Fee for paying with Credit card?

[mrsgoggins]

Just curious. I booked a Princess cruise today and was reminded that they impose a 1.5% fee for paying with credit card. This is in the U.K.

 

Is this the same in other countries?

 

RCCL and Celebrity do not have this policy here by the way.

 

Thanks.

[skynight]

Not in the U.S., no additional fees.

[mrsgoggins]

Thank you. That's what I expected.

 

This policy deprives me of my credit card air miles ;)

[ssawjo]

On my recently completed cruise on the Sun out of Sydney, Princess did charge 1.5% fee for using a credit card. So, they do it also in Australia and, I assume, New Zealand cruises.

[mrsgoggins]

Thank you. I may ask them (via social media) why they do this. And I know the answer is because they can :D

[Aus Traveller]

Thank you. I may ask them (via social media) why they do this. And I know the answer is because they can :D

I think there are two reasons they do it -

 

1. The credit card company charges them a fee, probably the same fee they pass on

2. And they will charge this fee if the law in the country where the transaction occurs, allows it.

[luv2travel06]

Thank you. I may ask them (via social media) why they do this. And I know the answer is because they can :D

 

 

Offsets foreign currency conversion fees charged by credit card company?

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

In the US a fee like that is not allowed by Visa, Mastercharge or any CC. But cruiselines can offer a discount for echeck.

 

 

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[SantaFeFan]

Thank you. I may ask them (via social media) why they do this. And I know the answer is because they can :D

 

Blame your country's consumer protection laws for this, not the cruise line.

[luv2travel06]

In the US a fee like that is not allowed by Visa, Mastercharge or any CC. But cruiselines can offer a discount for echeck.

 

 

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I believe the agreement with retailers changed a couple years ago such that stores can now charge more for customers paying by credit card where they could only offer a discount for paying with cash in the past. It was part of a larger package of rule changes. Most retailers don't surcharge for payments by credit card for fear of alienating customers, most likely. In the past they were not supposed to set a minimum amount for a credit card transaction either. If I remember correctly, these rule changes came out of a suit over processing fees (in the U.S.)

 

 

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[RDC1]

In the US a fee like that is not allowed by Visa, Mastercharge or any CC. But cruiselines can offer a discount for echeck.

 

 

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Under a federal court settlement that went into effect in January 2013, retailers in many states are allowed to add a surcharge to credit (but not debit) card payments made by Visa and MasterCard. Currently, merchants can pass along fees in the form of a surcharge equal to what they pay to accept the card, up to 4 percent. Many retailers are still fighting in court for a better deal, so the settlement may not be the final word.

In addition in the US it also depends upon which state in which you are making the purchase

 

Eleven states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas—and Puerto Rico have laws that prohibit merchants from charging consumers with surcharges on credit card transactions. Minnesota prohibits a seller of goods or services that establishes and is responsible for its own customer credit card from imposing a surcharge on a purchaser who elects to use that credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check, or similar means.

The laws in California and New York have been challenged in court. The California law was declared unconstitutional in Italian Colors Restaurant et al. v. Harris in 2015. California is appealing the district court decision. In September 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman, the case challenging the New York statute that prohibits merchants from imposing a surcharge for using a credit or debit card, but does not prohibit cash discounts.

 

Ten states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming—and Puerto Rico have laws that allow merchants to give discounts to encourage consumers to use forms of payment other than credit or debit cards.

Edited May 20, 2017 by RDC1

[diane.in.ny]

On my recently completed cruise on the Sun out of Sydney, Princess did charge 1.5% fee for using a credit card. So, they do it also in Australia and, I assume, New Zealand cruises.

 

This is news to me and I'm going to have to follow up on it.

 

We cruised Princess NZ to OZ many years ago and no fee that I can remember.

 

And we just booked OZ for next year.

 

Are you referring to a fee on the cost of the cruise or to pay the onboard account? And if the onboard account, did you have an option to have it paid in AUD or US?

[Aus Traveller]

This is news to me and I'm going to have to follow up on it.

 

We cruised Princess NZ to OZ many years ago and no fee that I can remember.

 

And we just booked OZ for next year.

 

Are you referring to a fee on the cost of the cruise or to pay the onboard account? And if the onboard account, did you have an option to have it paid in AUD or US?

On Australian cruises, if you pay for the cruise by credit card or pay your on-board account by credit card, you will be charged the 1.5% fee.

 

The only way you would avoid it would be the (unlikely) situation of the travel agent absorbing the 1.5% fee instead of passing it on.

[OurHoneymoonAtTheEnd]

I'm in Australia, so Princess cruise out of Sydney is in AUD. I booked with a deposit and noticed the Credit Card fee despite paying with a debit Visa card. I remembered this so that when I paid the balance I was going to pay with BPay or direct deposit. It's all the same money so why would I choose to pay many hundreds more than I need to for our big 35night Hawaii cruise? Unfortunately the fine print was that if not paid by a date, the card used for the deposit would be charged with the balance of the cruise plus the Credit Card fee. I thought they should be able to tell when its a debit card, but apparently they don't bother to check that.

