Warning:- if booking any Irish trains on Iarnród Éireann website

They seem to add on a charge of 2 euro at end when booking on line.
There is no charge booked with laser card.

I dont think you can get the same webfares at ticket office, where I presume
you dont get euro2 charge??

Semi-state taking leaf out of ryanair and aerlingus
trying to minimise losses.

Another reason NOT to bother taking train and just drive......

JR

JR Rizzo said:

There is no charge booked with laser card.

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So they're giving you the option of using a laser card for no charge, which most websites don't, and you're also able to avail of special internet fares, yes they should be taken out and shot for passing on the costs that they are charged by the credit card companies, and for having the cheek to give you an option to avoid that charge!

dereko1969 said:

so they're giving you the option of using a laser card for no charge, which most websites don't, and you're also able to avail of special internet fares, yes they should be taken out and shot for passing on the costs that they are charged by the credit card companies, and for having the cheek to give you an option to avoid that charge!

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+1

obviously I dont have a laser card,
as I'm sure most tourists also dont.

The "webfare discounts" arent available for all booking times

if you were at ticket counter (or any shop or pub)
and the CIE employee informed the you of a credit card surcharge
wouldnt you feel annoyed?

isnt it cheaper to do business on-line and with electronic transactions,
than handing over physical cash to a human?

This stealth charge appears right at the end of your booking process,
and can not help irish tourism, let alone hard hit irish people.

(its not as if these fares are cheap in the first place when compared to
train travel abroad)

JR.

If I buy something either in a shop or online, I expect to pay the same advertised amount, no matter what method I use. I shouldn't have to wait until the transaction is over before the merchant informs me that because I used method X - whether it's cash, credit card, laser card, or cheque - that I have to pay a subcharge.

If they wish to offer me a discount in order pay by their preferred method, that's another thing entirely. Some merchants are happy enough to avail of the benefits of credit cards (more impulse purchases, for example), but fob off all the costs on their customers.

And in this case, we're talking about a company with a monopoly, so there's no way for the customer to take their business elsewhere.

I had thought that Irish Rail made it obvious that there was a credit card charge but having looked at the website again now I see it isn't obvious at all. The credit card charge is fairly standard on everything now and the deals are good (on the plus side!)

JR Rizzo said:

....(its not as if these fares are cheap in the first place when compared to train travel abroad)...

JR.

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Well actually you would need to be more specific. If, for example, you compare train fares between Ireland and the UK (as I have had frequent reason to do!!) I think you will find that actually they are cheaper in that comparison. Broad sweeping statements which are only partially true are of little value to your argument