Credit Card Bill After using in Europe

[roadster08]

Last traveled to Europe on business about 6 years ago, and used my personal credit card to pay for everything, which were priced in Euros. When I got my cc bill a month later, I was surprised at how much lower the cost of things were when they were billed in US $. It was something like 20-30% cheaper than if I had converted $ to Euros and paid cash. Didn't think much of it at the time because I was reimbursed for all my expenses anyway.

 

Soon I will be returning to Europe on vacation. My question is, for those who have gotten a recent credit card bill after paying for things in Europe in Euros, how did those items now priced in US $ compare to what you expected?

[sk8teacher]

Pretty close to expected. I use Cap 1 and when they convert they use the rate for the day the bill comes in, and do not charge a conversion fee. I have doubled checked the rate for when a conversion is posted and it's always been exact.

 

I believe that most (if not all) other charge cards impose a 2-3% conversion fee for each transaction, so that would affect the total charges.

 

Cheers,

[eandj]

Last traveled to Europe on business about 6 years ago, and used my personal credit card to pay for everything, which were priced in Euros. When I got my cc bill a month later, I was surprised at how much lower the cost of things were when they were billed in US $. It was something like 20-30% cheaper than if I had converted $ to Euros and paid cash. Didn't think much of it at the time because I was reimbursed for all my expenses anyway.

 

Soon I will be returning to Europe on vacation. My question is, for those who have gotten a recent credit card bill after paying for things in Europe in Euros, how did those items now priced in US $ compare to what you expected?

 

Six years ago the the dollar value was different. You need to check the value of the dollar compared to euros on the day of your purchase to find out the dollar cost for you. Last I looked, it took about $1.56 to cover one euro. NOT a cheap time to travel Europe. In other words, a hotel I book for 200 Euro would be about $300 in dollars. So no, today you won't be surprised at how much your dollar will buy! :eek:

[roadster08]

Pretty close to expected. I use Cap 1 and when they convert they use the rate for the day the bill comes in, and do not charge a conversion fee. I have doubled checked the rate for when a conversion is posted and it's always been exact.

 

I believe that most (if not all) other charge cards impose a 2-3% conversion fee for each transaction, so that would affect the total charges.

 

Cheers,

 

Thanks for answering my specific question and yes, found out that both my cards charge a 3% conversion rate now.

[mjfeaster]

Thanks for answering my specific question and yes, found out that both my cards charge a 3% conversion rate now.

 

We live here in Germany and the rate is a little better now that it has been in the last two years, but still not great. 1 euro = 1.44 USD right now. Something new this year is that visa now charges 1% for a "foreign transaction charge" and this is on top of whatever your credit card company charges. We have now started to withdraw euros at atm's and pay in cash just because visa has gone to far.