After backlash, SIA ditches plan to impose credit card surcharges for flights departing from Singapore

To no one’s surprise at all, a tide of backlash rose against Singapore Airlines (SIA) yesterday when it was revealed that it was planning to charge customers extra, should they use a credit card to pay for flights departing from Singapore. What’s more, the “service fee” would only apply to those booking the airline’s upcoming Economy Lite seats.

Yeap, extra costs for those who book economy seats. You can see why folks were miffed.

The flag carrier airline of Singapore has since canceled its plans to do so amid loud reprisals, Channel NewsAsia reported. In a sales circular obtained by the publication, SIA informed its sales agents and business partners that it has decided not to proceed with the implementation of the Credit Card Service Fee (CCSF) after all, following a further review.

No other explanation was given over the ditched plans, but it should be pretty obvious that it’s a response to the massive public fallout.

Initially, the plan was to kick off a 1.3 percent surcharge for credit card transactions made for all SIA Economy Lite tickets issued on and from Jan 20 onwards, and it would only apply to flights departing from Singapore. In its defense to CNA, SIA noted that CCSF has already been implemented in other markets a long time ago, and that the implementation in Singapore is a “progressive initiative”.

Since Nov 2016, the airline has been charging the service fees for flights departing from Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. The fees vary among different countries — there’s a 1.7 percent surcharge for flights departing New Zealand, for example.

CCSF, SIA explained, is meant to recover “costs relating to the acceptance of credit cards”.

To be fair, other carriers such as Scoot, Air Asia, and Jetstar also levy credit card surcharges in Singapore. But as Aaron Wong of travel blog The MileLion noted, SIA is far above the ranks of budget airlines, and the company’s move to charge credit card fees is none other than a “disgraceful money grab”.

“Singapore Airlines for me will still continue to be a great way to fly,” Wong wrote. “But they’re certainly doing all they can to burn some of their goodwill with customers.”