German court ruling: an end to credit-card fees?

Credit-card handling charges are one of those annoying fees that are hard to avoid. They are slapped on right at the end of the booking process, increasing the final cost of your tickets by a couple of quid. 

Ryanair charges £5 per flight whether flights are booked online, via a call centre or at an airport. EasyJet levies a £2.95 booking fee, Flybe's charge is £2 per one-way journey, but rather confusingly lists a minimum fee of £3.50. Aer Lingus charges a £4 handling fee and British Airways charges a hefty £4.50 per ticket.

Now, however, there may just be a chance that these fees will be challenged. Ryanair recently lost a court case in Germany over the "handling charges" it levies for booking online.

The Federation of German Consumer Organisations brought a complaint against the airline for its €8 (about £7) charge per person per return flight for paying by credit or debit card.

The Superior Court of Justice in Berlin cited a European Union directive, which states that the charge is "inadmissible" unless Ryanair offers a charge-free method of payment too.

The airline said that passengers can pay with a Visa Electron card and incur no charges. However, a minority of travellers have these type of debit cards. In 2008, a Ryanair spokesman said that about 20 per cent of its customers used a Visa Electron card.

The ruling may spark legal action in other countries. Kirsten Huppe, a legal policy officer at the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, quoted by the Daily Telegraph, said it was "a sign for other courts that the issue should be reconsidered".

© Cheapflights Ltd

Comments

[Malcolm]

I hope these fees are abolished - not only for air tickets but for all transactions. They are totally unjustifiable.