That’s not friendly Air New Zealand

Posted byLance Wiggs 21 Comments on That’s not friendly Air New Zealand

I’d rather Air NZ admitted it and just charged us slightly more for fares.

This card payment fee is ludicrous, as essentially every private traveller will incur the fee. It’s another line on the statement, makes us annoyed when we see it, and will no doubt appear after the headline rate. Are we going back to the days of a low low fare with heaps of fees added later? That didn’t pass muster.

And why do business customers (using the Air New Zealand Travel Card) get a break from the fee, but GlobalPlus co-branded/affiliate credit card holders or Gold or Gold Elite customers do not?

This isn’t how friends treat each other Air New Zealand.

Published by Lance Wiggs

@lancewiggs

21 replies on “That’s not friendly Air New Zealand”

  4. Also – Booking at an AirNZ Holiday used to mean a $25 additional service charge on the flights (even if you were booking a $3000 holiday). I wonder if that still applies or do they mean I can book online and pay in the store? I’m sure they would be stoked with hundreds of people turning up in store to pay for flights using cash.

    AirNZ pushes the boundaries between low cost and full service but this seems one step too far.

    Like

  5. See, I expect that sort of bollocks from a nasty cheap-arse airline like EasyJet, RyanAir, or Jetstar.

    Not from a proper airline that actually respects its customers. Put the full price upfront and get rid of extra “fees”.

    Like

  6. “I’d rather Air NZ admitted it and just charged us slightly more for fares.”

    In other words, you wish users who paid using cheaper methods would subsidise your convenience?

    Like

  7. This appears to be pretty pervasive in the travel industry in Australia now, most hotels have started charging surcharges for credit card payments. I am sure the airlines will follow soon enough.

    Like

  9. I think you should not look only at Air NZ but have a close look at the financial institutions as well. How come that you are being charged for the payment more and more. Are these payments so expensive? Who’s is behind all this and how much do they get from us?

    Like

  10. Man I hate this sort of s*%t.

    Do they realize that losing 3% of your customer base to recover 0.1% of your costs is not good business practice?

    Pissing off your customers is not a smart thing to do…! and AirNZ has being doing that far too often lately.

    Like

  11. So not only do I have to pay to have a Visa debit card/EFTPOS which is supposed to be an instant transfer of funds thereby saving all parties money, I now have to pay to use this card. Come on Air NZ this is a Ryanair type trick. Next we’ll have to pay to use the toilet on board.

    Like

  12. Pingback: Nothing to hide Air New Zealand? | Kiwiblog

  13. Yup. Screw’em. I’ll starting taking in cash ($2 coins of course) to the Air New Zealand store in Wellington.

    I gues NZ wants to be a budget airline then.

    Maybe they’ll let e buy Airline dollars in bulk up front so I can continue to have the conveninece of booking online.

    Like

  14. Ive just spent 10 minutes on the Air NZ website looking for the info, to at least see if they have made this charge obvious and upfront, rather than tacking it on right at the end.

    I cant find anywhere that it says about cc fees, in fact, all I could find was this:

    How can I pay when booking online? (Its question 31 when you search under Credit Card Charges)

    Answer:

    There are many ways you can pay online, including all major credit cards, debit cards and internet banking (POLi).

    If you’re an Airpoints member you may also pay for yourself or your giftees with Airpoints Dollars, and our business customers can pay with an Air New Zealand Travelcard/UATP account.

    Credit and debit cards accepted are American Express, Diners Club, JCB, MasterCard and Visa.

    Please note that internet banking (POLi) and Travelcard/UATP may only be used to pay for flight bookings (including any travel insurance and/or environment trust donation selected as part of the booking). Payments for other products and services (such as packages, hotels, rental cars, campervans, travel insurance, carbon offsets, Airpoints or Koru memberships) require a credit card or debit card.

    So no mention at all of CC charges.

    Ive also gone through a purchase right up to where it ask for credit card details, and it still isnt fronting up about CC charges.

    So when DO they tell you? And if it isn’t upfront – why should you have to pay it? Even if it is upfront – we pay enough of our bank fees – Wtf should we pay other peoples as well?

    Like

  15. I think it is a bit rich to call it “cost-recovery” and then charge a flat fee per sector.

    Their MSF is surely charged by their bank as a percentage of the booking value right? So why don’t they simply on-charge the actual amount, which in many case (grabaseat $39 fares, for example) will be WAY less than the $2 per-sector fee?

    Like

  16. Pingback: AirNZ – the black and the white

  17. If you’re a Mac user, you can’t use Poli. So the work round is to make your booking on the 0800 number, tell them you’re a Mac user and Air NZ will let you pay by credit card and not charge the fee. I did this myself a few weeks ago and saw confirmed on Twitter today that it’s still the case.

    Like

Comments are closed.