Not quite a credit cardiac bypass but cash cards likely to fly

Tiger Airways has extended the option to use debit or ‘cash’ cards to all its fares.

This will cut out its total of $10 in credit card ‘convenience fees’ for both parts of a return booking. But there is a catch. The banks issuing the debit cards still collect a monthly or annual fee just like those on their credit cards, except smaller.

Expect to pay around $6 a month to hold a debit card, which uses your money, hence the alternative term ‘cash’ card.

Some other payment options have also been tried in parts of Asia, aimed in particular at students who often do not qualify for credit cards. One method involves going on-line to make a booking and obtain a PNR or passenger name record which is usually a combination of capital letters and numbers you will see on your e-tickets in Australia. The would be buyer then has a fixed period, say 24 hours, in which to go to his or her bank ATM, select a pay for services icon, and then transfer the value of the fare to the airline by just entering the PNR code. This validates the e-ticket that can be printed at home or at an airport kiosk.

Anything to bypass bank fees has a certain appeal. Maybe Qantas/Jetstar could do this at Woolworth’s EFTPOS terminals as the mega groceries/discount petrol and Qantas FFP loyalty tie-in gets rolled out later this year.