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BA introduces credit card fee via TAs -but premium cabins exempt
Spotted this on a BA Travel Trade notification
Introduction of Payment fee From 01 March 2011, British Airways is introducing a payment fee structure in the UK for BA tickets, purchased with credit card or charge card through a travel agent. This will offer customers in the UK a consistent policy when purchasing tickets. As part of this change, a £4.50 payment fee will be charged for non-premium British Airways tickets purchased. This charge is currently in place for tickets purchased on ba.com, so this will bring the payment fee charges into line across both booking formats. The payment fee is applicable to any ticket issued on a BA 125 ticket validation where the form of payment is a credit or charge card and where the fare for the segment is an economy cabin fare; Debit Cards issued by Mastercard or Visa badged as “Visa Debit”, including Electron, or “Mastercard Debit” will be free of charge. The payment fee only applies to transactions made using British Airways’ card acceptance agreements (Merchant Agreements). The payment fee is applied by fare code. Notes on application 1. The payment fee applies to transactions made using British Airways’ card acceptance agreements (Merchant Agreements). 2. The payment fee does not apply to sectors with a premium fare designation. This means that travel wholly in premium cabins is exempt (First, Club World, Club Europe and World Traveller Plus). 3. Flights which combine premium designated fares and economy designated fares on the same ticket will incur the charge. 4. Certain domestic services on British Airways are sold using fare codes which start with J and C and where these codes are used the payment fee will not apply. 5. Flights which involve travel on an interline or codeshare journey with an eligible economy designated fare will incur the payment fee. 6. The charge applies to prime ticket issue only and not to any subsequent reissue or revalidation. 7. The payment fee is non-refundable. Payment Fee ratesGB £4.50 per ticket GDS Automation British Airways will file the Payment Fee with ATPCo. The GDS will pick up the filed feed and will show this optional charge in the GDS’ merchandising functionality. When an eligible itinerary with a chargeable card is ticketed, the GDS will automatically apply the Payment Fee to the transaction. For further details of your specific GDS functionality please contact your GDS Helpdesk. |
It's obviously not streamlining the system.
Previously: -TA booking = no fee -BA channelled booking = fee. Now: -TA booking with economy sector (except full flex UK Dom) = fee -TA booking solely in perm cabin (and full flex UK Dom) = no fee -BA channelled booking = fee So...it's not simple. But it is fair enough IMO |
Originally Posted by Shuttle-Bored
(Post 15373080)
Interesting that they apply it across the board on booking via ba.com, but only on WT/ET bookings via TAs :confused:
Originally Posted by BA Mar-ka-ching
This will offer customers in the UK a consistent policy when purchasing tickets.
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Now it is time for BA to scrap credit card fee on its own website for Y+, C and F fares.
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this could be good news for travel agents who see a marked increase in bookings by cash. Or, it could mean that fewer people use ba.com to book their tickets if they persist in charges per passenger as opposed to per booking. One of the reasons why I liked to book on expedia (or any other channel) so as to avoid the per passenger price.
Not only that but quite often fares were somewhat cheaper, including premium cabins, through that route too. Understandable that ba want to pass costs on but on a per passenger basis that may work against them in the end. |
This will offer customers in the UK a consistent policy when purchasing tickets. |
Maybe this could be a good thing...
Most TAs put a percentage levy on CC transactions of around 2%. Does this mean that they have to impose a flat fee now instead?
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Originally Posted by G-AVFC
(Post 15373240)
One of the reasons why I liked to book on expedia (or any other channel) so as to avoid the per passenger price.
Dummy booking examples for the same flights (per passenger):
With payment by debit card, expedia.co.uk is £4.47 more expensive for this itinerary. Expedia do not (currently) charge a card fee - will this change with the 'enhancement'? - while BA charge £4.50, so ba.com is just £0.03 more expensive for this itinerary if paid for with a credit card. |
If BA are so concerned about providing passengers consistency with ba.com when booking through a travel agent, can we assume they'll now be happy to take paid and MFU on TA bookings? THAT would be a consistent experience!
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and what about taking the opportunity to scrap the charge when using their own BA Amex card?
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Originally Posted by chipster
(Post 15375267)
and what about taking the opportunity to scrap the charge when using their own BA Amex card?
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[QUOTE=Roger;15373787]As always, YMMV, but IME Expedia can work out more expensive for the same flights because they charge a handling fee that is not shown separately.
Dummy booking examples for the same flights (per passenger):
You're quite right Roger and the best of best advice is to always check and re-check if you want the best deal. If you want to use a credit card then it still may be cheaper with Expedia unless they also pass on a per passenger fee. However, I have found on so many occasions that the base fare itself is cheaper than ba.com and so, even with the handling fee, total ROI is better. :) |
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