search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
5 2


Credit card sales may rise to 80%


Lee Hayhurst lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk


The proportion of holidays paid for on credit card is expected to rise to as much as 80% following the ban on surcharges in January, according to Barclays Bank.


The EU Payment Services


Directive (PSD2) means travel firms are no longer allowed to charge customers a fee for using their credit cards to cover their transaction costs, which traditionally have been about 2%. Chris Lee, director and head of


travel and professional sports at Barclays Corporate Banking, said prior to PSD2, 70% of holidays were paid for by debit card. However, since January that


proportion has changed to beyond 50:50 in favour of credit cards as consumers take advantage of the benefits of paying on credit. Speaking ahead of next week’s


Barclays Travel Forum, Lee said: “No one knows for sure, but we think that will flip around from what it previously was [and] might go to as much as 80:20.”


Chris Lee: ‘Sales may flip from 70% by debit card to 80% by credit card’


He said this trend had left


Barclays travel clients with a difficult decision about how to offset the impact of the surcharge ban. “Many have built it in to their


overall pricing for all customers to maintain margins because they can’t discriminate between people who use credit cards and people who pay with debit cards,” he said. “Some have decided not to


adjust their pricing for the time being and have just taken the hit.” Abta said travel agents are hit particularly hard by the surcharge ban because they do not have the option of raising prices to pass on the costs of processing payments. The association has demanded


greater regulation of the card payment marketplace in a consultation issued by the Treasury and welcomed a separate review by the Payment Services Regulator. A spokeswoman said: “The


current situation is clearly failing to deliver the government’s objective of cheaper card payments, and is putting SME businesses at a


severe disadvantage.” › Barclays Travel Forum preview: Business, back page


Cancer survivor is award nominee


Juliet Dennis juliet.dennis@travelweekly.co.uk


A Hays Travel apprentice who was told she had months to live has been shortlisted for a regional award.


Alexandra Turner-Davis, who


works at the agency’s Jarrow branch in Tyne and Wear, beat the odds when doctors diagnosed her with progressive throat cancer in 2014. The teenager, who turns 19


next week, said her life-and-death battle with cancer had made her “grab every opportunity in life”, including the creation of her own charity foundation Alex’s Angels, which helps families of children with cancer. Now she is in the running for


the apprentice of the year award at The North East Employee of the Year 2018 awards. She said: “Cancer has made me


who I am. I take pride in my work and I throw everything at my job.” When Alexandra was told she


had just three months to live, doctors gave her the option of having her voice box removed or an adult dose of aggressive chemo-radiation five days a week


“Cancer has made me who I am. I take pride in my work and throw everything at my job”


over six weeks, instead of six months, because her cancer was so advanced. She chose the latter and lost two stone in weight, suffered skin burns, daily sickness and was bedridden – but was given the all-clear in January 2015. Since then, Alexandra has completed GCSEs in maths and English and landed an apprenticeship at Hays, while Alex’s Angels has raised £53,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. She is now one of the top three


apprentices at Hays Travel in terms of sales and is a Hays Travel Apprentice Ambassador. Other Hays staff shortlisted


for the June 1 awards are Faye Robinson, of Hays’ Middlesbrough store, up for apprentice of the year; Hays Travel’s Jarrow branch, for team of the year; and Debbie Howe, manager of the South Shields branch, for the making a difference


in the community award. › alexsangelsfoundation.org


3 May 2018 travelweekly.co.uk 5 3


Hays agent Alexandra Turner-Davis has been shortlisted for an apprentice of the year award


STORIES HOT


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82