lcpteck

FYI, my recent trip to Bangkok (BKK) did not experience any auto DCC when using my Visa card. I was either asked to choose the currency or was billed natively in Thai Baht (THB). When I had a choice, I chose Thai Baht and it was billed accordingly. ^

zyxlsy

That's my experience too. I didn't have the courage to swipe my card in a restaurant, but when I used it in Renaissance, the first slip coming out was a DCC info slip, saying today's DCC deal. If I didn't make mistakes calculating, I think the DCC rate was even better than the Visa rate, which couldn't be true. So I assume I made mistakes calculating... Anyway, it is easy to choose the currency in Thailand, at least at a good hotel like renaissance.

percysmith

From my (quite frequent) BKK and TPE visits, DCC there is totally fair.

Maybe Visa does good policing there. Or the local travel authority/bank regulator.

Don't read this across to anywhere else though.

zyxlsy

Fellow FTers, this is zyxlsy reporting from Beijing.

Just stepped into water by swiping my CSP at a Starbucks in Financial District Beijing to see what happens. To my surprise, there was no DCC at all.

The Starbucks in Beijing all use Bank of China machine with card reader and keypad in front of the customers, just like in the US. My experience with BoC is that they have DCC, and it is quite hard to turn off. However, seems like Starbucks in Beijing turn it off spontaneously. To prove, I visited another Starbucks a few blocks away and got the same result (no DCC).

Since all Starbucks are owned and operated by the Starbucks directly, I assume this no DCC situation is true to all Starbucks in China.

Maybe everybody else can all try using a Visa card at some Starbucks and see what happens, and post the results back here. If there is DCC, the loss would be less than a dollar.

AA_EXP09

It is easier to get a RMB denominated Stabucks card and load it directly.
(if the one I have denominated in USD doesn't work, as I have been able to use it in Canada, USA, UK, Mexico)

zyxlsy

The point is to let people know that Starbucks don't have DCC here.

However, the USD denominated Starbucks cards don't work in China, as China Starbucks have its own gift cards, which are issued by a Chinese electronic payment company.

The Starbucks gift cards in China can only be purchased by cash or debit card (I assume it means UnionPay debit cards).

zyxlsy

Come to think about no DCC in Starbucks in China, do you guys think it is because my CSP has a chip and I used the chip to run the transactions?

When in Norway and Denmark, every time I used the chip to run transactions, I got no DCC at all, even no choices. I did run into DCC with my magnetic Chase cards.

Maybe using chips can avoid DCC at the moment? Anyone with the experience on this?

AA_EXP09

Chip and signature or chip and PIN?
(though for manual transactions it makes no difference if you do not see/touch the terminal.)

percysmith

The St. Regis Shenzhen slip used in the wikipost of the DCC Master Thread? "AID: A0000000031010" - it was my HSBC HK chip and sign Visa.

zyxlsy

CSP chip and pin.

I was just confused because I knew BoC has DCC. Maybe it's Starbucks's policy to turn off DCC country wise (not proven yet but highly likely).

@percysmith, it is funny my Starbucks slips say "Chase VisaCredit" in APPLAB.

lcpteck

Yeah I think there is no difference when it comes to DCC (regardless chip or strip). CCs in SIN are all chip based (and signature) and is still prone to DCC when using MC/Visa.

zyxlsy

Just checked out of St Regis Beijing. Used my CSP, asked to turn off DCC, got the charge in CNY.
The POS is BoC. Looks like all BoC terminals at major Western hotels in Beijing can do the same thing, by hitting Cancel button right after entering amount.
Also notices, BoCommunication terminals are disappearing??? Interesting that all the Western hotels I've been to in Beijing in the recent two years all use BoC terminals at the front desk. In their restaurants however, BoCommunication terminals are prevalent.

moondog

You seem to be employing a bit too much inductive reasoning in this post to validate your conclusions. (All?)

zyxlsy

Well, by all, I mean around 15? But truth be told, I did get non-DCC transactions at all the hotels I've been to in the recent two years, and they do all use BoC terminals at front desk.

Also, my observation is that this BoC-terminal-at-front-desk and BoCommunication-terminal-at-restaurants thing is cross chain. Westin Financial Street has this setup, Ritz Carlton Financial Street has this setup, IC Financial Street has this setup. I can name a lot more out of my mind now. The only time I ran into BoCommunication terminals were at Holiday Inns, both in Beijing and Shijiazhuang.

Well, that is only my observation. And the reason I post this "conclusion" is only because I hope my observation can be put into a bigger, complete picture that will benefit all FTs in regards to using CC and avoiding DCC in China. Please do not misunderstand my intention.

zyxlsy

And, just to add some info (if they are any useful), the restaurants in Westin, IC, etc, when they use BoCommunication terminals, the terminals contain merchant name information that is the same to the hotel's 发票 (if they appear on your statement, it will be in the language of 拼音, not English). I guess this means those BoCommunication terminals are more China-oriented? Those transactions will not be recognized by Chase 5X bonus. Chase once told me clearly that transactions at the Italian restaurant in Ritz Carlton Financial Street, with the merchant name of "Li Si Ka Er Dun Jin Rong Jie" or something like that, will not earn 5X.
On the other hand, those BoC terminals at the front desks, they all have proper English names, like "St Regis Beijing" for my transaction today. Those transactions can be recognized for 5X bonus.
I'm guessing hotels above the level of Sheraton, have separate terminals for oversea visas and UnionPay cards. I say this because I only see BoComm terminals in Holiday Inns in Beijing, and I've been to all of them.
I clearly remember in Shijiazhuang, the front desk used the BoComm terminal, without incurring DCC. But I had to contact Chase to get the 5X. Maybe the hotel was so new, or maybe BoComm terminals were not registered for official IHG rewards. However, there did have Holiday Inn transactions through BoComm terminals, in Beijing, that were recognized by Chase for 5X points.
Those BoComm terminals are that type of mobile POS machines. BoC terminals at front desks are immobile, and have a separate keypad with mag and EMV readers.
These terminals have beatable DCC (at least, in Beijing, at the 15 hotels I've been to).