EYWandBTV

Hello all,

We have been traveling in Spain for a week, now in Toledo, and we are bumping into DCC all over the place. We had two trips to Europe last year, one to Italy and one to England, and I don't recall encountering so much DCC.

Merchants are supposed to ask you but many don't. Now before I hand them my card I say "euros--no dolares!" Be careful,the difference can be several points.

Christina

true, I think it has become a little more prevalent in Spain in the last few years

xyz123

As Nancy Reagan once said, "Just say no."

rialtogrl

Its true and it is a total pain in the you know what.

I don't know what kind of line the banks have fed all these businesses, but clearly they are doing a bit more marketing of DCC than in the rest of Europe.

I had one guy in a hotel tell me "sometimes it works out better to use the DCC." Yeah, if someone is paying a 5% transaction fee on their credit card.

Now before I hand them my card I say "euros--no dolares!" I do the same, but then I add, "the banks are ROBBERS." Never fails to get a hearty agreement, a nod of the head, or at least a smile.

immimi

Almost every ATM offered a choice - often couched in tricky language that you had to re-read before making your decision or you would be giving the bank a nice bonus...robbers indeed!

greg

I now see it everywhere, but there are variations. In Switzerland, they try to do this everywhere, but the merchant always asked me to push EURO/DOLLAR button, not the sales person.

In Italy/Spain, the store person sometimes chose dollar without asking me and presented me with a slip that said:
1. I was offered a choice of currency - a LIE
2. I accepted to be charged in dollar - another LIE
and had to tell the merchants to redo the transaction.

I found that using a CHIP and PIN card at merchants that did not touch my card, machines on the counter facing the buyer so I did the card transactions, offered some protection in that I was ALWAYS the one that pushed EURO/DOLLAR option button if the screen offered that option.

aggiegirl

I know all about DCC, but still got screwed this past weekend in London. I don't use my credit card much, but each time I used it, I was asked if I wanted to be charged in dollars or pounds. I said pounds each time. THEN, I go to check out at the Best Western. I said before even presenting my card that I wanted to be charged in pounds, clerk said no problem. When the total came up on the machine, it was in dollars, at a higher rate than the current exchange rate. I clicked decline, telling guy I want to pay in pounds. He insists it will be in pounds. I argue and argue, I don't think he understood me. Finally, before I lose my mind and my waiting cab to take me to the airport leaves without me, I finally just do it, but I'm really mad. It amounted to at least $19 more than I should have been charged. I'll be writing a letter to Best Western, complaining to my credit card company in case they can help, and I'll be writing up a negative review on Trip Advisor. I travel to Europe every year and have never had this problem. If I had known this would have happened, I would have gotten cash from an ATM the night before. My departure was at 6 am, so there was no time that morning. I had stayed at Best Western Corona five years ago and liked it enough to return for this trip, but I will never, ever go there again.

Robert2533

This is now an old story that keeps going on and on, like the Energizer Bunny. As has been mentioned before, Amex is the only card company that does not allow DCC, but then not everyone uses or accepts Amex, so you have to be one up on the marchant, restaurant or hotel.

thursdaysd

Yes, EVERY transaction in Switzerland offered DCC. I barely encounted it in France and Italy, but have run into it more in Spain. Just used a Deutsch Bank ATM in Salamanca, which offered DCC, BUT also told me what the markup would be. It was two point something, headed towards three, which is a good bit less than the amount on purchases in Switzerland would have been. I suppose if you have a high fee bank in the US, the Deutsch Bank rate might actually be less....

Robert2533

You'll still pay the outragious fee charged by Bank of America when using Deutsch Bank in Switzerland. The only place you don't get hit with the $5 fee would be at a Deutsch Bank ATM in Germany.

thursdaysd

I am not, I am happy to say, a BofA customer, but isn't the $5 a flat fee for using a non-BofA ATM? That is not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about the currency conversion fee, which I believe is 3% on BofA accounts.

Mimar

<< As Nancy Reagan once said, "Just say no." >>

You don't always get the opportunity to say no. Or rather you have to tell them to cancel the charge and redo it in euros.

StCirq

I was in Bordeaux the past few days and used a CIC bank (and I should know what that's the acronymn for but I can't think of it at the moment) to withdraw some sous, and got a message on the screen that they were "offering me" the option to have the transaction made in dollars. I Don't Think So! If the bank had been open I would have gone inside and made a stink, but it was outside banking hours. NEVER accept this!

Peter_S_Aus

No problem for me - ever. I pay cash everywhere.

janisj

>>No problem for me - ever. I pay cash everywhere.<<

But presumably you get that cash from somewhere -- out of an ATM? If so, yes DCC would be a problem.

xyz123

Peter S...why? Cash is so much more inconvenient and anyway you have to exchange your local currency for euro somewhere.

HappyTrvlr

We made a hotel redo our bill in Euros last month. They had presumed we'd want it in dollars.

janisj

xyz123: A lot of people just <i>like</i> using cash. You always seem so shocked by that.

Peter_S_Aus

I draw cash from ATMs in 400 ueru tranches. My bank does not charge forex fees nor ATM fees, and the exchange rate is OK. The ATM generally have an English language option, and I have never been offered DCC.

The fewer plastic card transactions one makes, the less risk of being stung by DCC.

I have never encountered a merchant, resteraunt or business that showed any reluctance to being paid in cash. Also I like concept of the merchant receiving whatever they are charging, not reduced by the amount that Visa, Amex or whoever charges. Pay cash, walk out, I have had the service, they have the money. Seems fair to me. And it is easier to tip, if one desires, when paying cash, and you know the tip is with the waiter, not the owner.

In Italy, quite a few places - including our favourite resteraunt in Venice - do not accept plastic.

xyz123

janisj...I suppose I should get that. I'm always curious, though, why people prefer cash. Once upon a tie, long long ago, I too used cash for traveling purposes like just when I got out of college and remember quaint things like travelers cheques or having to worry about running out of local cash or having too much left over when leaving one country for the next and knowing, for example, that all currency transactions are pegged at 10% or more above the interbank rate. With no foreign transaction fee credit cards, I get the exact interbank rate and save 10% (although the response back should be one gets the same rate at an ATM if that's the direction one goes to get cash). For convenience alone, I find it hard to understand anybody's preference for cash but everybody is certainly entitled to their own opinion. Quite frankly, the last time I paid cash for anything was last December when I visited Disneyland and was dismayed to find the vendor with the ice cream bars did not take credit cards. My rule is credit card for everything whenever possible but I know some people find that strange so again to each his or her own.