prgboy

Hello to all:
Yesterday, I was booking a ticket with Ryanair but just before confirming the payment, I noticed that the price jumped a little. Only by going back to my basket, I discovered that RyanAir added 2,35 % fee for using my AMEX credit card. The same when I wanted to use an American MasterCard. When using my European Mastercard, there was no extra fee.

Moreover, I noticed that I cannot use PayPal with RyanAir if I want to pay with AMEX.

Perhaps there were recent changes in regards to charging fees when using a payment card - does anybody know where there is a comprehensive list of fees or rules to know when the fees are charged and when they are not? I could not find such information on RyanAir web site. (Only very vague general information).

I could pay with an American credit Mastercard a couple of months ago without any fees. I find it unfair that RyanAir sneaks an extra fee without telling you and hopes you’ll not notice… Thank you.

SK AAR

You know there is a separate FR forum?

craigthemif

lmao This is Ryanair. You play their game or you book with a different airline.

IIRC Ryanair is only required to offer 1 payment method that has no fees.

It should be fairly well-known that AMEX charges higher fees than other banks/cards, and that European interchange fees (on personal cards) are capped while American fees aren't. So, yeah, Ryanair is going to pass through whatever charges they are legally allowed to. All that matters is that you are offered an option that doesn't include such fees, not whether you can use your preferred card at no extra cost.

irishguy28

You're lucky you weren't charged a fee (and perhaps you were, but didn't notice). Cards issued outside the EU, and all corporate credit/charge cards, can have a much higher fee charged when used to make payments online with EU vendors.

If you ever venture down under, you might want to forego your Amex. You'll see a sign at every POS showing the additional fee required for any and all transactions involving any type of card - with AMEX always the most expensive.

prgboy

I understand that AMEX is usually more expensive when it comes to the fees. Still, I just booked tickets with KLM and there it does not make any difference which card I use.

I always weight which card to use in order to get my benefits. And while European cards offer no or nearly any benefits, I do receive good benefits with American-issued cards.

Oh well, one has to be careful... I just thought that Ryanair did not do this before and just wanted to ask if that was true or I was just neglecting to notice. Thanks!

UKtravelbear

KLM is a differemt company so can do what it likes as long as it complies with EU rules for EU issued cards.

SK AAR

Well, as you have found out those AMEX benefits come at a cost.

prgboy

Yes, yes, I take all your remarks about my choices. I am just a little surprised with the incoherency of these fees:
The ticket I was questioning first was Ryanair CPH-PRG. Card processing fee of 2,35 % was added.

Last night I purchased BUD-PRG also with Ryanair and paid with the same AMEX card. Surprise, surprise, no added card processing fee!

So, I still do not understand the pattern.

Im a new user

There are laws regulating card fees. It's possible that CPH-PRG was sold in Denmark and that BUD-PRG was sold in Hungary and it's possible that Danish law differs from Hungarian law.

In Denmark, a card is exempted from card fees if it satisfies all of these requirements:

• The card must have been issued in the EU or the EEA. Maybe Swiss cards are fine too as some EU directives and regulations on money markets also have been implemented by Switzerland, not sure. Non-EU/EEA/CH cards, such as US cards, may be subject to card fees.
• The card must be a personal card. Corporate cards may be subject to fees.
• The card network must have the concept of an interchange fee. This means that there is a bank which issued your card, a bank which the merchant uses and a network between the two banks. It's the concept used by Visa and Mastercard. As you noticed, AMEX is designed differently and thus may attract fees.

The EU put a cap on interchange fees and won't permit card fees in situations where the fees are capped. As I understand it, Denmark allows merchants to charge a fee in all situations where the card fees aren't capped, but Hungary might further restrict this.