Airlines to be up front with debit card charges

Twelve airlines, including Ryanair and easyJet, have agreed to include debit card charges in headline prices rather than spring them on consumers at the end of the booking process.

The move comes after enforcement action by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which threatened court action against the airlines if they didn't comply.

The airlines included are Aer Lingus, BMI Baby, Eastern Airways, easyJet, Flybe, German Wings, Jet2, Lufthansa, Ryanair, Thomas Cook, Thomson (TUI) and Wizz Air.

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The OFT said people should not have to incur surcharges to use a debit card online as debit cards were the online equivalent of cash.

Clive Maxwell, the OFT's Chief Executive, said leaving surcharges until the end of the booking process made it difficult for consumers to shop around for the best deal.

"We made it clear from the start that we would use all of our enforcement powers, including court action if necessary, but are pleased to have reached agreement with the airlines before court proceedings were required," he said.

Credit card charges were not covered by the agreement as they could be more costly to precess, but it said the airlines had agreed to make these charges more transparent during the booking process.