Singapore Airlines introduces credit card surcharge in Australia
By Chris C., November 8 2016
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Executive Traveller may receive a commission when you apply for these credit cards via our links.
The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.
Singapore Airlines passengers booking flights from Australia will now incur a surcharge when using a credit card to pay for their ticket.
Whether whipping out a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Diners Club card, a 1.35% ‘service fee’ applies based on the total cost of your booking, capped at a maximum charge of $70 per passenger.
On a $4,500 ticket, that puts the surcharge at $60.75 per passenger, while all airfares of $5,185 or more will incur the fixed $70 fee.
However, passengers booking flights using their KrisFlyer miles will not incur any surcharge when using their plastic to cover any associated taxes and other charges, nor will the surcharge apply to added extras like preferred seat selection or pre-paid excess baggage on regular, fully-paid tickets.
The airline explains on its website that these quietly-introduced changes are to recover “costs relating to the acceptance of credit cards” on itineraries where the first flight departs from an Australian city.
No credit card fee applies to bookings originating in any other country – including New Zealand and Singapore – even if the passenger will be visiting Australia as part of their trip.
How to avoid Singapore Airlines’ credit card surcharge
Nobody likes being stung by credit card surcharges, so take note of these two sneaky ways to pay for your Singapore Airlines flight by credit card, but without incurring any extra fees.
One approach is to make your card payment via PayPal, instead of directly to the airline in the normal sense. It’s easily done by choosing PayPal instead of ‘credit / debit card’ on the payment screen:
For these payments, PayPal accepts Visa and MasterCard with no surcharge, although there’s no option to use AMEX here, as would usually be the case when shopping with PayPal.
Your other option is to select MasterPass, also with no surcharge applied. Despite being operated by MasterCard, you can also use Visa, American Express and Diners Club here by pre-registering for a MasterPass account with your chosen credit card prior to booking your flight.
Connect with other business travellers in our Singapore Airlines discussion group
Disclaimer
Executive Traveller may receive a commission when you apply for these credit cards via our links.
The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
28 Sep 2011
Total posts 3
Just for your knowledge, PayPal recently started taking Amex as well which is a big relief...so effectively we can use Amex via PayPal and earn the same points
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
PayPal certainly accepts AMEX for most payments, but not for payments made to airline merchants. That's why our article reads "there's no option to use AMEX here, as would usually be the case when shopping with PayPal". ;)
21 Sep 2011
Total posts 71
It just goes to show how weak our government is to not ban credit card surcharges altogether. It's not like businesses outside of Australia do not need to recover their merchant fees. It's part of running a business.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
11 Nov 2014
Total posts 32
Don't you pay for using PayPal too?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
Nope. As covered above, no surcharge for payments made to SQ via PayPal or MasterPass, including when funded by a credit card.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
11 Nov 2014
Total posts 32
I mean when you put money in the paypal account, don't you get charged?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
You don't deposit money into PayPal if paying by credit card - you simply link a credit card to your PayPal account, and when it comes time to pay for your Singapore Airlines flight, PayPal just charges your credit card and sends the money straight to the airline.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
13 Jan 2015
Total posts 584
You dont put money in your paypal account...you just link your card and money comes directly out of the card
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
16 Dec 2015
Total posts 41
In all cases, whether or not a merchant accepts American Express via PayPal is decided by the merchant.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
Chris: That's incorrect - merchants only choose to accept or not to accept PayPal as a whole: they can't opt-in or opt-out of accepting specific cards via PayPal.
The exception here is because American Express as a card network doesn't permit payments to airlines via PayPal, so when paying for airfares with any airline, the option to use AMEX in PayPal disappears for that transaction only.
That's why the same thing happens when using PayPal with Virgin Australia, Emirates, Tigerair Australia etc.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
16 Dec 2015
Total posts 41
Right you are - I've misread the API reference.
05 Aug 2014
Total posts 8
Hi Chris,
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
Hi Gilbert, you'd need to contact the insurer attached to your particular credit card to discuss eligibility and any exclusions that may apply.
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
21 Feb 2014
Total posts 3
If I am not mistaken, airlines have negotiated global credit card rates with Visa and Mastercard due to the volumes they put through and these are well below the 1% level. If this is the case then SQ is using the crazy Australian laws to shaft the consumer and turn this charge into a profit centre. I would love to hear from SQ disputing this in writing. Lets see. BTW - QF and Virgin are no better in this respect either.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
21 Oct 2016
Total posts 3
Have just been through the process trying to use MasterPass & can confirm they are passing the payment method back to SQ who are adding the surcharge. Unfortunately.
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