Comments on: The foreign transaction fee nightmare continues — and you could be next

By: Nags

Nags — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:05:00 +0000

try https://appsec.helpwithmybank.gov/olcc_form/intro.aspx?code=n for complaints - i just did file a complaint on BoA on this!

By: James

James — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:09:48 +0000

My wife and I visit our parents in Poland twice a year and this Christmas we are going again. We searched the Internet to get the best price and decided that we would give Orbitz a try. We purchased our tickets and were shocked to find that we were charged $68.28 in foreign transaction fees!! We have ordered tickets from Lot polish airlines before and always had the choice to purchase in dollars or zloty (polish currency). Orbitz had obviously purchased tickets for us in zloty, NOT dollars. Because of this, we were charged these fees. We called Orbitz and assumed that it was a simple mistake on their part and it would be a quick fix. After spending an hour on a conference call with them and my bank, Orbitz REFUSED to correct the mistake and said that they were not responsible for the exchange fees incurred by our bank even though THEY advertised the price in dollars!!! We called LOT polish airlines and they said that what Orbitz did is nothing short of unacceptable!! Lot advised us to get a written explanation from Orbitz as to why they won’t fix the transaction so that Lot may follow up with Orbitz. LOT is not happy and to their credit will help us get satisfaction. In the end, it was Bank of Anerica that reversed the charges at their own expense to keep me a happy customer!! Kudos to Bank if America!!! Orbitz should be avoided at all costs!!!!!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:47:02 +0000

If you have recently purchased airline tickets for an international flight with your credit card, you may have been charged a “foreign transaction fee.” Contact Jerome Noll via email at jnoll@mdpcelaw.com or Melissa Wu via telephone at (914) 517-5076 for free legal assistance in recouping your losses.

By: Credit card foreign transaction fees for purchasing BA tickets from U.S. - Page 3 - FlyerTalk Forums

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 23:18:43 +0000

[...] charged for transactions done in US Dollars, you guys might be interested in reading this article: http://www.elliott.org/blog/the-fore…could-be-next/ __________________ My Flight [...]

By: Rich C

Rich C — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:11:29 +0000

Just called Capital one and got a card that won’t charge these usurious foreign fees. Then I called Chase(which had charged me $10 on a product purchased on web in British Columbia) and told then I would be cashing my rewards and canceling my card very soon. I had been with them since the 80′s! Maybe if enough people did this, the CC companies would get rid of this fee.

By: askmrlee

askmrlee — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 04:53:48 +0000

The Visa and MasterCard associations have added fees for foreign transactions (defined here as any transaction with one party outside the US, regardless of currency).

@lenarque. Actually, I bet that your credit card (presumably a Visa or MasterCard issued by a typical “big bank”) has been charging this fee for the last 5+ years or so, but you probably didn’t see the initial disclosure in the terms & conditions. Also, the banks used to bury the fee in the exchange rate used. Since the T&C’s told you that the rate was subject to this fee, it was “properly disclosed”. Now they are detailing the fee as a separate line item. So, the fee has always been there.

Outraged? You should have been for the last few years. Find a card that does not have this fee or at least a low fee. Check out Capital One, Fidelity Rewards Amex (1% fee), JCB (1.1% fee) is available if you live in certain US states, certain PenFed Credit Union cards, the Schwab bank Visa debit card. HSBC Premier also does not charge foreign transaction fees, but you must have very high balances (~$100K+).

By: lenarque

lenarque — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:02:59 +0000

I just discover that my credit card now charges me an unbelievable 3% foreign tx fee. I’ve never been charge such a fee before and I use US credit cards to pay euro now and then. I paid for an airline ticket with a non US company. The price was originally tagged in € and I switched for $ currency. 5 days later, bank of america that owns my mbna credit card has added a whopping $68 fee.
As far as I can recall, I haven’t received any updated customer agreement. 2 questions:
1 – why shouldn’t I get automatically an updated customer agreement especially after a major change a credit card corp is acquired by a new one?
2 – how come I can’t get a disclosure agreement on-line / immediatly but only through snail mail ie. 10 business days according to bofa website?
The issue boils down to what is being done to help credit cards holders to make a rational decision about using a credit card (rather than another one)?
Disclosure, schmisclosure

By: James Morrison

James Morrison — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:53:35 +0000

Does anyone know the justification for “foreign transaction fees”? How does it cost a credit card company any more money to process a charge from a foreign location in this age of Internet access?

