Comments on: Is there a backlash against credit cards brewing among U.S. airlines?

By: US Airways starts surcharging on its own website » Upgrade: Travel Better

US Airways starts surcharging on its own website » Upgrade: Travel Better — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 05:23:38 +0000

[…] credit card networks, so they can introduce that sort of upcharge here. The first moves were made this summer. It’s coming, just wait. But I […]

By: Andre

Andre — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:43:59 +0000

When last behind the check-in counter for an airline, cash ticket purchases were one of the criteria for “secondary screening” of said passenger… wonder how this would come into play for screening?

By: tseliot

tseliot — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:59:46 +0000

The AA seats do look very high tech. But I’d have to try them out in person.

By: tseliot

tseliot — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:58:24 +0000

Those are great points. I never thought of chargebacks either. But those fees that credit cards charge to merchants apply to everyone. That’s why you see smaller mom and pop grocery stores and small restaurants have a minimum purchase amount to use a credit card. Surely, the airlines can spare a little money on a ticket that costs hundreds.

By: Brandon Watts

Brandon Watts — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:59:01 +0000

It’s no longer going to be convenient to use credit cards if the fees keep going up and are passed on to the consumers.

Brandon Watts
Criteo Evangelist

By: Triston

Triston — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:14:05 +0000

This has everything to do with merchant fees, known as interchange fees. Just like everything else, these fees also impact the bottom lines of grocery stores, gas stations, florists and retailers among others. All of these businesses have already passed the fees onto consumers but Visa and Mastercard continue to raise the fees so expect prices to continue to rise as well.

I’m working with UnfairCreditCardFees.com and we’re working with Congress to get the card issuers to disclose more and lower the fees.

By: Mark Ashley

Mark Ashley — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:07:23 +0000

True, there is some question as to whether or not this would violate a retailer’s agreement with the credit card firms, but there are other examples out there of places that charge an add-on fee for using credit. When I renewed my license plates/registration in Illinois, for example, the state of Illinois wanted $3 or so for the “convenience” of using credit.

By: sparky

sparky — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:21:40 +0000

Ryanair might be able to charge an extra fee in Europe, but aren’t vendors prevented from doing this in the states as a result of their agreements with the credit card companies. I think I saw something on the Consumerist to this effect.

By: Mark Ashley

Mark Ashley — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:01:22 +0000

Ooh, I hadn’t thought about chargebacks. Though recouping 1 to 2% of all airline ticket sales is a pretty big reason to try to avoid credit card fees, too, don’t you think?

My question, though, is how prevalent such chargebacks actually are. I had not heard before that you could chargeback a ticket even if you “violated” the rules of the contract of carriage. Have you (or has anyone else) had experience charging back a non-refundable ticket if unable to get onboard a flight paid for with a credit card?

By: ShortWoman

ShortWoman — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:45:49 +0000

Yep, this has almost nothing to do with credit card fees and everything to do with avoiding chargebacks. Regardless of what the back of the ticket says, if you aren’t on that flight you can contest the charge! Neither Visa nor MasterCharge give a flip that your ticket is “non-refundable”; their question will be “did you render the promised service to the cardholder or not?” The End. And in this day and age of being removed from a plane for looking at a flight attendant cross-eyed, that’s a big deal.