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Credit & debit card processing fees for Singapore flights reinstated by Scoot
SINGAPORE: While Scoot removed payment processing fees for credit and debit cards for all its flights back in September 2019, the travel site The Milelion reported on Wednesday (Feb 12) that these fees have just been reinstated.
The carrier re-introduced processing fees for flights from Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand last September, and the fee has since expanded to flights originating from Singapore.
“If you are flying out of Singapore, Australia, Japan, Taiwan (China) or Thailand, a non-refundable payment processing fee may be added to transactions made with a credit/debit card. The exact fee will be displayed before you confirm your payment,” Scoot’s website says.
Individuals who book Scoot flights that depart from Singapore will be charged between 1.4% and 2.26%, depending on their method of credit or debit card payment.
The Milelion says that, for now, those who pay via Google Pay or PayPal will not be charged a processing fee, though this is likely to change at any time.
Here are the fees that you can expect when you use your card for payments for Scoot flights, no matter the point of departure:
UnionPay — 1.4%
JCB — 1.81%
American Express — 1.93%
Singaporeans using their Mastercard and Visa for payment will be charged a processing fee of 2.26%. A lower fee is charged for those in Australia and Thailand, and a higher one is charged for those in Japan and Taiwan.
The Milelion also noted that Bookings paid entirely with Scoot vouchers or KrisFlyer miles, or those paid via PatNow, are not subject to processing fees.
“It’s no secret that Scoot has always been trying to nudge passengers towards these methods, given the lower costs they incur. For example, even before this change Scoot was already labelling PayNow as a ‘popular choice’, whatever that means,” noted the site.
And while the Milelion noted that at least Scoot has not reinstated a prior practice of charging each passenger a flat fee per flight, it said that the return of the processing fee is “disappointing,” especially since in 2019, the then-CEO of Scoot, Lee Lik Hsin, had made much of “doing away globally” with the card processing fees.
“In order to pass on the savings to our customers as our costs came down, we have since March 2018 progressively removed payment processing fees in selected markets. Now, we are ready to do away with it globally. We hope this gives our customers better value and more reasons to escape the ordinary with us,” Mr Lee said. /TISG
