travel4425

On my Xpress pass for my upcoming cruise, it asked something to the nature if i want celebrity cruise to convert the currency when i make a charge or if i want my credit card company to do it? I was going to go with the 2nd choice and let my CC Company do it, thinking I was going to get a better rate, any thoughts?

P_M

Your instincts are good.

In almost every situation it's better to let your CC company convert for you. The ship (or any other merchant) will not give you a favorable rate of exchange. I have the Capitol One card which does not charge any conversion fees, but most cards charge 1-3%. However that's still better than the mark-up the ship or other merchants will charge.

travel4425

P_M,
Great, thank you for confirming what i had thought. It always helps to get a 2nd opinion!!

Eschew

Every one charges 3%. Soem credit card may charge less if you have a deal with them.

Best alternative - cash. We typicallty paid cash the day before (sometime early in the evening before there are long line ups) and let the remainder (small amount) charged through to the credit card.

We are not big spenders so we knew roughly ahead how much the shore excursiosn would be and how much the ship board expenses would be.

If you need to buy foreign cash (Euro, etc) it is cheaper to buy "electronic/paper" than cash.

Assuming that you are in Canada and wants to buy US cash, you pay a lower exchange rate buying US$ to be deposited into your US$ account and withdraw cash from the account, as opposed to buy US cash out right. The difference could be substantial if you are buying lots.

P_M

No, not everyone charges 3%, quite a few Fodorites have the Capital One card with no charge. If you want to check this out for yourself please call Capital One. This is yet another travel tip I learned on Fodors.

P_M

I almost forgot-British Airways announced about a year ago that they no longer charge a fee on thier visa card.

Percy

Eschew :

What is electronic/paper?

Thanks... I know I am stupid

fmpden

...Every one charges 3%. Soem credit card may charge less if you have a deal with them.....

Fairly broad statement given that it is only partly correct. Granted, the majority of credit card companies do charge 3% but there are many that charge nothing or maybe 1%. Best known in Capital One, and some upscale cards, credit unions, etc.

ita

we ran against the same problem in Spain, where we were frequently asked if we wanted our charges calculated in our currency. If you say yes, you are charged a fee and given a poorer exchange rate than if you let your credit card do it.

Thanks to all the info from Fodor's forum, we knew to always say no.

Eschew

Percy, "electronic/paper" emans no actual cash changes hand.
I ahve a US$ account, Euro account & Candaain Account at teh same bank. I electronically transfer funds betweeen the 3. The exchange rate is better than buying cash. Teh rates gets even better at $1,000, $3,000 and $5,000 intervals depending on the institution you deal with.

I get more money when moving $1,000 CDN to a Euro or USD account than I would have receive if I go to the bank and buy cash right at the teller. (and I withdraw cash from the USD or Euro account after the transaction)

You have to know the system to beat the system. Next time, go to your bank and ask what is the exchange rate to buy USD or Euro as compare to what is the cost to transfer funds to a USD or Euro account.

Percy

Thanks Eschew I will have to look into that!!!

traveller69

Percy the last thing you are is stupid!!! I do the same as Eschew and I deal at HSBC. I find their banks in more countries than Canadian banks and you can negotiate with them as well. I have been dealing with them since the 60's (started as Bank of BC) so they don't charge me service charges with the exception of some foreign ATM withdrawals. I do online banking so when we are away (especially the long term stays in the winter) I can transfer funds as necessary.
Enjoy Palm Springs!!

Eschew

Hey Traveller69, look time no post! Are you home now or still down south?

Eschew

My typo is going from bad to worst ... sorry everyone ...
Traveller69, LONG TIME NO POST! (and not look time no post!)

The worst typo I had recently was I meant that I have "used" someone's service and it ended up saying I "sued" soemone!

Percy, I got to get my left hand checked. The stupid fingers are not working! Any recommendations?

traveller69

Hi Eschew

I've been posting here and there but no cruises on the horizon at the moment - well a little repo one in the spring for a week from LA back to Vancouver just for fun. We are still in Arizona but head back to Victoria the end of March. You don't want to know what our weather is like - but 70's are pretty hard to take in January!!!
I saw your post on the Baltic cruise. Percy is in Palm Springs now I believe. He wrote an extensive trip report on his Baltic cruise which was really great. We followed his advice and booked with Alla but I arranged it through cruise critic roll call so we had a good group and the cost was much more reasonable (I think there were 8 of us). They look after the visa's etc but find Percy's report. We did that cruise in 2008 so it was posted prior to that time. Guess I should be posting this on your other thread so hopefully you will check back here.