Qantas has announced the it will be changing the way it calculates its Credit Card Surcharge. From September 1, 2016 the fees will be calculated as a percentage of the ticket price.
This is the day that new regulations come into play regarding around the maximum surcharges that can be levied when making Credit Card payments.
What are the new charges?
Under the new system, Qantas will calculate surcharges based on the following chart:
| Booking made in Australia | Debit/prepaid cards | Credit/charge cards | Fee cap (per ticket per card in AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Australian Domestic
|
0.6%
|
1.3%
|
AUD$11.00
|
|
Australian Trans-Tasman
|
0.6%
|
1.3%
|
AUD$11.00
|
|
Australian International
|
0.6%
|
1.3%
|
AUD$70.00
|
The current Credit Card surcharge is based on a flat price calculation. The present charges are $7 per passenger per booking for booking domestic and Trans-Tasman travel with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club card. For other international flights, a credit card surcharge of $30 is added for the same group of cards.
In the case of Debit Cards, the current charge is $2.50 for domestic and trans-Tasman, with other international fares attracting a $10 fee.
Fee Free Options
Most of the fee free options will remain. The exception being the ability to pay fee free with a debit card within 7 days of travel will no longer be available. The fee free options will be:
- POLi online payment option
- BPay for payment made 7 days or more before the flight’s scheduled departure
- UATP cards issued by Qantas
- Cash or EFTPOS (Qantas airport locations)
If you use a debit card within 7 days of travel, you will now be paying a surcharge of 0.6%
Effect of the changes
With the change from a flat rate charge to a percentage based charge, there will be winners and losers. For lower priced tickets, the surcharge will decrease. For higher priced tickets, there will be a decrease in the surcharge.
For Domestic and Trans-Tasman tickets the cut-over between paying less and paying more occurs at $538. That is for tickets costing less than or equal to $538, you will pay less or the same in Credit Card fees. If the ticket is over $538, the Credit Card Surcharge will increase.
The equivalent cut-over price for International air fares is $2,308.
Generally speaking, the changes tend to favour those purchasing lower priced Economy fares. Those paying for fares in the premium cabin will generally face an increased surcharge.
