Qantas is changing the way it charges passengers for paying for flights with a credit card.
Instead of a flat fee of $7 per passenger per booking for domestic and trans-Tasman flights and $30 for international flights when paying with a credit card for tickets booked in Australia, the airline will move to a percentage of the cost of the fare.
Under the new system, from September 1 passengers will be charged 0.6 per cent of the fare for paying with a debit card or prepaid card and 1.3 per cent of the fare for credit and charge cards irrespective of whether the flights is for domestic, trans-Tasman or international travel.
The card payment fee would be a capped at $11 for domestic and trans-Tasman flights, and $70 for other international flights.
Qantas said the change was prompted by the recent change in how credit card surcharges were regulated from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
“In line with the RBA’s requirements, we will be changing our card payment fees on flight bookings from a fixed dollar fee to a percentage fee,” Qantas said in a note to travel agents.
“The majority of Qantas customers will pay the same or less in card payment fees than they do today, while some customers may pay more. Card payment fee caps will apply per ticket per card so customers will know the maximum amount.
“As always we’ll continue our focus on providing great value for money for you and all of our customers through competitive pricing and investment in new products, services and technology.”
Qantas noted it had a number of options that did not incur any fees, including paying by POLi or BPay.
