The cost of taking a Qantas break is about to increase as its holiday arm lifts the fee levied on credit card transactions from 1per cent to 1.4per cent.

A spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that the credit card fee charged by Qantas Holidays would increase from February 21 but said it would not apply to air tickets.

She said the new fee was in line with travel industry practice, where some players charged 3per cent.

"Even with the increase, Qantas Holidays still only partially recovers the cost of the credit card merchant fees," she said. "It's just a matter of costs, basically."

Airlines and Telstra were among the first companies to take advantage of the Reserve Bank's reform of credit card fees in 2004.

The RBA ruled that the fees levied between banks were artificially high and were acting as a subsidy for benefits such as frequent-flyer plans.

However, the reforms allowed merchants to pass on the cost of credit card purchases.