credit card conversion program

[Holey]

Hi posted earlier about credit card etc:confused:. On my boarding pass it says have declined the credit card conversion Programe. So hopefully I have done the right one. Any feed please peoples would be great. Thanks

[saltypeer]

Hi posted earlier about credit card etc:confused:. On my boarding pass it says have declined the credit card conversion Programe. So hopefully I have done the right one. Any feed please peoples would be great. Thanks

 

Definitely....you have done the right thing. DO NOT let Princess do the conversion, let your credit card provider do it when you return home.

 

When you get onboard, go to the pursers desk and have them double check that they are aware you do not want Princess to do the conversion........belts and braces, i know, but worth asking.

 

Pete.

[Holey]

Definitely....you have done the right thing. DO NOT let Princess do the conversion, let your credit card provider do it when you return home.

 

When you get onboard, go to the pursers desk and have them double check that they are aware you do not want Princess to do the conversion........belts and braces, i know, but worth asking.

 

Pete.

Thankyou for your feedback phew!!! I thouht I done the wrong thing.

[Floflegs]

You certainly have done the right thing. FYI if you use a post office CC there will be no charges at all when it is converted.

[suzyed]

What are you all talking about?

[vickie_bernie]

we have had our account converted twice even though both times we ask that they not convert and highlighted it. We now close our account every time the night prior to make sure it doesn't happen.

 

And once we had registered a US credit card, and requested it be charged in US, but Princess converted it to Canadian, then the credit card converted it to US, and we got dinged twice! I think it goes by where you are from more than the credit card currency.

 

Very big pain getting Princess to credit us back the amount.

[gerryl12]

Hi posted earlier about credit card etc:confused:. On my boarding pass it says have declined the credit card conversion Programe. So hopefully I have done the right one. Any feed please peoples would be great. Thanks

We always decline the conversion as our card company provides better rates. That seems to be the concenus of all the posts also.

[Floflegs]

What are you all talking about?

We are talking about folk whose normal currency is not the US$ getting their chargesd converted or not to their home currency.

[highheel girl]

Thankyou for your feedback phew!!! I thouht I done the wrong thing.

 

 

Come and join our Emerald Princess roll call! :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1220306

[cruzgryphon]

I was on the Golden a couple in July of this year and prior to the cruise had requested that the ship charge my Canadian dollar credit card in US dollar.

 

It seems with the online check in etc. the system gets hard coded before boarding the ship and it seems to use either your airport or home information to determine what currency to charge you in. If it's not correct apparently neither check in at the pier or the purser's desk can change it...leading to a bit of a convoluted process to get a non US dollar cc charged in US dollars.

 

Suggest those wanting the ship to charge in US dollars and not the currency of the credit card - get your TA (or if not using a TA someone at princess) to confirm in writing/email a couple of weeks prior to boarding that Princess will charge in US dollars and won't do a conversion...then you can take that to the purser's desk and hopefully save some time and inconvenience.

 

Cheers,

CG

[ONT-CA]

we have had our account converted twice even though both times we ask that they not convert and highlighted it. We now close our account every time the night prior to make sure it doesn't happen.

 

And once we had registered a US credit card, and requested it be charged in US, but Princess converted it to Canadian, then the credit card converted it to US, and we got dinged twice! I think it goes by where you are from more than the credit card currency.

 

Very big pain getting Princess to credit us back the amount.

 

Been there, done that. By the time Princess finished our correct transaction one would have thought that they would never want to go that route again. But they did. Now we run our boarding documents through our home printer and in big bold red letters add US FUND ONLY in two locations. Finally something that works.

[vickie_bernie]

Been there, done that. By the time Princess finished our correct transaction one would have thought that they would never want to go that route again. But they did. Now we run our boarding documents through our home printer and in big bold red letters add US FUND ONLY in two locations. Finally something that works.

 

yes it was a pain wasn't it gettting them to correct. but even when we have put it in bold and highlighed and circled - and the final bill came saying charged in US, when we got the statement thru our CC it showed it was converted, how frustrating. Now we just close the account prior to getting off, why take chances i say

[Sopwith]

I was just completing the check-in info and looked at the so-called deal offered for currency conversion. I have a Canadian $ Visa card. Princess offers to convert the on board account in US$ to C$ at the Bloomfield wholesale rate +3%, which they say is less than the rate charged by "most" CC companies. Can anyone confirm or refute their claim based on hard numbers?

[caribill]

I was just completing the check-in info and looked at the so-called deal offered for currency conversion. I have a Canadian $ Visa card. Princess offers to convert the on board account in US$ to C$ at the Bloomfield wholesale rate +3%, which they say is less than the rate charged by "most" CC companies. Can anyone confirm or refute their claim based on hard numbers?

 

Most credit card companies in the USA will charge you 3% for the conversion of a charge made in a foreign currency to the currency of the cc issuer. Actually, they will charge the 3% for a foreign charge even if it was charged in US$.

 

I do not know if it applies to your situation, but your credit card company might charge 3% for any foreign charge to your credit card, even if it is posted in your currency. So if Princess charges 3% you may get charged another 3% by your CC company, a total of 6%.

 

Best way to be sure is to go to the Purser's desk the last full day and have them swipe your card to close out your account in US$.

[hansi]

Hi posted earlier about credit card etc:confused:. On my boarding pass it says have declined the credit card conversion Programe. So hopefully I have done the right one. Any feed please peoples would be great. Thanks

 

Holey,the advice you have been given is correct (don't let Princess do the conversion) but may I add something. I see you are from the UK and I don't know what type of credit card you have, but may I sugest that you apply for a Halifax Clarity card as you don't pay extra loading fees when purchasing in foreign currency. Just a thought!:p

[Floflegs]

Back from our TA and no problems with Princess converting our charges. Just had the statement from our CC company and got a really good rate when they converted it. We have a Post Office card which makes no charges for overseas transactions.

