rharnold98

Everyone:
That is some really great advice.
Thank you all for your responses. I also read a blog by Rick Steves that mirrored much of what you all said.

Thanks again

spaarne

<i>We are going to Europe and have a question about US credit cards
Posted by: rharnold98 on Jul 31, 11 at 6:15pm Posted in: Europe Tagged: Czech Republic Jump to last reply
We have heard that credit cards issued by US banks may not work in some places in Europe.</i>

Acceptance of credit cards is not ubiquitous as it is in the USA. Always carry some cash.

<i>I also read a blog by Rick Steves that mirrored much of what you all said.</i>
RS wears white socks so I wouldn't rely on his advice.

PaulH

Is it still true to decline the offer to Americans to charge in US dollars? That used to add in an additional fee. (Change to euro at the local bank, then back to dollars at the US bank.)

Michel_Paris

Dynamic Currecny Conversion

When travelling outside of your home country, you should ALWAYS want to be billed in the local currency of where you are.

If they ask you to bill in your currency, that menas they are about to determine an exchange rate..and you may assume correctly it will be a rate that is NOT to your advantage i.e. worse than VISA's. MCs.etc.

They are NOT doing you a favour.

Luckily, most places do not do this. If yes, they are supposed to get your permission. Ireland seems to be the place that pops up in travel stories.

november_moon

I've read that if a merchant runs a transaction using DCC without your permission and refuses to redo the transaction, then the best thing to do is not sign the recipt - instead write "Local currency not offered" and dispute the charge with your credit card company. Often, just the threat of a dispute will motivate them to redo the transaction.

xyz123

november_moon...you are 100% correct although I went through that for a charge I made at a Burger King in Dublin this past June...the diffeence was something like 74¢ on an €8 charge. My bank does not charge the 3% foreign transaction fee (BTW another of the rip offs involved in dynbamic currency conversion is that manyt near criminal banks that charge a foeign transaction fee charge it even if the charge is converted illegally by the merchant)...in any event I was loaded for bear and could hardly wait to get home to have the charge charged back to them and make them look like the rip off pos's they were. You know what happened? My credit card company simply refunded to me the 74¢ rather than charge back the charge. They let them get away with it......folks this rip off must be stopped it is a malignancy and it is growing. A hotel I use all the time in London for the first time tried to pull it on me and while I did get the clerk to void the transaction (void it not credit it) he kept insisting I was being charged in sterling and that the USD amount was just an approximation to assist me (although I kept showing what I was being asked to sign. Of course one of the problems I have all the time in London now is that because of the UK's membership in the eu, so many of the people in the lower paying clerk type jobs are not British but rther from places like Poland, Hungary and their English is not as good as mine. Maybe the clerk really believed what he was telling me!