Amadeus report highlights psychological threshold for FX fees in travel

Using a dummy airline website, Amadeus worked with psychological research firm Innovationbubble to study travellers’ conscious and subconscious reactions to different levels of FX fees. According to the study, travellers begin to notice FX fees when they reach 3% of the total ticket price, with ‘alarm bells’ beginning to ring as the fee approaches the psychologically important threshold of 5%. However, the overall cost of the flight remains the most important factor for securing a booking.

More than a third of respondents in the study have paid between 3-10% of the total cost of a flight to make the payment in their own currency, with 14% having been charged more than 10% of the total flight cost. The majority of travellers (76%) reported unexpected FX charges when purchasing a flight.

The study also found that the majority (59%) of travellers would prefer their airline to handle the currency conversion rather than a bank, with 43% stating that bank levied fees are too high. In addition, travellers confirmed that on average they now trust airlines more than banks to handle FX transactions on their behalf, with 79% of people preferring to pay in their own currency.