 

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[thinfool]

Ten states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming—and Puerto Rico have laws that allow merchants to give discounts to encourage consumers to use forms of payment other than credit or debit cards.

 

Thank you. This alone makes it clear that, in the US, any processing fees on credit cards (similar to what the OP describes in the UK) are rolled into the price of the product. There is no statute or regulation requiring that it be listed separately for the consumer to view.

In short, yes, there is a fee (up to about 3%, maybe 4% for amex) that is included in the price of the product in the US.

Many consumers do not know this, however anyone who owns his own business and accepts credit cards for payment knows it all too well.

There are many gas stations in the US that offer two tier pricing....one for cash and one for CC use. The difference is the processing fees (and likely a little boost in the overall profit margin).

 

What is not clear in the post from the OP is how the extra fee is keeping him/her from receiving her award miles or points.

[JVilleGal]

Once again no merchant can overtly charge a fee for using credit card in the US. It goes against merchant contracts and the Terms & Conditions of Visa & MasterCard and the other CC. So yes the fee is built in.

On large purchases I can often negotiate a better price by offering to pay cash. And it's not unusual to see a Cash Discount offered.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Yes no yes no yes no.

[GUT2407]

Just curious. I booked a Princess cruise today and was reminded that they impose a 1.5% fee for paying with credit card. This is in the U.K.

 

Is this the same in other countries?

 

RCCL and Celebrity do not have this policy here by the way.

 

Thanks.

It is in Australia.

[joll]

On Australian cruises, if you pay for the cruise by credit card or pay your on-board account by credit card, you will be charged the 1.5% fee.

 

For final payment of our cruise to New Zealand last February, we avoided the 1.5% charge by paying a direct transfer from our bank account to the Princess Bank Account. This however meant that we didn't earn any points on our Credit Card.

 

On our last 3 cruises from Australia, Princess & P&O (Australia) would have charged 1.1% (not 1.5%) on our onboard account if we hadn't paid by cash and used a credit card instead.

Edited May 21, 2017 by joll

[riclop]

Not in the USA.

[Bookited]

This is news to me and I'm going to have to follow up on it.

 

We cruised Princess NZ to OZ many years ago and no fee that I can remember.

 

And we just booked OZ for next year.

 

Are you referring to a fee on the cost of the cruise or to pay the onboard account? And if the onboard account, did you have an option to have it paid in AUD or US?

 

 

We also are cruising out of Sydney, one Princess, and a few days later a B2B on HAL. All 3 depart from Sydney.

 

Our Princess documents say all onboard expenses are in AUD. We can prepay our gratuities or use a debit card on the ship to avoid paying a "service fee", but if we prepay we are using US funds, aren't we?

 

HAL has indicated that funds for the two cruises are US funds. We've never been charged a fee when embarking or disembarking outside of the US and it doesn't appear that we will this time, either.

 

I will be interested to hear what you find out.

[RDC1]

Once again no merchant can overtly charge a fee for using credit card in the US. It goes against merchant contracts and the Terms & Conditions of Visa & MasterCard and the other CC. So yes the fee is built in.

On large purchases I can often negotiate a better price by offering to pay cash. And it's not unusual to see a Cash Discount offered.

 

 

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Actually they can. On a national level the federal court settlement (against Visa and MasterCard) in 2013/2014 allows merchants to charge up to 4% more for credit card transactions. Most major companies don't, but they can. The reason why most major companies don't is because of state laws in some states that prevents such charges in their state. As a result companies that span multiple states tend to follow the most restrictive state law when it comes to pricing policy.

 

Now even in those states that have state laws restricting surcharges you still have some pricing differential, as demonstrated by some gas stations that provide a discount for cash.

Edited May 21, 2017 by RDC1

[casofilia]

In NZ we would be charged a fee for paying our TA with a credit card and also if paying Princess direct. The size of the fee depends on the actual card used.

[caribill]

In a number of countries credit card transactions will have a fee added by the merchant for using a credit card. This is in addition to any foreign transaction fees your credit card may charge you. China is one country that does this.

[mrsgoggins]

For final payment of our cruise to New Zealand last February, we avoided the 1.5% charge by paying a direct transfer from our bank account to the Princess Bank Account. This however meant that we didn't earn any points on our Credit Card.

 

 

This is exactly what I do. It really isn't that big a deal for me as the money is always available, but I was curious. Especially given that the Royal Caribbean companies do NOT charge this fee in the UK.

 

The trend here has been for companies to announce recently that they were dropping the surcharge for paying with credit card - and the Consumers' Association (publishers of Which? magazine here in the UK) have been at the forefront of this push. Of course, I'm not naive enough to think that this change is not built into the price!

 

What a lot of interesting responses. Thank you so much for all who took the time to post.