Qantas to change credit card surcharge from flat fee to percentage

[RooFlyer]

FWIW, this comment was in an article in the Oz:

[Qantas'] decision to charge 0.6 per cent for debit cards [and 1.3% for credit cards] comes after the ACCC’s Chairman Rod Sims said debit card surcharges should be no more than “around half a per cent”, while he has previously suggested credit card fees should be in the 1 to 1.5 per cent range.

 

[Mattg]

I wonder if $119 fares will increase to, say, $125. Sounds like a nice round number.

Fares have already been creeping up lately by these sort of amounts...

 

[Jamesaurus]

Haven't seen any info on paypal... ?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Haven't seen any info on paypal... ?

Paypal is too bleeding edge tech for Qantas.
Give it another 15 years ;-)

 

[marki]

I'd guess it's much more likely that the banks charge their merchants a fee to cover fraud. Banks pay each other the interchange fee, and they charge their own merchants a card facility fee on top of the interchange fee. Therefore the interchange fee doesn't reflect the cost to the merchant of accepting cards.

Having said all that, why can't I pay Qantas with cold hard cash?

You can at the airport! They will take cold hard cash at the ticket counter.!

 

[Limewood]

So Qantas not happy wth current profits

 

[Haplo]

It is quite good for people that flies economy internationally. For example HK ex Sydney is $800 when a sale is on. Under the new payment structure the credit card surcharge will be $10 instead of the current $30.

Losers are mainly corporate as a flat fee structure is better than percentage base on business class fares.

 

[medhead]

Cash handling - offices, staff wages, security costs even more

Precisely! It costs them more to take cash. So why am I paying a surcharge to save them money?

 

[marki]

Precisely! It costs them more to take cash. So why am I paying a surcharge to save them money?

Because they can and no amount of moaning will change that either!

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Looks like I will take my paid J and F bookings through an OTA instead. No more direct QF website sales for those big ticket items.

 

[marki]

OTA is that an On Line Travel Agent?

 

[anat0l]

OTA is that an On Line Travel Agent?

Yes indeed.

 

[Quickstatus]

Precisely! It costs them more to take cash. So why am I paying a surcharge to save them money?

Correct, we decided to get a merchant cc account so we can accept CC because the cost of cash handling, safety of staff holding cash, cost to customers making cash/cheque payments in $ and time and benefits of improved on time payments outweigh the cost of card acceptance.

I believe CC surcharges should only be valid at the physical storefront. Online CC payments should be free of survharge because his cost is lower than using "legal tender" cash

 

[KVK]

Looks like I will take my paid J and F bookings through an OTA instead. No more direct QF website sales for those big ticket items.

I note Bestjet have a credit card charge of 1.9% for Visa and MC and 3.5% for Amex. Can you tell me which OTA you use which does not charge the surcharge? Thanks

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Looks like I will take my paid J and F bookings through an OTA instead. No more direct QF website sales for those big ticket items.

i suppose QF have crunched the numbers. The $70 cap for first and business class compared to the potential increase in revenue they will get from economy pax now booking on line.

 

[anat0l]

I note Bestjet have a credit card charge of 1.9% for Visa and MC and 3.5% for Amex. Can you tell me which OTA you use which does not charge the surcharge? Thanks

There are many OTAs have no credit card surcharge, although in some cases their prices as advertised have included the credit card surcharge as passed on by the carrier. For example, you might find the fare as $700 on Qantas, but then go to an OTA and find that the fare is $730 with no credit card surcharge, when in fact it has been simply passed on (and in some ways, disadvantages those who were going to use another form of payment that may not have attracted the surcharge in the first place).

Other OTAs are slightly more transparent about this. For example, Expedia (if I recall correctly) actually tells you that the carrier is imposing the credit card surcharge and it is being passed on.

Some OTAs have no credit card surcharge for Visa and MC whilst Amex and Diners are surcharged.

Some OTAs you can "escape" the surcharge by buying the ticket from another country, but then you need to weigh up whether the currency spread and possible conversion fees makes it worth it.

For some odd reasons, some OTAs can't reproduce some fares, i.e. the best ones you need to buy but just without the credit card surcharge. That's annoying.

Bestjet certainly has the credit card surcharge as you say; it's a bit annoying when searching in Skyscanner as Bestjet comes up as the headline fare.

If you are on good terms with a TA (a human one), sometimes if they beat fares they will even accept beating or matching a fare with no credit card surcharges, even if the price match / beat will not be on the same terms and you still pay with a credit card.

i suppose QF have crunched the numbers. The $70 cap for first and business class compared to the potential increase in revenue they will get from economy pax now booking on line.

Most of the J and F flyers who will avoid booking with Qantas are most likely those annoyed out of principle than the actual imposition on cost, i.e. members of AFF. That is, by the time you're spending at least $2300 on a ticket, what is another $70?

One good thing is that Classic Awards attract no credit card surcharges.

 

[basso]

I believe CC surcharges should only be valid at the physical storefront. Online CC payments should be free of survharge because his cost is lower than using "legal tender" cash

Cash aside, Qantas do offer fee free options when paying online. BPay and Poli are two. These would be cheaper for Qantas than paying by credit card

 

[medhead]

Because they can and no amount of moaning will change that either!

You misunderstand. I'm not moaning. I simply want to pay Qantas with cold hard cash whenever I book an airfare. It's legal tender, I have the legal right to present cash for purchases in Australia. Then we have the Gandhi passive resistance aspect of cost them more to not take a CC.

 

[Foreigner]

I won't sweat over these charges. They're deductible with business-related travel. For private travel there are so many other ways I can easily balance out the charges by saving In other areas like accommodation, meals, drinks, etc.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I won't sweat over these charges. They're deductible with business-related travel. For private travel there are so many other ways I can easily balance out the charges by saving In other areas like accommodation, meals, drinks, etc.

This is the attitude which keeps surcharges alive and well Sure it's not much extra and you'll find almost everyone here agrees - including myself.

However, by not disengaging with the taxed-channel you are effectively supporting the stats which prove it's an accepted practise.

QF are likely in a precarious position where they can't build in the cost into select booking classes, only charge non-QF earning credit cards the fee, or non-status members etc because of the highly restrictive laws in Australia. Which makes it a case of charge or not charge additional fees related to payment. What Qantas could do however - is help members offset the fee through genuinely value-added services. "Not a member of QFF? Join now (check this box) and we'll give you a $10 flight credit instantly" or "Want $25 instantly off your flight? Check this box and we'll apply for a xx_ on your behalf".

There are no shortage of highly personalised offers which could be displayed given the circumstances where the user is making the flight booking.
This article I published a while back highlights additional opportunities QF could cash in on: http://bit.ly/1rg4F28

Their competitors are doing it and making a fortune, yet Qantas is obsessed with card additional fees which degrade the product experience.