Hi XYZ - I have a question for you about the Italian version of DCC. I plan to visit there this fall, and while I will have a little bit of knowledge of the language, I certainly won't be anywhere near fluent. Is it difficult to pick up this DCC scam when one's knowledge of the language is not very much?

Never mind, XYZ. I read your post more thoroughly and see that you DIDN'T have this happen in Italy. Can anyone else who has had this experience tell me?

Perhaps there's an advantage for Americans in the current state of the dollar vs. the euro: It is now much easier to spot the conversion -- if I selected an item marked 200 euros and the bill shows a total of 330, I'll certainly question it.

poohgirl..

It is easy to pick uptheir attempt to scam you with this by noting if the sales slip they try to rush to get you to sign has an amount both in euro and also in US$...the sales slip should only have am amount in euro.

Capital One Credit cards DO NOT charge conversion fees. You would do best to get one of theirs to use for your credit card transactions.

I didn't read all the previous, so someone else may already have told you this......

Thanks, XYZ. I will be on the lookout.

1. Inspect your charge slip.
2. If it indicates local currency, sign it.
3. If it doesn't, ask them to re-run it in local.
4. If they refuse or dissemble, write LOCAL CURRENCY NOT OFFERED <u>above</u> your signature and sign it.
5. Claim the difference from your card provider when you get home.
6. You will get it, because not offering local currency is a violation of the Merchant's Agreement.

Hi P,

&gt;Is it difficult to pick up this DCC scam when one's knowledge of the language is not very much?

Good advice from Robe

Wow, thanks for all the great respones - what I took away from this is to just always ensure that the VISA charges are in EUROS. I also have a Capital One card that I plan on taking cash from. So I will pay with cash for most things but the larger expense items like car rental I will use the Visa card and triple check the currency.

Thanks everyone!

I also found it useful while traveling in Ireland to explcitity inform the person running the CC through the terminal that I will not sign the receipt if it is not offered to me in &quot;Local Currency&quot;

I will be traveling back to Ireland in two weeks and will be interested to see if things have gotten worse in the intervening two years.

Or just say 'Please charge me in euro.'