British Airways Confirms That It’s Scrapping Credit Card Surcharges

Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission which helps contribute to the running of the site – I’m very grateful to anyone who uses these links but their use is entirely optional. The compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site and does not impact reviews that are published.

From 13 January 2018 an EU regulation comes in to force which makes it illegal for entities to charge fees for processing payments from Visa or Mastercard credit cards. On top of this, the UK government has brought in extra legislation to ensure that all other forms of payment are covered by the no-fee rule too so that covers Amex cards as well.

British Airways hasn’t charged fees for processing credit card payments from a host of countries (including the US and most of Europe) for some time but those paying with UK credit cards have not been exempt from this rip-off…until now.

British Airways has now confirmed that as of 10 January 2018 there will be no surcharges when a customer pays by debit card, consumer credit card or most other forms of electronic payment. Corporate credit cards will still be liable to a 1% surcharge.

Here’s a handy table BA has provided to explain the changes:

Bottom Line

The 1% surcharge may have been capped at £20 (~$27) but this could still be a substantial saving for families.

Credit cards often offer considerably more protection than debit cards (in the form of various insurances) so, historically, travelers in the UK and Finland have had to pay extra (the surcharges) if they want to make the most of those protections – not any more.

Also this now means that UK and Finland based travelers can use their consumer credit cards to earn miles, avios or points without incurring any extra fees. About time too!