[HKfornow]

I recently purchased airline tickets for a trip with Singapore Airlines on their website and when I got my credit card statement today, lo and behold the amount charged is different from the price quoted.

Checking with both the airline and the credit card company, the story gets interesting. Per Singapore Airline, they charged me the right amount from their Hong Kong ofice, as the transaction was done over the web in HK. However, the credit card company informs me that as far as Visa & Mastercard is concerned, this transaction was from a foreign registration (Singapore) so therefore I was levied a 1.75% surcharge although this transaction was in HK $, no conversion was involved, and the bill supposedly was generated in HK. I am informed that I have no recourse on either side, since Visa/Master started implementing this charge in April.

So the moral of the story is be careful shopping on the web. I was "advised" that for future transactions, I should check to see where the company will bill from. ie, from UAL, BA,etc. in order to avoid another transaction fee.

So if you've recently purchased stuff on the web, please check your bill carefully.

[PDLM]

Very strange. Every month I make a transaction using my HK-issued Visa card in the UK but denominated in HK$. I always get billed exactly what I should and neither Citibank nor Visa has ever levied a surcharge on me (and nor would I let them). Unless there is more to your story, I would simply refuse to pay in your situation.

[KnowItAll]

Something is not right with this.... we deal with mutiple currencies online and I've not heard of this charge.

If I bill someone HK$ 100, HK$ 100 or the equivalent that their bank charges, shows up on their credit card.

What credit card company are you using?

[KnowItAll]

Oh yeah, and I have dozens of transactions every month to the US and other countries.

[discobay]

Yeah using your HK-based credit card on holiday you only pay what you were charged at the time without any surcharge.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by discobay

Yeah using your HK-based credit card on holiday you only pay what you were charged at the time without any surcharge.

Er, no - if you buy something in, say, USD in the USA using a HK-based HKD credit card you will be charged a surcharge by pretty much every credit card I know. Go and read the T&Cs of your card. It's not explicit on the statement - it's hidden in the exchange rate when converted to HKD - you don't get 7.8 HKD = 1 USD; what you end up with depends on the card because some have percentage transaction fees (so the effective exchange rate is independent of transaction size) and some have a fixed fee (e.g. US$1.50 per transction) so that the effective overall exchange rate is better for bigger transactions.

The point we are discussing here is whether a surcharge is ever imposed on transactions made in the home currency of the credit card. The OP is claiming that such a surcharge was imposed on him/her because the transaction was deemed to take place "overseas". KIA and I have never had such a surcharge imposed despite many similar transactions.

[discobay]

oh yeah? if I could be bothered I'd show you my credit card statements.

[KnowItAll]

Disco, actually, yes, credit card companies maintain a slightly higher exchange rate .. but it is not a surcharge and is actually better than money changers like Thomas Cook.

(Not sure what we're debating anymore..)

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by discobay

oh yeah? if I could be bothered I'd show you my credit card statements.

If you have a credit card that gives you interbank exchange rates on all foreign currency transactions then I would love to know which one it is...

[KnowItAll]

http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic slight diff between interbank and credit card rates.