Desperate Tiger ups credit card fee...

[Saab34]

From Today Tiger are upping their surcharge to $6 per sector if paid by Visa/Mastercard...so book a round trip and you need to cough up $12...Wanna take a family of 5..well thats $60 :shock:

Its getting a little bit out of control now, is it just me or is it a little ridiculous..

 

[Dave Noble]

From Today Tiger are upping their surcharge to $6 per sector if paid by Visa/Mastercard...so book a round trip and you need to cough up $12...Wanna take a family of 5..well thats $60

That is only applicable for Visa/Mastercard credit cards; Visa/Mastercard debit cards have no such fee

Dave

 

[odysseus]

That is only applicable for Visa/Mastercard credit cards; Visa/Mastercard debit cards have no such fee

Credit cards are still the majority of those cards.

I don't know what the average Tiger fare is, but they are often <$50 so that's about an eighth, or a 12.5% surcharge. Very steep for a credit card charge.

 

[Cabbage]

Shouldn't forget that the Qantas $7.70 fee is also a total ripoff

 

[bambbbam2]

That is only applicable for Visa/Mastercard credit cards; Visa/Mastercard debit cards have no such fee

Dave

I was under the impression that the 'merchant' could not tell the difference between a credit card and a debit card using the 'credit' option.

 

[one9]

I was under the impression that the 'merchant' could not tell the difference between a credit card and a debit card using the 'credit' option.

Most normal merchants would not have advanced terminals/software so they would not be able to tell at the time of the transaction. They would be able to tell later when they get their end of month bill as many merchants now have different merchant rates for debit cards (usually flat fee) and credits cards (percentage fee).

However it is possible for the merchant to tell at the time of the transaction. The easiest way is to use a BIN list. The first 6 digits of a credit card (Visa/Mastercard) represent the bank and type of card.
eg. CBA Platinum
eg. ANZ Debit
Most banks will supply BIN lists to larger merchants.

So the Tiger website code just needs to look at the first 6 digits of the credit card entered to determine if it is a debit or credit card.

 

[Dave Noble]

I was under the impression that the 'merchant' could not tell the difference between a credit card and a debit card using the 'credit' option.

Easily done and Tiger does so. They have no surcharge for mastercard or visa debit cards

Qantas offers mastercard debit with no surcharge for purchases within 7 days of travel

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

Credit cards are still the majority of those cards.

I don't know what the average Tiger fare is, but they are often <$50 so that's about an eighth, or a 12.5% surcharge. Very steep for a credit card charge.

Those with credit cards do tend to have bank accounts. The major banks do offer visa or mastercard debit cards on accounts so not that unlikely for people to have one these days

Dave

 

[serfty]

Shouldn't forget that the Qantas $7.70 fee is also a total ripoff

Rip off it may be, but at least it's per PAX per Booking, not per Segment per PAX.

e.g. On a 4 Segment itinerary, with Qantas it's $7.70 - with Tiger it's $24.

 

[jingles]

That is only applicable for Visa/Mastercard credit cards; Visa/Mastercard debit cards have no such fee

Dave

Thats ridiculous, both are run through the same merchant system and will be charged at the same merchant rate.

Credit cards are still the majority of those cards.

I don't know what the average Tiger fare is, but they are often <$50 so that's about an eighth, or a 12.5% surcharge. Very steep for a credit card charge.

People will look at Tiger as the cheap airline so proceed to book their cheap tickets, when they come to the payment they might simply ignore it and continue on with their purchase.
Its good for Tiger while people still think they are the cheapest airline all the time every time.

 

[oz_mark]

Thats ridiculous, both are run through the same merchant system and will be charged at the same merchant rate.

Incorrect. Typically a credit card is charged as a percentage of the transaction value. A debit card is typically a flat rate.

 

[jingles]

Incorrect. Typically a credit card is charged as a percentage of the transaction value. A debit card is typically a flat rate.

But if it is a visa debit card and the credit function are used it is processed as a credit card which attracts the same fee.

 

[Dave Noble]

But if it is a visa debit card and the credit function are used it is processed as a credit card which attracts the same fee.

As Oz_Mark said, no it doesnt. VI/MC processing fees are not uniform

Dave

 

[dajop]

Incorrect. Typically a credit card is charged as a percentage of the transaction value. A debit card is typically a flat rate.

So the flat rate transaction fee should apply to debit cards and credit card gets a % fee. Too hard to administer I guess.

I think most of us don't object to reasonable credit cards fees (for $100, $3 is probably Ok to cover merchant fees but $6 is not). Assuming TT has merchant fees of, say 2.5%, $6 more than covers fees on sectors up to $240. I'd hazard a guess that the majority of sectors sold on TT cost less than that.

 

[Dave Noble]

So the flat rate transaction fee should apply to debit cards and credit card gets a % fee. Too hard to administer I guess.

But Tiger and Qantas do administer it quite successfully

In the UK, all retailers manage it given the legal requirement for them to do so

Dave

 

[fortymilliondaggers]

Why is it only airlines/the travel industry charging credit card fees? If I use credit at the supermarket, it costs nothing more.

 

[odysseus]

Those with credit cards do tend to have bank accounts. The major banks do offer visa or mastercard debit cards on accounts so not that unlikely for people to have one these days

Just because something is offered doesn't meant that it is taken up. Having a bank account can be done quite readilly without being attached to a credit provider network.

 

[Dave Noble]

Just because something is offered doesn't meant that it is taken up. Having a bank account can be done quite readilly without being attached to a credit provider network.

The same can be said, even more so imo, for credit cards

cards are pretty standard items with a bank account ( which most ppl have ) whilst credit cards require specific separate application

Dave

 

[dajop]

But Tiger and Qantas do administer it quite successfully

Sorry, I meant too difficult to administer a % fee - to the customers buying airfares. I'd imagine the programming would be quite complex - they'd have to be a multiplication calculation involved. Might confuse the punters . Much simpler to keep it a flat surchare (CC's) or nothing (DC's).

 

[opusman]

Why is it only airlines/the travel industry charging credit card fees? If I use credit at the supermarket, it costs nothing more.

It's definitely not just airlines doing this; since the RBA opened the flood gates credit card surcharging has become the norm rather than the exception. It's really only the major retailers who DON'T have a surcharge, and it wouldn't surprise me if that changes in the future.