Why are there foreign transaction charges when booking a cruise on Oceania

[PaulMCO]

The article stated that the that the Amex Platinum card does not charge foreign transaction fees. Those fees are for currency only exchange/conversion only and does not effect the issues about Irish banks the problem stated. Amex was one of those cards you would never have a USD transaction fee if the currency of the bill was USD.

 

As of 31 March some of the Chase cards no longer have any foreign transaction fees - some of the Club cards (UA, Continental) do not charge fees.

 

Also the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier card does not. Just ran up at 6K bill in Jordan, Dubai and other places and the exchange rate used was indeed the current bank rate (.707 JD to the USD and 3.67 AED to USD) and NO FOREIGN TRANSACTION charges. This is effective 31 March and includes the foreign fees of USD transactions by non US banks.

 

So besides Capitol One -- there are other ways to avoid these fees.

 

But remember -- if charged these fees by Oceania on a Booking in USD. Oceania will refund them via check or OBC if you or your TA ask. Most TA's that do regular business with Oceania are aware of the issue.

[oceanbill457]

PaulMCO

I just inquired about My Continental Chase One Pass card. There is a 3% charge for foreign transactions. Most cards do charge the fees. My other cards with USAA Savings bank charge 1% which is a little more tolerable. The issue here is that it is not Oceania charging the fees, but the banks.

[Benita]

The new Capital One Venture card does not charge foreign transaction fees or foreign bank fees. It also gives 2 points for every dollar spent. For awhile, they were offering up to 100,000 points for getting the card, if you can show that you accumulated that amount from another airline card. However, they seem to take forever to issue the card, so the offer for the extra points will probably expire by the time you get the card. It is free for the first year, and the $59 a year afterwards. The regular Capital One cards are also free, but they don't give you double points, so we upgraded our Capital One to the Venture card.

Just to reiterate what a few posters have written, you need a card without a foreign bank fee, which is different from a foreign currency fee, to avoid fees when you pay for the cruise. Oceania has been gracious in crediting the passengers the foreign bank fee, but certain cards will let you avoid the situation entirely.

[DaveFr]

Hopefully, foreign transaction fees on Oceania and Regent charges will be a thing of the past. A little while ago, my TA stated that Regent had switched from the Irish bank to an American bank (I believe it was Chase). I assume Oceania would also switch to Chase.

 

About 10 days ago, as an experiment, I charged a Regent excursion on a Mastercard that had previously assessed a foreign transaction fee on a Regent charge. There was no foreign transaction fee (such fees are posted online immediately) and the merchant location was Miami, FL and not Ireland.

 

With any luck, threads such as this one won't appear in the future.

 

Dave

[PaulMCO]

PaulMCO

I just inquired about My Continental Chase One Pass card. There is a 3% charge for foreign transactions. Most cards do charge the fees. My other cards with USAA Savings bank charge 1% which is a little more tolerable. The issue here is that it is not Oceania charging the fees, but the banks.

 

The One Pass CLUB card has eliminated the foreign transaction fee.