From 1 January 2010, the only way to avoid the Ryanair £5 per person per flight admin fee is to pay by Mastercard prepaid debit card. I’ve been avoiding paying this Ryanair £5 fee until now by paying for my flights with a Visa Electron card. Ryanair did always state that this fee free remuneration option was a limited offer (although it’s been on the go for years).

Yesterday I started searching as far as concerns the best Mastercard prepaid debit card for my Ryanair usage. I tend to book the really cheap promotional fares ranging from £1 – £5 per flight several times a year. I will only be using the card for online UK based transactions as I have Nationwide Flex debit card which avoids charges for transactions made in mainland Europe.

There are two types of Mastercard prepaid debit cards either unpersonalised which have a limit of £650 load a year or personalised which have higher limits. I decided to go for a personalised card as I wasn’t sure if an unpersonalised card would be accepted on the Ryanair seat as there is usually a box on the payment page where you tick to confirm that your payment card is registered at your home address.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find a card which was totally cost free. Most Mastercard prepaid debit cards charge for one or additional of the following

Four types of charges made on Mastercard prepaid debit cards:

1 Card application fee – free to £30.

2 Monthly fee – free to £10.

3 Transaction fee – free to 2.75% of transaction value (once fixed lower and upper limit e.g. minimum of 50p maximum of £1.50) or flat fee regardless of transaction value.

4 Card loading fee – free to 3% of load value.

You have to decide how often you’ll use the card and the transaction values to decide which Mastercard prepaid debit card is best for you. For example if you book peak Ryanair flights for a race then you should look for a card with a fixed upper transaction charge as opposed to a percentage of the transaction cost.

With my own personal card usage in mind I narrowed my search down to three Mastercard prepaid debit cards.

Bread Mastercard prepaid debit card

1 Card purchase fee – £7.50.

2 Monthly fee – free.

3 Transaction fee – 2% of transaction value for UK transactions.

4 Card loading fee – free by bank transfer or at a Post Office with £10 minimum load.

CaxtonFX Global Card

1 Card intense study fee – free but £10 deposit payable to be added to initial £100 card load.

2 Monthly fee – free.

3 Transaction absolute title – £1.50 flat fee for UK transactions

4 Card loading fee – free online, by landline or text from your registered mobile, £100 minimum load

Escape Mastercard prepaid debit card

1 Card application fee – £10

2 Monthly fees – free

3 Transaction fee – free for UK transations

4 Loading fee – free by bank transfer or in cash at a Phones4U shop.

My rationale for choosing the Bread Mastercard prepaid debit card

I reckoned that I’ve spent £100 on 6 return Ryanair flights in the last year which would come to admin fees of £60 paying the Ryanair admin fee of £5 per person per flight. Below I’ve worked out the cost of these flights with each of three Mastercard prepaid debit cards.

Bread: £7.50 card application fee plus £2 (2% of £100) transaction fee = £.9.50.

CaxtonFX: nay card turning upon particulars fee plus £9 (6 x £1.50) transaction fee = £9.00.

Escape: £10 card application fee plus zero transaction charges = £10.00

It was really a toss up between me selecting the Bread, Escape or CaxtonFX Mastercard prepaid debit cards.

I was put off the CaxtonFX card by the high least part load of £100, the £10 deposit and the £1.50 flat fee per transaction when most of my Ryanair transactions are only towards a few pounds. However if you book a small number of higher cost flights this card may suit you.

One of the reasons I didn’t apply for the Escape card is that there is no facility towards online ID checks, so you have to either scan your documents (I don’cheek by jowl have a scanner) or post in a photocopy. Again if you book high cost and/or very frequnet flights this card may be the one for you.

I plumped for the Bread card as the minimum top up is £10, my ID could be checked during the online applicatioin and as my projected Ryanair spend is low the 2% transaction fee should only amount to a couple of pounds a year.

Conclusion

Whichever of these three Mastercard prepaid debit cards you select you are still likely to save on Ryanair fees. You have to value the average cost of your Ryanair flights, the contain of separate transactions and the number of flights you’re likely to book over the year. to guage which Mastercard prepad debit card is most cost effective for you.

Warning

Please read the terms and conditions very carefully before you sign up for a card. I spent hours researching these cards but it’s quite complex and there is a lot of small print. This post is based on my individual research and spending patterns.

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