[vickie_bernie]

I was just completing the check-in info and looked at the so-called deal offered for currency conversion. I have a Canadian $ Visa card. Princess offers to convert the on board account in US$ to C$ at the Bloomfield wholesale rate +3%, which they say is less than the rate charged by "most" CC companies. Can anyone confirm or refute their claim based on hard numbers?

 

we are in Canada and we use our Canadian Credit card, we always say do not convert as our credit card and every credit card I have ever had has always charged 1.5 or 2 % conversion fee, and the rate for exchange has always been better than their rate. I know this because one cruise we asked for our Future Cruise Credits that we bought on board to be charged in US and they were charged separately to my credit card and not converted by Princess but by my credit card. Very good rate, 1.5 % fee. The same day (as per my statement from credit card) the on board account was put thru - Princess added 3% conversion fee and then converted the amount to Canadian at a worst rate than the Future Cruise Credit was converted. One was converted by Princess' company, one by the credit card.

 

What was worst is we had stated on our form to Not convert the on board account. highlighted it, initialed it but they did anyone.

 

Take the advice above and close our your account on the last day in the currency you wish.

 

Vickie

[sorvillo]

It seems with the online check in etc. the system gets hard coded before boarding the ship and it seems to use either your airport or home information to determine what currency to charge you in. If it's not correct apparently neither check in at the pier or the purser's desk can change it...leading to a bit of a convoluted process to get a non US dollar cc charged in US dollars.

 

[Logger1]

Most credit card companies in the USA will charge you 3% for the conversion of a charge made in a foreign currency to the currency of the cc issuer. Actually, they will charge the 3% for a foreign charge even if it was charged in US$.

 

I do not know if it applies to your situation, but your credit card company might charge 3% for any foreign charge to your credit card, even if it is posted in your currency. So if Princess charges 3% you may get charged another 3% by your CC company, a total of 6%.

 

Best way to be sure is to go to the Purser's desk the last full day and have them swipe your card to close out your account in US$.

 

I have read so much of this credit card thing that it was starting to consume me. I have the fix. I will go to the bank and get $us dollars and remove my credit card entirely. I will use credit card for offship use and emergency use. If my onboard account gets low I will flip them some more cash. Getting robbed? Only place possible will be at 40,000 feet. I do not have this credit card issue any more.

[Sopwith]

I was just completing the check-in info and looked at the so-called deal offered for currency conversion. I have a Canadian $ Visa card. Princess offers to convert the on board account in US$ to C$ at the Bloomfield wholesale rate +3%, which they say is less than the rate charged by "most" CC companies. Can anyone confirm or refute their claim based on hard numbers?

 

Here's what I have learned after a bit of research:

 

RBC Visa charges a 2.5% premium over the rate set by Visa International at the time the charge is posted to the account. Using today as an example, the rate is 1.028875 + 2.5% = 1.054597.

 

See http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_results.jsp

 

Princess says they charge the Bloomberg wholesale rate + 3%. Looking at Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/currencies/americas/ they quote a rate of 1.0276. It doesn't say whether this is the wholesale rate or a retail rate. Using this figure, 1.0276 + 3% = 1.0584, which is slightly higher than the Visa rate. Giving them the benefit of the doubt re the wholesale rate, the best one would do is a wash, so better to leave well enough alone.

 

I think the guiding principle here is TANSTAAFL. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Princess would not offer their so-called "deal" unless they could make money at it.

 

I'll leave for another day the debate over whether a 2.5 or 3% premium on a currency transaction is fair and reasonable.

[donna5]

Most credit card companies in the USA will charge you 3% for the conversion of a charge made in a foreign currency to the currency of the cc issuer. Actually, they will charge the 3% for a foreign charge even if it was charged in US$.

 

I do not know if it applies to your situation, but your credit card company might charge 3% for any foreign charge to your credit card, even if it is posted in your currency. So if Princess charges 3% you may get charged another 3% by your CC company, a total of 6%.

 

Best way to be sure is to go to the Purser's desk the last full day and have them swipe your card to close out your account in US$.

 

Discover just announced they won't be charging.

[caribill]

Discover just announced they won't be charging.

 

Discover is rarely accepted outside the USA, so there will not be any fee to add to the non-existant Discover charges from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and South America.

[caribill]

RBC Visa charges a 2.5% premium over the rate set by Visa International at the time the charge is posted to the account. Using today as an example, the rate is 1.028875 + 2.5% = 1.054597.

 

See http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_results.jsp

 

Princess says they charge the Bloomberg wholesale rate + 3%. Looking at Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/currencies/americas/ they quote a rate of 1.0276. It doesn't say whether this is the wholesale rate or a retail rate. Using this figure, 1.0276 + 3% = 1.0584, which is slightly higher than the Visa rate. Giving them the benefit of the doubt re the wholesale rate, the best one would do is a wash, so better to leave well enough alone.

 

 

 

Your calculations show a "wash" only if the RBC Visa does not charge for a foreign transaction posted it your home currancy.

 

If it does, then that 2.5% RBC charge will be in addition to whatever Princess charged.

[only1deejay]

So does princess accept US cash as a way to pay our shipcard balance??? thanks.:)

[Sopwith]

Your calculations show a "wash" only if the RBC Visa does not charge for a foreign transaction posted it your home currancy.

 

If it does, then that 2.5% RBC charge will be in addition to whatever Princess charged.

 

RBC Visa advises that if the transaction is converted by the merchant and posted in $C the 2.5% mark-up does not apply.