Ryanair card charges

As you will already know Ryanair now charges for using an Electron card, £5 per person each way!!!!!  the only way to avoid card charges now is a prepaid mastercard......  not to be beaten.....  I did a bit of routing and tooting on the internet and when and bought one from phones 4 U, £19.99 but that includes £10 credit on the card so it costs £9.99 per year then free for transactions when booking flights as long as there is enough money on it it was easy peasy when I booked some flights with it.  I used the card the same day I got it, phones 4 U activated it and I didn't have any problems using it at all.........  I save £30 on the booking in card fees so it has already paid for itself.......  well worth the little inconvience.  Have a look on the internet it is called the Escape Card from Phones 4 U

Thanks for the tip Jackie!

Hi All,

Smivs, you are spot on.........don't you just love avoiding paying Ryanair any more money unnecessarily

The Escape prepaid Mastercard can also be bought in any Phones 4u store & it is free to top it up with cash in any of our stores too.............yes I confess............I do work for Phones 4u!!

We were briefed that Ryanair are not adding a charge to use prepaid Mastercards because they actually do one themselves so it's a great way of avoiding paying them more money.

cheers,

Peter

Peter,

Does the pre paid mastercard provide the same protection for purchases as a standard mastercard?

Steven

You do not have the same cover, this card is not good for cover if the air line went tits up

Steven,

No, you do not get puchase protection (google Esacape Card & you will see a few independent reviews & a bot more detail).

Willywonker,

You are absolutely right..........although if Ryanair goes bust I'll give you a piggy back to Condado myself!

cheers,

Peter

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if you can top up this card using your debit card and if so does this incur a fee and if you can are the funds instantly available to use.

Thanks

Carol Anne

Hi Carol Anne

I have tried various ways of topping up my card, if you top up via internet banking by doing a transfer to it even though my bank confirms that the money will be transferred within 2 HOURS it then takes them 2 DAYS to credit your account with the money and until it has been credited your card will be declined when you use it.  That's the downside I have found so far.  You can go into any phones4u shop and top up with cash and i think debit card (although not used my debit card so need to check on that one) and your card is instantly credited and ready for use.  The transactions and the top up transactions are free of charge

Hope this helps

Hi Jackie,

Thanks for that information I want to get one tomorrow and book flights so just wondered quickest way to do it, I suppose a little inconvenience  in going into shop and topping up with cash if you want to use will be worth it.

Thanks again.

Sun Tuxedo Mastercard. Free if you add £20 to it, fees are then 2.95% (min 99p, max £1.50) every time you use it.

So in theory will cost you £1.50 every time you book Ryanair flights for as many people as you want.

Best on the market by a distance http://thesunprepaid.co.uk/feescharges.html

O2 is the best prepaid Visa Card

Halifax remains the best Visa Electron although if you have a CAM Bank account then the debit card is a Visa Electron. Sometimes flights work out cheaper in Euros !!

Smart Currency have always come out tops for £3k+ transfers to my Spanish Bank account. No fee and always within 2 points of the mid-bank rate

Hi All

The Card I have as an alternative is the FairFX Mastercard prepayment card,

Below I have also reprinted a post put on the Forum by Rachel (MrsG) which provides all relevant information about this card.

The only charges on this card are 1.5% of transaction and no loading charge or annual fee.

Remember to qualify for no Ryanair charges the card has to be a Mastercard Prepayment Card.

Regards

Phil

Rachel’s Post Says

The prepaid Mastercard I have applied for is the Barclays FairFX card. My brother-in-law is a frequent flyer with Ryanair and did some research and this is the best one he found.

This is some info off the Money Saving website: Ryanair: To avoid payment fees with Ryanair, the prepaid card must be issued by Mastercard. The best is the FairFx* Anywhere card, where the only charge is 1.5% of the transaction amount each time you spend on it. If you use a debit card to top it up online or by the phone there's no charge.

It is free to apply for, but you have to pay £10.00 minimum (which is money put on your card to spend towards your first purchase). Where it says minimum £100, just change this to £10.00 - it does work, I did it.

They charge about 1.5% each time you use it, so still works out much cheaper than giving that cheeky Irish git your money!

To apply go to Fairfx.com and follow "apply now" tab. Under "select delivery method" press "New FairFX card". Make sure you do the one in pounds, not euros or dollars.

One you've applied you need to pay the £10 straight away, and you should get the card in around 10 days, my brother-in-law had he's in 5 days.

Their notes on fees: "We do not charge any monthly or quarterly fees or any fees for foreign exchange transactions, checking your on-line balance and statements or for purchase transactions. Please refer to your terms and conditions for detailed information regarding fees".

Any more questions, I'll do my best to help.

Rachel

 I have just recieved my fairfax mastercard dead easy to get and as they say just 1.5%per transaction came within three days

Nick

fareham hants naranhos 8

Hi,

I have the Escape Master Card (phones4u).  I topped it up with my debit card at a phones4u store and was charged £12.00.  I complained stating that the terms and conditions of my card clearly states that a one off charge of 95p is payable on Debit Card transactions.  A charge of 4% is payable on a Credit Card transaction, as I had topped up £300 my Debit Card was treated as a Credit Card, thus the £12 fee.  I contacted Escape Card (Tuxedo) Customer Services and advised them of this contradiction in policy between Escape Master card and phones4u.  I was advised that phones for you should only charge 95p for a Debit Card transaction no matter the amount, and cash top ups are free.  I was credited £11.05 to my card.  Phones4u still say the Credit Card fee of 4% applies to Debit Card transactions also.  Bottom line, ask at the store!  When using the Escape Card to book via Ryanair, there is no rip off charge no matter how many are travelling.  I am waiting on a response from phones4u head office on this matter.  I will update when I am better informed.

Hi

Mrs G Here.

Glad my post has been of some help.

My FairFX card came in 3 days, and we have already booked flights with it, simple!!

The transfer from my Visa Debit card to the FairFX card took about 2 hours and then the money was there to spend.

Good luck

Rachel