05/07/2012

OFT Gets Agreement From 12 Airlines To Scrap Debit Card Fees

The Office of Fair Trading has announced that twelve airlines, including easyJet and Ryanair, have agreed to no longer spring last-minute fees on customers paying by debit card.

The carriers have agreed to include debit card surcharges in the headline ticket price rather than surprise consumers at the end of the booking process.

There is also an agreement to make surcharges for credit cards clearer and easier to find during the booking process, the OFT added.

Following an OFT consumer law investigation Aer Lingus, BMI Baby, Eastern Airways, easyJet, Flybe, German Wings, Jet2, Lufthansa, Ryanair, Thomas Cook, Thomson (TUI) and Wizz Air have agreed to change their practices.

Clive Maxwell, the OFT's chief executive, said: "It is important that the cost presented when they search for a flight is realistic and that they are not surprised by extra charges."

The move will bring forward legislation to ban excessive debit and credit card surcharges, which cost airline passengers £300m a year.

The OFT said debit cards should not incur a surcharge online as they are the "online equivalent of cash" and so headline prices should be the price people pay.

(H)


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