Foreign transaction fees when booking hotel

[hobbess]

Is there any way to avoid the foreign transaction fee that your credit card company charges you when you make a reservation for an overseas hotel?

 

In terms of foreign transaction fee, does it make any difference if you book directly from the hotel or use a third party website?

[WatchHill]

Since we are spending ten nights in the UK prior to a cruise, booking various hotels for our road trip has been a priority.

 

Book all tours, hotels, transportation, etc., in the currency of the country you are visiting and let you CC bank do the exchange. Always use a credit card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee such as Capital One, Bank of America Travel or Barclay's World Travel Elite. Discover does not charge FTF's, but is rarely accepted outside of the USA unless you are booking a domestic hotel with a foreign presence.

 

First, I try to avoid the "middle man" because they seem to want payment in full up front. Second, it's good to know the "rules" about booking with foreign entities: deposits, discounts, cancellation fees, etc.

 

I booked our first hotel stay, two night in London, with a small GB chain, opting to join their "executive" club program, using one of my NFTF credit cards, and received an up front 10% discount. After planning and researching various places to visit in England and Wales, I booked directly with each hotel. DH did the same with renting a car - even though it was a US supplier, he was required to place a small deposit on the rental. In the past month, I've seen small deposits show up on our credit cards for the various hotels and tour tickets - none of which had any fees. To verify if any hidden exchange rates were buried in the conversion, I checked the over night currency rates for each day and each and every one was to the pence/cent.

 

Darcy

[xlxo]

Also contact your credit card company..... different cards charge different rates.

[Philob]

IME when I book with a US based hotel chain directly the initial request for credit card information is used to hold our reservation. Other than a "pending" transaction that appears for a few days on your credit card account and the charges is not put through unless you "no show". When you check in you are asked if the charges for your stay will be placed on that card or will you use another. And when you check out those charges will be subject to the FTF.

 

When I book through a "third-party" website, I'm charged immediately the full amount quoted. Since I only use the major travel websites I do not recall any FTF.

 

I also know that when I purchased airfare directly from a non-US based airline there will be a FTF. BUT if I use a brick n mortar TA to book the same airline, there isn't :confused:

[hobbess]

Always use a credit card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee such as Capital One, Bank of America Travel or Barclay's World Travel Elite. Discover does not charge FTF's, but is rarely accepted outside of the USA unless you are booking a domestic hotel with a foreign presence.

 

I don't have any of those credit cards listed that won't charge a foreign transaction fee. I have a a Bank of America visa, but not Bank of America Travel.

 

I don't know if I should get a Bank of America Travel when I'm only traveling overseas once a year.

[WatchHill]

I don't have any of those credit cards listed that won't charge a foreign transaction fee. I have a a Bank of America visa, but not Bank of America Travel.

 

I don't know if I should get a Bank of America Travel when I'm only traveling overseas once a year.

 

There's no reason you can't use these NFT cards all year at home, building up points toward in travel rewards. The Barclay's card does have an annual fee after one year; if you cannot justify the fee against the perks, then cancel the card. BAC's card does not have an annual fee, same with Capital One. With a 3% conversion rate, plus any added fees, you have to decide what works best for you. Another consideration, using an ATM. One of our cards does have a small exchange fee when overseas, but I just applied for a new one attached to an area bank - that particular bank will credit up to $20 per month if I'm charged any fees when out of the country.

 

One reason I keep the Barclay's card - it's a real chip and pin card so I can use it at kiosks instead of standing inline to have a real person handle the transactions such as rail or gas when in Europe.

 

Everyone's situation will be different; only you can decide what works best for your travel plans.

 

Darcy

[iancal]

We travel frequently. We use a Visa card that does not add a fee to foreign transactions. Nor does it add 2.5-3 points for a cash withdrawal.

 

We put all of our foreign transactions through on this card. We also use the cash advance feature BUT we pre load the card with cash, ie a credit balance, so that there is no interest charge when with do a cash advance.

 

Just added up the savings over the past six. months. We added up our savings from not paying the extra 2.5 percent on Visa transactions and the higher FX charges from our normal bank card. Just under $600 in saving on credit card transactions and $400 cash advance fx fee savings. All of these fees are 'hidden' fees at the bank we usually deal with.

 

Our cards are all chip and pin. This has been standard/universal practice where we live for at least three years. Never had an issue with them.

Edited April 11, 2015 by iancal