Recently, I booked UA tickets through their 1K Desk (no fees) using my Australian CBA Platinum card & paid in A$'s.?Two days later I was shocked to see a 3% International Transaction Fee (ITF) debited. So, I am looking for a way to avoid this bank fee for future bookings.
Has anyone purchased UA tickets from UA'sr Australian website (www.unitedairlines.com.au). If so, and if you used an Australian credit card, were you charged the 3% ITF. I refer to CBA's rules below. So, it seems that if UA preocesses the transaction in Australia no ITF is incurred. Do they?
I have USA credit cards & a USA address so I could purchase the tickets using that method. However, I need to deposit funds in US$'s into my USA?credit card to cover the purchase & I will?therefore incur the currency conversion fee of approx 4%. I cant win :(
john
CBA Rues for ITF.
"In some cases, overseas merchants may allow you to pay in Australian dollars, e.g. when you’re shopping online or over the phone. This is still considered an international transaction because your transaction is processed overseas.
Note: Even though a merchant has a website address ending in ‘.com.au’ and displays prices in Australian dollars, they may still be located overseas or otherwise choose to process their credit card payments outside of Australia.? It’s best to check with the merchant before you pay if you are unsure".
American Express Australia doesn't charge foreign fees on any AUD transactions regardless of where the merchant is located (e.g., I subscribe to Spotify Premium and the transaction is processed in Stockholm in AUD: I only pay the AUD figure charged, and no fee on top). Westpac also applies no fees on any Altitude Black American Express transactions in AUD which are processed overseas.
(The 'pay in AUD but still get charged a fee' concept was mostly implemented by banks in response to overseas merchants offering 'dynamic currency conversion' at the point of sale, where you could choose to pay in AUD rather than that merchant's native currency. It's never a great option to take as the exchange rates are always very padded, but it has the knock-on effect of making genuine AUD transactions with overseas merchants, such as booking flights departing Australia, more expensive. This used to happen a lot with Uber too, until they moved Australian payments to an Australian merchant account.)
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Booking United Airlines with Australian Credit Card
maunder
maunder
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
Member since 03 Oct 2014
Total posts 1
Hi,
Recently, I booked UA tickets through their 1K Desk (no fees) using my Australian CBA Platinum card & paid in A$'s.?Two days later I was shocked to see a 3% International Transaction Fee (ITF) debited. So, I am looking for a way to avoid this bank fee for future bookings.
Has anyone purchased UA tickets from UA'sr Australian website (www.unitedairlines.com.au). If so, and if you used an Australian credit card, were you charged the 3% ITF. I refer to CBA's rules below. So, it seems that if UA preocesses the transaction in Australia no ITF is incurred. Do they?
I have USA credit cards & a USA address so I could purchase the tickets using that method. However, I need to deposit funds in US$'s into my USA?credit card to cover the purchase & I will?therefore incur the currency conversion fee of approx 4%. I cant win :(
john
CBA Rues for ITF.
"In some cases, overseas merchants may allow you to pay in Australian dollars, e.g. when you’re shopping online or over the phone. This is still considered an international transaction because your transaction is processed overseas.
Note: Even though a merchant has a website address ending in ‘.com.au’ and displays prices in Australian dollars, they may still be located overseas or otherwise choose to process their credit card payments outside of Australia.? It’s best to check with the merchant before you pay if you are unsure".
Chris C.
Chris C.
Member since 24 Apr 2012
Total posts 1,116
American Express Australia doesn't charge foreign fees on any AUD transactions regardless of where the merchant is located (e.g., I subscribe to Spotify Premium and the transaction is processed in Stockholm in AUD: I only pay the AUD figure charged, and no fee on top). Westpac also applies no fees on any Altitude Black American Express transactions in AUD which are processed overseas.
(The 'pay in AUD but still get charged a fee' concept was mostly implemented by banks in response to overseas merchants offering 'dynamic currency conversion' at the point of sale, where you could choose to pay in AUD rather than that merchant's native currency. It's never a great option to take as the exchange rates are always very padded, but it has the knock-on effect of making genuine AUD transactions with overseas merchants, such as booking flights departing Australia, more expensive. This used to happen a lot with Uber too, until they moved Australian payments to an Australian merchant account.)