American Express Membership Rewards - foreign exchange fee on Starwood Amex?

Does anybody know, offhand, what is the foreign exchange fee charged when using the SPG Amex card? I thought it was 2% but I've seen some posts here saying it's 3%.

Does Amex use a wholesale rate for the conversion to US$? Which one?

Thanks,
David

According to AmEx customer service, it's a straight 2%, NOT 2% plus 1% as with Citibank, Chase, etc. Of course, when you try to check the calculations you need to know the wholesale rate for the date your transaction was processed and what that date was. This information is not easy to get. I have desisted. I tend to use a MasterCard with a 1% exchange fee and a Barnes & Noble rebate when outside of the US. There are lots of 1% rebate cards of different sorts available.

Thank you!

-David

Other FTers have noticed that, although AMEX is supposed to exchange at the same wholesale rate (before surcharge) as Visa and Mastercard, the rate upon which the exchange actually takes place is 1% worse than purchases made with Visa/MC on the same day.

So, while you technically should only pay a 2% surcharge, you'll actually pay 3% compared to using Visa/MC...

I use www.oanda.com (http://www.oanda.com) for getting current and historical currency exchange quotes.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by anthonyanthony:
Other FTers have noticed that, although AMEX is supposed to exchange at the same wholesale rate (before surcharge) as Visa and Mastercard, the rate upon which the exchange actually takes place is 1% worse than purchases made with Visa/MC on the same day.

So, while you technically should only pay a 2% surcharge, you'll actually pay 3% compared to using Visa/MC...

</font>


&lt;Counting fingers and toes here&gt; So it's the same as the Citibank AAdvantage card, which adds 2 per cent to the Visa one per cent?

I've always been charged a total of 2% on all my American Express cards. I haven't checked in a year or so, though, but I've never been charged 3%.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Lindsy:

&lt;Counting fingers and toes here&gt; So it's the same as the Citibank AAdvantage card, which adds 2 per cent to the Visa one per cent?
</font>

Because of what I have read in this forum, I have always avoided using AMEX outside the country. I assumed it was true that AMEX's foreign exchange rate is about 1% worse than Visa/MC.

But if QuietLion is correct, than my fears are completely unfounded -- I trust what what QL has to say about this issue more than a hundred other FlyerTalkers put together http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

Next trip abroad I'm going to make two purchases at the same store on the same day with a Visa and an AMEX to see what kind of exchange rates they get.

I'm only one anthony, but I have done the experiment anthonyanthony proposes. It didn't work, because the charges made on the same day were processed on different days. There's another problem: according to my bank, the transaction date on your statement is not necessarily the day your exchange was processed -- it's the day your charge was received by VISA or MC in the country you made the charge. What to do? Don't we have any bankers on this board?

Anthony

Would the good folk who have banks who still don't add a fee to the 1% basic rate charged by MC and Visa, please name them? The only only I know of at the moment is AFBA, a pleasant outfit to do business with in any regard, but it would be nice to have a backup.

Note that if you have Internet access on travel it's easy enough to check "official" exchange rates every day and keep a spreadsheet, if the Science Camp is worth the effort. I use www.xe.com/ucc, (http://www.xe.com/ucc,) but there are no doubt plenty of others.

I checked the exchange rate used for expenses in EUR using my US$ card.

It's 3% above the EuroFX rate (Frankfurt).

Have a look at USAA. There is no ATM fee for the first 10 transactions in a month....

I just canceled my United Mileage Plus MasterCard, now at 3%, and got a Fleet Bank Platinum Cash Rebate Visa, 1% forex fee and no annual fee.

Amex usually charges a better rate than Visa/MC cause they don't need to split the fee between the banks.

Nonsense. AmEx charges 2% and Visa/MC charges 1%. Individual banks tack on extra fees at their whim.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by QuietLion:
Nonsense. AmEx charges 2% and Visa/MC charges 1%. Individual banks tack on extra fees at their whim. </font>

It's worse than the 2% vs. 1% stated above. As has been pointed out by numerous people's experience here, the Amex 2% seems to be consistently based on a different number than what Visa/MC use. Visa/MC appear to use the true interbank rate effective on the date of the transaction (or perhaps posting), whereas Amex's "rate" seems to be about 0.5% worse. So, when comparing Amex to Visa/MC, Amex is the equivalent of a Visa/MC rate of about 2.5%.

Ok, here is the question then. Is there a minimum transaction chrage or is it really just the % transaction fee? And based on this answer, could I get some responses to this question: Use Citibank platinum select or Amex Gold Rewards Plus while abroad?
Thanks!

Steve M, I'd have to see the data. I haven't charged foreign purchases on an AmEx for a couple years but last time I checked, the rate charged was 2% above the interbank rate as disclosed on www.oanda.com (http://www.oanda.com) . It may have changed in the last two years or it may only affect certain countries... or the posters may be mistaken.

Not very helpful for our North American friends, I know, but the only card I have heard of which charges NO % for currency conversions is my UK-issued Nationwide Visa card. They don't even charge the Visa 1%.

When abroad, I choose between that and my BA Amex card, offering only 1.5 BA Miles per £. (I say 'only' because that's about the best for a UK-issued card and compares badly with Canadian and US cards.)

My justification until now is to use BA AmEx until I have spent the £15,000 for a 'free' companion award ticket, then go for Visa.

This may change with the reduction of benefits with UK Plat (which gives me a no fee BA Amex).