It’s long been a bone of contention with travellers – the credit card surcharges that are applied to transactions paid for by a credit card. Fortunately, times are changing, and there are now new restrictions on how much can be levied as a surcharge.
The enabling legislation was passed by the government in February with the first phase of the changes coming into effect on September 1. The changes apply to large merchants, and outlaw excessive payment surcharges, While the previous surcharge restrictions prevented this in principle, the new laws have handed the ACCC enforcement powers in ensuring that the credit card surcharges are not excessive.
The airlines were long singled out as some of the worst offenders. Given that, it was inevitable that their surcharges were going to come under scrutiny. It is no surprise, then, that they have been among the first to adjust their surcharges.
Qantas announced their changes first, with the other airlines later following. In the following sections, the new credit card surcharges that apply will be described.
(Updated)
Qantas
Qantas was the first to announce its new surcharges. The new surcharges are outlines below:
| Booking made in Australia | Debit/prepaid cards | Credit/charge cards | Paypal | Fee cap (per ticket per card in AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Australian Domestic
|
0.36%
|
1.03%
|
0.69% |
AUD$22.00
|
|
Australian Trans-Tasman
|
0.36%
|
1.03%
|
0.69% |
AUD$22.00
|
|
Australian International
|
0.36%
|
1.03%
|
0.69% |
AUD$120.00
|
Virgin Australia
Virgin was the next to announce its surcharges, and managed to copy the Qantas charges.,
| Payments made in AUD | Debit card | Credit card | Fee Cap (per passenger) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 0.41% of the total payment amount | 1.024% of total payment amount | AUD11 |
| International | 0.41% of total payment amount | 1.024% of total payment amount | AUD70 |
Jetstar
Jetstar’s booking feess are as follows
| Booking made in Australia (AUD) | POLi, Jetstar MasterCard, Jetstar Platinum MasterCard, Jetstar voucher | Debit or Prepaid Card – MasterCard, Visa | PayPal | Credit or charge card – American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club, UATP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jetstar Airways (JQ) | Fee free | 0.21% Mastercard
0.44% Visa |
0.75% | 1.0% |
| Jetstar Asia (3K) | Fee free | AUD $8.50 per passenger, per flight | ||
TigerAir
The new TigerAir credit card fees are as follows
| card type | price |
|---|---|
| MasterCard Credit | 0.98% of the total booking value |
| Debit MasterCard* | 0.36% of the total booking value |
| Visa Credit | 1.12% of the total booking value |
| Visa Debit | 0.57% of the total booking value |
