Dynamic currency conversion (DCC)

Some hotels systems can make it difficult for poorly trained clerks to avoid DCC at checkout but they should be able to fix it.

Paying the hotel after staying rather at booking time doesn't really come into DCC - indeed this ought to be the way it works and paying up front should be at a discount.

Although I booked directly thru a hotel site for lodging in London, on checkout the guy at Reception asked if I wanted my bill in dollars. I said no, he said that's good you'll come out better that way. I got the idea it was something he was required to ask but in no way minded doing the billing in pounds.

Marco, thanks for that info. I did not realize AMEX did not do DCC.

I use booking.com a lot and have never had a DCC at checkout. It has happened in some shops, but usually the salesperson asks if I want to pay in euro or dollars. Desk staff may ask, too, but I don't recall that happening (and I always check the receipt). It happens frequently at ATMs.

When I first started travelling you ALWAYS paid hotels when you left, same as you pay restaurants after the meal when you are ready to leave.
In recent years this seams to have changed to paying when you arrive, or even worse paying when you book. The hotel then has your money and you just have to trust to them to deliver what is promised. This change may be due to people leaving without paying, or it may be just greed on the part of the hotels.

I don't think it is anything to do with DCC. If your bill is for xxx Batavian Gumbos, then that is all they are entitled to. If they try to charge your credit card in a different currency, just refuse to accept the transaction. In the end you just refuse to pay until they charge you in the billed currency. If they won't accept payment, then just walk out, you have offered payment in legal currency and they have refused it. You can always offer to pay cash.

Be particularly careful if they bill you in Zubrovka Klubecks ; --- )

I seem to have deleted the end of my previous message when doing some other editing. As Pam quotes me, Amex doesn't presently allow DCC on their network. So if you have a card issuer with no/low forex loading and your hotel etc takes it, which is becoming much more common in some countries, then you can be protected against deliberate or accidental DCC.

If you pay in advance in dollars with a booking website, do they give you the exact Interbank conversion rate, or do they charge you "their own" conversion rate. Is this DCC?

I don't worry about this because I always pay in the local currency (cash) and never use booking websites. I've never had to pay in advance, although I once gave a credit card number for late arrival, but subsequently paid cash.

Lee, If you pay in advance in dollars (or whatever your credit card bills you in) with a booking website, in order to get this figure the website are free to charge whatever exchange rate they feel like. That is why it is usually best to go 'to the horses mouth', i.e. the actual hotel, railway company or whatever and pay the price in the local currency. The exchange will not be at the "interbank rate", but it will be within a few %. Even if the hotel charges you in your currency, your Credit Card provider can still charge for an oversees transaction.
At least if your Credit Card provider gives you a bad rate, you are free to go somewhere else next time. You have no comeback against the shop, hotel etc. which did the DCC conversion.

Paying in advance is often done to get early-booking discounts. So be very careful about paying in advance that your reservation isn't non-refundable (almost all early-booking discounts are non-refundable). You can actually get some very good deals that way, but there is NO leniency in the cancelation policies so be careful.

DCC is done by merchants at the point of sale, it has nothing to do with booking and paying online. As several have noted, sometimes merchants do it automatically or the staff is required to try and get you to do it. Always refuse and if presented with a statement in dollars, just refuse to sign it and have them cancel and re-run it. It isn't prevalent everywhere but has been growing so you may or may not even encounter it on your trip.

Forgot to add that when a transaction has been run in DCC, I have asked for it to be cancelled and re-run; never been refused.

I found on my trip this year especially, that DCC is becoming more common. I haven't had any trouble "refusing" DCC, but in one case that option was selected by fast-fingered hotel staff before I noticed it. I'll be paying MUCH closer attention from now on!