By: barbie45

barbie45 — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:12:39 +0000

John, I could not agree with you more. Actually your post is being kind to him.

By: joe blow

joe blow — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:43:12 +0000

as per the agreement, if the company itself was founded and/or based internationally, then you will receive a charge. it doesn’t matter where the transaction originates, its simply where the company is located… freaking…. morons

By: john c. flynn

john c. flynn — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:42:58 +0000

QUITE SIMPLY PUT BARNY FRANK IS A MORON.

By: Hawaii Vacation News Roundup: November 2, 2009

Hawaii Vacation News Roundup: November 2, 2009 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:16:45 +0000

[...] a segment on avoiding credit card foreign transaction fees. It’s a good idea to be aware of these very sneaky fees, especially if you are traveling outside of the US. By the way, I’ve considered many scenarios [...]

By: laura

laura — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:33:37 +0000

I was shocked when I discovered that my AA Citi/MasterCard charged a 3% “foreing transaction fee” for a purchase of an ELAL flight ticket NY-Tel Aviv-NY, that I purchased over the website, in the US. The ticket was purchased in dollar currency, the invoice I received from ELAL is in dollar amount ($1423,40) and it clearly states that there will be no additional taxes nor monetary supmenents, so I was confident that would be it (already an expensive ticket, right?) Of course ELAL is not responsible ot this awful charge, but at least they could make us aware that if we purchased a ticket over the website we may be incurring in a 3% “foreign transaction fee” if we use V/MC. (I don’t know about AmEx, someone told me I could have avoided the charged if I used an AmEx card).
There was no way for me to anticipate this transaction fee. It was very clear to me that the transaction was processed in the US (US currency, US invoice, English-language website). It seems that ELAL processes website transactions at their Ben Gurion Airport, Israel, and this is why the credit card considered it to be a “foreign transaction”. Not that I purchased over the website -that doesn’t matter. For the credit card, it is the same as if I was in Israel and I purchased the ticket over a counter there. Funny, ha?
I called the credit card company. I complained and said I would dispute the charge, and the customer service representative screamed to me (Yes, she screamed) No! You cannot dispute this charge!!!!
I will, of course. F…ing credit cards!

By: Cutting Credit Cards Out Of Travel @ Coach Class

Cutting Credit Cards Out Of Travel @ Coach Class — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:48:58 +0000

[...] on customers and merchants, both. Add such abusive practices as dynamic currency conversion and bogus foreign transaction fees, and it’s small wonder that buyers and and sellers are wondering why they’re putting [...]

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:07:30 +0000

I just successfully contested a FTF charge of about $75 for a ticket I purchased on British Airways for about $2900. For the record, I booked the ticket on the US site, it left and returned to the US, and I spoke on the phone with a BA USA representative. This was on a Citibank Visa card. The rep on the phone at Citi claimed “there is no way for us to know up front what will be a foreign transaction until we see it come through after the fact.” Because BA’s headquarters or bank or whatever is in London (and therefore the charge says “London” on the statement), the charge applies.

This is COMPLETELY NON TRANSPARENT to the consumer. There’s no way to know ahead of time whether a foreign transaction charge will be applied! Even when booking flights to London on a domestic airline, such as Delta, it sometimes turns out to be a codeshare with Air France or KLM… does that mean that I could purchase a Delta ticket, and then have the foreign transaction fee charged if it turns out the ticket is really with Air France? This is super ridiculous, and yet another reason why I’m not using this card any longer. Yes, I am going to write several letters of complaint.