‘RYANAIR CASH PASSPORT’ – FEES REVEALED

Next week sees the launch of the Ryanair Cash Passport, soon to be the only free payment method when booking their flights. We’ve got hold of the terms and conditions extra early to show you what’s in store for Ryanair customers after jumping through their latest hoop....

The Fees Revealed

The card unsurprisingly seems to be one of the most costly on the market. Fees include;

• For every transaction and withdrawal abroad you will be charged a 5.75% foreign transaction fee, where other prepaid cards charge typically 2.75% to as low as 1.4%.

• ATM charges abroad will cost £2 on top of the 5.75% fee where some other card providers have no additional charge at all.

• If the card is not used for over 6 months there will be a £2.50 inactivity charge per month levied going forwards.

• If this £2.50 charge cannot be taken due to lack of funds, there is a further £10 negative balance fee.

• Minimum load of £150, other cards have a minimum load of typically £100 to as low as just £50.

• £4 cash over the counter fee (for withdrawing money at banks or bureaux de change) again over the 5.75% charge if you do this abroad.

As well as the charges whilst you are abroad, you may be thinking you can use the card in the UK in which case you will again be looking at hefty charges including;

• A £2 UK ATM fee.

• A 50p charge for all transactions, other than Ryanair bookings, from April 2012.

Customer Savings

FairFX have revealed that over £2million^* in booking fees have been avoided by using their prepaid card since RyanAir started to accept prepaid MasterCards as a free form of payment in December 2009.

CEO of FairFX, Stephen Heath said “Previously Ryanair customers could choose a prepaid MasterCard that was competitive for purchases abroad and in the UK. Now they have to use what is one of the most expensive cards on the market with little other use than booking their flights with.”

Stephen Heath went on to say “It’s interesting reading the terms and conditions for this new ‘Ryanair Cash Passport’ and I think Ryanair customers are in for a nasty shock.”

^* Based on over 200,000 transactions using FairFX cards and assuming most are return flights.

Wednesday 28 September 2011, 11:21am

Tags: ryanair cash passport, ryanair charges, ryanair currency card, ryanair fees, ryanair prepaid mastercard, ryanair travel card