Ryanair scraps fee waiver for Visa Electron

The airline that has been made famous for hidden charges this past year has just added another to its customers, but this time warned them about it. Ryanair currently charge £5 for every flight as a booking fee for passengers that pay using normal debit and credit cards. The only way around this charge has been for passengers to book with a Visa Electron card, which the carrier did not charge a fee for.

However, from the 1st January, the airline said that they will now charge passengers who use Visa Electron the same fee as all other card transactions. The only way from 2010 to book a flight without having to pay the booking fee will be to use a prepaid Mastercard. This will leave a few disgruntled customers who specifically went out and obtained and electron card to save them money.

Ryanair has said that they are scrapping the fee waiver for Electron as UK banks are starting to phase out the card. Abbey announced last week that they will scrap the card next year, but other like HBOS said they will continue running with Electron card.

The fee, which to many is over the top, is said to be spent on the airline’s website in keeping up to date with all the latest technology and information. On of the major grumbles about the booking fee for cards is that if you are to book multiple seats in one transaction it is still £5 extra per seat and flight booked. A family of four heading off for a cheap Spanish holiday has already forked out a day’s spending money in booking fees before even getting on the plane.