Has anyone else noticed a new fee on their credit card for international conversion? Citibank charged me $8.95 to process the hotel bill. I'm going to call and fight it, as I've never seen anything like this before. My boyfriend said the bank card he used did not charge anything like that. And that was the only thing I charged on that card the whole trip.
Posted by
Keizer, Oregon, USA
588 posts
A new fee perhaps for your bank but not for a lot of banks. BOA has charged a conversion fee for years and the fee just went up. CapitalOne does not charge a fee and I just learned Costco's American Express does not charge a fee.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23268 posts
Nothing new. Was your hotel bill about 300 Euro. Most credit cards charge in the range of 3% for currency conversion. A very few and maybe only Capitol One do not.
Posted by
Maple Grove, MN, USA
25 posts
Most credit cards charge a 3% fee. I called the credit card companies hoping that one might have a better rate but I am not so lucky this time.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Get a Capitol One card if you're sick of paying those "Foreign Transaction Fees".
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
Kristen,
Another way to avoid the transaction fees would be to pay cash for your Hotel room bill (of course you'd still have to deal with the ATM fees).
Cheers!
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2788 posts
After getting my Credit Union to raise my daily withdrawal limit to $1000 US, and having a DEBIT card from them that only charges 1%, I withdraw enough over several days to have enough euros to pay for our hotel stays so we never have to use a CREDIT card. Even in places that want $ up front (think B&Bs) I explain what I will be doing and give them as much as I can every day until I have paid their bill.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
Yes the 3% conversion fees are there for many cards and we must live with it or open a Capital one card or Schwab acct.i manage my spending every yr in europe to minimize the fees. So imp to ck fees before leaving home and charging.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
689 posts
This is why I have a Capitol One card. I don't know any other that doesn't charge for overseas transactions.
Posted by
San Francisco, California, USA
446 posts
A lot of the credit card companies have now sneakily started to add foreign transaction fees of one to three percent to your card purchases for any transaction with a company that has its headquarters outside of the United States. This even includes purchases in US Dollars you make on the Internet. For example, if you use an Internet service (such as web hosting) by a company in Canada, you will incur a foreign transaction fee -- even though that company only bills in US Dollars. This is really annoying, and I think unfair, because sometimes, when you make a purchase on the Internet, you can't always tell where the company's headquarters is located.
It's yet another scheme to generate more profit for the banks -- no doubt in response to Congress' efforts to pass new legislation to reign in the credit card companies.
Bank of America started doing this last month with my credit card. They have never done this before for Canadian transactions. Well, Bank of America has just lost a customer. I'm switching to Capital One and Schwab for all credit card purchases.
Posted by
McLean, VA, USA
1 posts
we are travelling to europe this fall. The exchange rate US/EURO is bad enough, now I find that my credit card company VISA is going to charge me a 3% foreign transaction fee everytime I use the card. I'm definitely going to make a real effort to find a better way Maybe Capital One is a start. Or, maybe use my Bank money card at ATM machines real often, if the fees aren't to outrageous!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23268 posts
William you need to check all fees very carefully and frequently. Most debit cards will have currency fees in the range of 3% and sometimes a withdraw fees. Some credit unions, Schwab money account have no fees or maybe 1%. You do have to shop around.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
2745 posts
For those of you that can join. USAA's credit card does not charge the fees and the Debit card has no extra charges. Not to mention that when you call they have LIVE HUMANS! YES!!!!
Posted by
Wichita
831 posts
For those of you looking for a better rate on fees this may help http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
52 posts
Love this site and just received our CapitalOne card. Yes, okay, there's no fee - but now I'm wondering if the exchange rate is less favorable. Anyone ever compare this? Anyone ever have time to compare this?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23268 posts
The exchange rate is exactly the same for all debit and credit cards. It is set by the network (Plus, Cirrus) which uses the interbank rate.
Posted by
Clarksville, TN, USA
956 posts
Carol, you're actually incorrect. I have USAA and called them last night to ask them about overseas debit card usage. (We are leaving in two weeks.) I told him that I assumed there would be none since there are service members that live overseas. He said that there is a 1% fee on all transactions -- ATM withdrawals and merchant purchases. He said the only way to get around some of this, is that you get up to $15.00 in ATM surcharges refunded and you could recover up to $15 of that 1%. Although this is less than other banks charge, it's still adding money to our trip on an already not-so-good exchange rate...