Low-cost airline customers are losing money due to poor exchange rates applied when they book their flights, an exercise by The Sunday Times has shown.
Ryanair and Easyjet are among a number of airlines which display the prices of their flights from the UK to Malta in pound sterling.
On its website, Ryanair does not give customers the option of seeing the price in euros until they reach the final payment page.
Even then, the price using Ryanair’s fixed exchange rate only appears discretely next to the price in pound sterling, with the option to click on a link for more information.
It is only by clicking on this link that customers are informed they can opt out of accepting Ryanair’s guaranteed exchange rate and use their own card provider’s rate, which it warns “is subject to daily fluctuations”.
It also recommends “you do not untick the checkbox so that you receive our guaranteed exchange rate”.
Yesterday The Sunday Times found a Ryanair flight from Leeds Bradford to Malta next Sunday for £99.10.
After filling out the necessary details on the website, Ryanair’s fixed exchange rate of 1.2277 meant the price in euros was €121.67.
However, Visa’s exchange rate yesterday was 1.162930, while Mastercard’s was 1.159711.
Bank of Valletta charges a 1.25 per cent transaction fee oncard payments when the transaction currency is different to the billing currency, while HSBC Malta charges 1.75 per cent.
This meant if a BoV Visa debit card holder had opted not to accept the Ryanair rate yesterday, they would have been charged €116.69, saving around €5.
Easyjet allows customers to convert the price into the currency of their choosing using its fixed exchange rates, but this was also considerably worse for euros than those offered by Visa and Mastercard yesterday.
A one-way flight from Belfast to Malta next Sunday was converted from £285.99 to €347.98 by Easyjet.
However, this would have cost only €336.74 if the BoV Visa card rate was used, saving more than €11.
Maltese customers would have been wiser to pay in pounds and allow Visa or Mastercard to convert the transaction at their rates.
When contacted, a Ryanair spokesman said: “Most airlines, hotels, restaurants and retailers offer customers a guaranteed exchange rate service if they are using a ‘foreign’ payment method.
“Our guaranteed exchange rates, which are advised during the booking and can be declined, allow customers to protect their booking from exchange rate fluctuations.”
Easyjet was unavailable for comment yesterday.