculous fee. If your "booking credit card" is in another country, they will force you to accept their 3-percent mark-up on the property.
Today, I wrote the European Commission about this scam. I believe there may be an opportunity for the Commission to punish Airbnb for this ridiculous charge, because it means some Europeans -- those living outside the eurozone and paying for a property in the eurozone, for example -- will be charged a different price for the same product, based on country of residence.
Given the increasingly problematic relationship with the USA, and the Commission's past regularly actions against Google, I think if enough of us complain to the EU, we might see some action against Airbnb.
You can contact the Commission here:
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/cont...uments_en.html