Originally Posted by abcedaria

The credit card surcharge came about due to the RBA deregulation of interchange fees. A company has the legal right to pass onto the consumer a fee to cover the administrative cost of accepting a credit card. This fee depends on what the issuing authority charges, with AMEX and Diners being a bit more greedy with what they charge the company.

Qantas makes the fee a flat rate for all credit cards, which is better than most. I believe if you have a real problem with this fee, you would complain to the ACCC. However, you would need to be able to prove that QF is passing on more than the administrative overhead. While $6.60 seems like a lot on a $89 fare, $6.60 on a $2500 is not quite so much, and considering the issuer charges the fee as a per centage, I think you'll find that overall QF is absorbing some of the cost.