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Jetstar to refund credit card overcharge to thousands of customers

Jetstar has stung thousands of customers by overcharging them for using a popular credit card. See why and when people can expect their refund.

Jetstar has stung thousands of customers by overcharging them for using a popular credit card. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar
Jetstar has stung thousands of customers by overcharging them for using a popular credit card. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

Budget airline Jetstar has apologised after overcharging credit card fees to thousands of customers who paid for flights in April and May.

The airline, which is owned by Qantas, began refunding customers stung by the extra charge this week.

Jetstar charged customers who bought tickets using a Visa credit card between April 12 and May 8 a fee of 2.53 per cent, instead of the 1.12 per cent they were supposed to pay.

“We apologise for this processing error which saw the majority of affected customers overcharged between one cent and five dollars,” a Jetstar spokesperson said.

“We’re contacting affected customers to refund the overcharged amounts as quickly as possible.”

In an email sent to one customer on Thursday, Jetstar said it “will refund the amount you overpaid to the card used to complete your purchase within 15 working days”.

“You do not need to do anything, these funds will appear back in the account used for payment and you’ll receive an email confirmation detailing the amount refunded,” the customer was told.

CEO Alan Joyce (centre) flanked by Jetstar CEO Steph Tully and QantasLink CEO John Gissing, with crew members in Sydney. Picture: Qantas
CEO Alan Joyce (centre) flanked by Jetstar CEO Steph Tully and QantasLink CEO John Gissing, with crew members in Sydney. Picture: Qantas

In a post to a travel forum in April, another Jetstar customer claimed to have been charged a credit card fee of more than $30 when the charge should have been closed to $10.

“Seems like an absolute rip off!” the customer said.

Jetstar and its competitor at the lower end of the market, Virgin, have previously been in trouble with regulators over how they handle credit card charges.

In 2015, the Federal Court found that both airlines broke consumer laws and misled customers by failing to disclose processing fees for booking by credit card in the headline price of fares.

Instead, the charges were only disclosed later in the booking process, a practice known as “drip pricing”.

The court later ordered Jetstar to pay a $545,000 penalty and Virgin to pay $200,000.

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/jetstar-to-refund-credit-card-overcharge-to-thousands-of-customers/news-story/24679d7c9b7869d51b506a8abcf701b7