Consumers 'paying £265,000 a day' in airline card fees

Tuesday, 06 September 2011 11:47

Air travellers are still paying more than £265,000 a day in debit card charges to airlines, despite a ruling by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that they should be banned, a consumer group has revealed.

Which? has urged the government to make a "simple amendment" to current legislation to outlaw this practice.

In March, the organisation submitted a super-complaint to the OFT, asking it to investigate excessive credit and debit card surcharges when bookings are made online.

The regulator responded in June and told all airlines to make charges clearer in their booking systems and suggested a ban on all debit card surcharges by airlines.

However, Which? says the government is yet to take action and consumers are still being hit by "excessive" fees.

Since June 28th, consumers have collectively paid around £18 million in airline debit card surcharges, around £265,000 a day.

"Unbelievably, two airlines - Swiss and Lufthansa - have announced plans to start charging customers for using debit and credit cards since the OFT response," it added.

Richard Lloyd, executive director at Which?, said: "With most airlines yet to drop these card surcharges and some introducing new fees, it's time for the government to put a stop to this. A minor change to the law is all it would take to ban the charges on debit cards that you only find out about at the end of a lengthy on-line booking process."

A Treasury spokesman stated: "The government is committed to working with the OFT to stop retailers, including airlines, imposing hidden surcharges on customers who pay by card. We are considering the OFT's recommendations and will respond in due course."

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