So, I was hoping to book some hotel rooms on my CBA credit cards in order to qualify for the travel insurance, but I had a number of questions – I'm kinda new to this, so please bear with me. 1. I'm aware that even if a transaction is made in AUD, if the merchant is based overseas, or the transaction is processed overseas, you incur the international transaction fees (3% on CBA Mastercard, 2% on CBA Amex). When booking on online sites such as Agoda, are the transactions based in Australia? 2. How do you know whether a merchant is based overseas? I know I do a lot of shopping on ASOS, however, I've never been charged an international transaction fee there. Same with bookdepository.co.uk – both are based in UK? Never been charged an overseas transaction fee there either. 3. Are there any hotel sites which do not incur the international transaction fee? In other words, based in Australia? 4. Even if I did go ahead and use my CBA Amex/Mastercard, is the exchange rate used Amex's/Mastercard's exchange rate? Or is it CBA's exchange rate, which is presumably a whole lot worse than Mastercard/Amex's?
Generally speaking, foreign currency are converted at the same rates set by Mastercard/Visa/Amex on any given day. The foreign transaction fee charged by your bank is on top of that. Banks do not charge based on their cash conversion rates.
Even if the merchant is based overseas, there's no definite way to know whether the transaction will attract the foreign transaction fee or not, provided it's in Australian dollars. However, you be fairly certain you'll be charged the fee if it's not in Australian dollars.
If you need to make multiple bookings on the same site, I'd suggest dipping your toe in the water by seeing whether your first booking attracts the fee before booking the others.
The question contained a web address in the subsequent post above, which was flagged by our automated spam filters for manual approval. You should now be able to see it. Cheers!
I've pondered this too. In my experience with online shopping, as long as you are paying in AUD, you should not be charged a fee. But possible check with CBA and keep it in writting wherever possible. (Look for the scroll down menu usually in the top corner of the site).
Also, where you can I'd suggest booking direct with the hotel. I've been both an owner, manager and customer in my time and can assure you can eliminate a lot of the risk in a transaction if you deal direct with the property.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on
International Transaction Fees - Agoda/Booking.
Thalius
Thalius
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 23 Sep 2014
Total posts 2
International Transaction Fees - Agoda/Booking.com
Thalius
Thalius
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 23 Sep 2014
Total posts 2
Hi guys,
So, I was hoping to book some hotel rooms on my CBA credit cards in order to qualify for the travel insurance, but I had a number of questions – I'm kinda new to this, so please bear with me.
1. I'm aware that even if a transaction is made in AUD, if the merchant is based overseas, or the transaction is processed overseas, you incur the international transaction fees (3% on CBA Mastercard, 2% on CBA Amex). When booking on online sites such as Agoda, are the transactions based in Australia?
2. How do you know whether a merchant is based overseas? I know I do a lot of shopping on ASOS, however, I've never been charged an international transaction fee there. Same with bookdepository.co.uk – both are based in UK? Never been charged an overseas transaction fee there either.
3. Are there any hotel sites which do not incur the international transaction fee? In other words, based in Australia?
4. Even if I did go ahead and use my CBA Amex/Mastercard, is the exchange rate used Amex's/Mastercard's exchange rate? Or is it CBA's exchange rate, which is presumably a whole lot worse than Mastercard/Amex's?
Thanks so much in advanced!
PeterLoh
PeterLoh
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 25 May 2012
Total posts 356
Hi Thalius.
Generally speaking, foreign currency are converted at the same rates set by Mastercard/Visa/Amex on any given day. The foreign transaction fee charged by your bank is on top of that. Banks do not charge based on their cash conversion rates.
Even if the merchant is based overseas, there's no definite way to know whether the transaction will attract the foreign transaction fee or not, provided it's in Australian dollars. However, you be fairly certain you'll be charged the fee if it's not in Australian dollars.
If you need to make multiple bookings on the same site, I'd suggest dipping your toe in the water by seeing whether your first booking attracts the fee before booking the others.
PeterLoh
PeterLoh
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 25 May 2012
Total posts 356
What about them?
Chris C.
Chris C.
Member since 24 Apr 2012
Total posts 1,116
The question contained a web address in the subsequent post above, which was flagged by our automated spam filters for manual approval. You should now be able to see it. Cheers!
PeterLoh
PeterLoh
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 25 May 2012
Total posts 356
Cheers Chris!
Jono
Jono
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 25 Jan 2013
Total posts 108
Hi Thailus,
I've pondered this too. In my experience with online shopping, as long as you are paying in AUD, you should not be charged a fee. But possible check with CBA and keep it in writting wherever possible. (Look for the scroll down menu usually in the top corner of the site).
Also, where you can I'd suggest booking direct with the hotel. I've been both an owner, manager and customer in my time and can assure you can eliminate a lot of the risk in a transaction if you deal direct with the property.