..but they don't charge you a fee for US domestic purchases, now do they? The question is why...what's the difference? They are taking one class of transactions and treating them differently and while because of all the disclosures law suits the banks have lost they are spelling out the fees, they can no longer hide them in the total exchange rate, they would look foolish and perhaps open themselves to another law suit if they called it a foreign currency exchange fee but that's what they used to call it....it's a near criminal act as they provide me no service for doing it.

Of course, I'm not stupid enough to pay this fee to a rip off outfit like Citibank, I do all my foreign credit card transaction with the only truly fair bank Capital One which doesn't pull any of this garbage on its customers.

Yea, I could do that with Capital One too, and I would have saved maybe a hundred dollars in the past couple of years on my foreign purchases. But then I wouldn't be sitting here with a $7000 ticket for travel this summer either. Thanks, I'll stick with the latter. Go ahead and call me stupid some more, because I don't do things your way. It won't bother me as I'm sitting in my first class seat to New York, then my business class seat to Madrid, then another business class seat to Rome, then my business class seat home from Paris -- all which essentially cost me a total of maybe $100, figuring it your way.

And yes I could just use my Citibank for US purchases and get a Capital One for Europe, and I wouldn't have lost that many miles, but I'm not complaining, so I'm not sure why it should bother you.

"it's a near criminal act as they provide me no service for doing it."

So you're taking up my offer of paying my bills in Europe for me and just letting me know my exact cost so I can pay you back when I get home? As you say there's no service being provided, so it would sure be easy and won't cost you anything to do it.

Your idea of "no service being provided" and mine are vastly different.

Nobody called you stupid....you are using the cc to accumulate miles and that's the price you're willing to pay and that's fine and your right and your business...you're willing to pay the 2% for miles...tht's your trade off and that sure doesn't make you stupid...but it doesn't make the 2% fee any less nearly criminal.

And your analogy is absurd to say the least.

"Of course, I'm not stupid enough to pay this fee to a rip off outfit like Citibank,"

Sorry. Since this statement of yours immediately followed my statement that I use Citibank, I assumed it was an attempt to say I am stupid.

Which of my analogies is absurd? The one about someone else providing me the same service for free, or the one about the oil companies adding on their "nearly criminal" percentages?

...the former!

And I really didn't have the slightest intention of calling you stupid...I was referring only to myself when I said I'm not stupid enough...forgive me.

Don't worry about card fees... Why not a concern about hotel rates? Rooms use to be less than $100, now they are over $200! Same room, same services - maybe less. Today the USA dollar is falling in value. Shortly its conversion value to Pounds or Euros will be much lower; I guess more than 3% lower. Think oil! Same oil, USA gasoline now at $3 up from $1. 3% or 300%?

...and you know the best way to correct that...

Reissue the currency and make one new USD worth 10 old USD...countries have done that when the values of their currencies no longer buy what once they did...

Think of the advantages...gasoline would return to 1969 levels of 30¢/gallon....white castle hamburgers would be 8¢ each....a bottle of soda would be 13¢...a meal in Lawry's in Beverly Hills would be $2.80...a modest house would cost $16,500...

Everything would be the way it's supposed to be....

This kind of fee are 2 years old in France with the VISA system.
Explanation was an homogeneisation of the european rules...
Since 2 years as neither my bank, neither the interbank CC system have sent me a modification of the contract of my gold visa, every year I claim for the reimboursement of these additional fees and obtain them...
I think they will this year send me a new contract...
It's an additional fee and the change rate used by the CC company, if you compare it with the one published in the
newspapers is always in favour of...the banks...
American Express for us-europeans- did
not charge till now those additional fees and my bank did't charge an additional fee when my monthly amex count is debt from my bank account.
In France we are on a really credit card system...
So, I don't know if it's the same for US citizens...
Solution for French is to use the Amex when traveling in US...
(NB : several banks take also these fees when you purchase in the euro system... So the homogeneisation normally due to the use of an unique currency is not the rule...).
Erik.

I did read somewhere that in some of the euro countries, the banks do charge a "foreign charge fee" even though no foreign currency was used..namely a French person charging something in Italy...it doesn't seem to matter the currency in both countries is the euro.

But the eu is becoming very powerful in terms of legislation from what I read and trying to homogonize the whole eu...I would wager that in the near future osme sort of legislation will be introduced to prohibit that just like there is legislation in the works within the eu to prohibit the asininely high intra European international roaming rates with mobile phones! Every so often legislative bodies actually do something toprotect their citizens but not often enough.

Just returned from Denmark where hotels and restaurants added 3-4% to the bill if we proposed using a "foreign" (i.e. non-Danish) credit card. They were upfront about it, but we didn't appreciate it. Were we supposed to have the equivalent of $1000 in Danish kroner currency after a four-day stay? Their fee of course would be in addition to our own credit card's transaction fees!

That sounds like yet another credit card rip-off. The merchant's bank pays the full amount of the charge (less discount points) in his native currency. I don't see how the nationality of the card issuer changes that equation.

I think what's happening is that they're forcing buyers to use cash so they can avoid the points (doing which is a blatant violation of their Merchant Agreement).

It's probably a violation of their agreement with the credit card company to surcharge one class of transactions namely those done with a foreign credit card. Their bank does not charge them for use of a foreign credit card; the charges are all processed the same way whether from a foreign or domestic card issuer.

I would write to visa and resport these slime balls for what they are pulling.

Current link to the credit card companies and their "foreign transaction fees"

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/3/emw362004.htm

Capital One is my credit card of choice, but my credit limit is low.
I asked for an increase, but I received a letter from some anonymous person saying in effect, "You cannot ask for an increase. We will decide if you deserve one."

Anybody know a way to bargain for a higher limit. I would use the card more if the limit was higher.

I have 4 times the Capital One limit with 3 other cards. They, unfortunately, all charge the extra 3%.

Does the AAA Visa card continue to charge 1%? I have not used mine outside of the US in over a year.

Now that MBNA is really Bank of America, I wonder about it.

I called AAA and asked, and got a vague answer. I decided the person I was talking with had no idea what I meant.

In my most recent AAA magazine, they note that the foreign transaction fee for the credit card is still 1%. So MBNA hasn't increased this card yet.

Dear Bob:
On the CapitalOne website, in the FAQ, it states:
10. How can I get my credit limit increased?
To request a credit limit increase, please call our Customer Relations department at 1-800-955-7070. Options are now available to do this quickly and easily through our automated phone system.

You need to try again. If denied, ask for the reasons. Maybe they don't want to extend more credit due to the amount of credit already extended via the other cards you mentioned.

For Travel Nut

The response from Capital One is the same as it was the last time I tried.
No automatic increases in credit limit.
CO will review my account and decide whether or not I am entitled to an increase.

Perhaps I have not used the card enough,

An increase in gasoline prices from $1 to $3 is a 200% increase. Though I'm not sure why $1 was used as the starting point over some other figure.

The credit cards companies check your credit report and decide whether to increase based on all your other debts and available credit including house and car debt (credit rating). If you have 3 cards with high limits, then close one or get your limits lowered on those cards.