Post Office Ltd. is offering to cover the cost of return flights to six European cities to consumers who open a Post Office Credit Card by March 27, the subsidiary of London-based Royal Mail Group Ltd. announced March. 9.
“The promotion was launched to encourage consumers to apply for a card and help increase awareness that it is one of the few cards that offers no additional charges on overseas transactions,” a Royal Mail Group spokesperson tells PaymentsSource.
Issued by the Bank of Ireland UK, the MasterCard-branded credit card also imposes no interest charges for balance transfers for the first 12 months or on subsequent balance transfers for five months during the second and third years. Interest charges also will not be applied to purchases made within the first three months, after which the annual interest rate becomes 16.9%, the spokesperson says.
The card comes with no annual or monthly fees, and Post Office will not charge cardholders a cash-advance fee for purchases of travelers checks and foreign currency at its locations, the spokesperson adds.
Consumers who open a credit card account before the promotion ends will receive a return flight to Dublin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Paris or Madrid. Cardholders redeem the ticket by entering the code “flight” on an online card-application form.
UK-based P&MM Travel Ltd. will issue the flight voucher to cardholders within 28 days after their card is issued. Cardholders are responsible for any flight taxes or additional charges the airline may charge, the spokesperson notes.
Cardholders may purchase additional return tickets on the same flight for £79 (US$127 or 91 euros) per ticket for up to three additional passengers, she says.
A free flight may seem like a good promotion, but most flights in Europe are relatively inexpensive, says Zil Bareisis, a senior analyst with consulting firm Celent in the UK. “Many companies offer similar cash benefits when you switch card accounts, and the cash equivalent is usually similar to the cost of an airline ticket,” he notes.
The more interesting perks on the card are the travel features, such as no fees on travel money purchases and foreign transactions, because they link directly to what the post office offers, Bareisis contends.
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