[AMcWhirter]

As MarcusUK notes above, we forget that some of the European carriers impose booking fees for tickets bought in their home countries.

Marcus provides the example of a Euro 10 fee levied by KLM. But I believe that the charges levied by Swiss must easily be the highest.

How about a fee of Sfr 90 (which equates to £63) to book a long-haul Swiss ticket over the phone or at a Swiss ticket office.

Or how about a fee of Sfr 30 (in most cases) which is GBP21 to book a ticket online !

http://www.swiss.com/countries/CH/en/local_content/Pages/SWISS_Service_Fee.aspx

[MarcusUK]

Also, some of the large.com uk booking agents charge a % of the fare, for the card used.
I also have seen Amex UK, charging me £43 foreign currency conversion charge, as well as a commission for a Sofitel booking in Thailand on the Accor site costing £1,350.

If this were a flight booking, it would mean 2 charges, that your own card also levy, with not very favourable exchange rates! Then u can add on the agent or Airline charges!

It is quite a game to avoid some of these now, but it can be done by paying in £’s, and using debit cards wherever possible, certainly for lower fares or short stays for travel.

The growth of some uk cash back sights help a little, but mostly decent commission is paid on hotels, rather than flights, and waitng months and chasing, to have these honoured.

But that still leaves us with the question, are KLM or BA operating in breach of the law, or regulations now, regardless of the fare cost? Does it cost more for a £100 or a £1,000 card transaction to process?

The card companies and banks, are aready taking commission on our statements as well…

[AMcWhirter]

Can the credit card charges be legally enforced ? What happens if it’s a foreign airline or company involved with a non-UK or non-EU website ?

I am not a legal expert on this but, at the end of this Guardian piece, the executive director of Which is quoted as saying:

“For it to be effective, there must be a tough enforcement regime and companies must play fair and not pass costs on to customers in other ways. … we want people to tell us about surcharges they think are excessive.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/apr/06/excessive-credit-card-surcharges-outlawed

[Author]

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