Expedia - Foreign Transaction Fees?
Jul 19, 2011, 5:37 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 275
Expedia - Foreign Transaction Fees?
Sorry for the simple question, but I've been trying to search to no avail, my google skills are failing me today!
My wife and I are going to travel in May to Edinburgh, London, and then Paris. We wanted to use Expedia to book the hotels way in advance, then maybe cancel if we can get reward stays. Right now Chase Freedom has 5% cashback (or 5x points) for hotel, airfare, and gas, so we wanted to use that card, but it has a 3% foreign transaction fee.
When booking a foreign hotel on Expedia, do I get charged those fees or am I only dealing with Expedia and they deal with the foreign side of the transaction on their end?
Does this apply to other travel booking sites i.e. Priceline, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.? Or is each one different?
Thank you for the help in advance!
My wife and I are going to travel in May to Edinburgh, London, and then Paris. We wanted to use Expedia to book the hotels way in advance, then maybe cancel if we can get reward stays. Right now Chase Freedom has 5% cashback (or 5x points) for hotel, airfare, and gas, so we wanted to use that card, but it has a 3% foreign transaction fee.
When booking a foreign hotel on Expedia, do I get charged those fees or am I only dealing with Expedia and they deal with the foreign side of the transaction on their end?
Does this apply to other travel booking sites i.e. Priceline, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.? Or is each one different?
Thank you for the help in advance!
Jul 19, 2011, 12:29 pm
#2
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: MSP/BUF/BNA/LFT
Programs: AA Plat, Priority Club Gold, Choice Privileges Gold
Posts: 1,225
Expedia will charge you in US dollars from a US location as long as you use their US website. There will be no foreign transaction fees. If you use a foreign Expedia website, there will be foreign transaction fees.
Jul 19, 2011, 12:40 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 275
Jul 20, 2011, 3:29 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London and Zurich
Programs: AA, BA, Mucci: Sir Roger des Directions Routières, PCR
Posts: 13,609
The international Expedia sites I'm familiar with (in Europe, the US and Canada) don't charge foreign transaction fees. Depending on your credit card, a currency conversion fee may be added but that would be applied by the credit card company. As it happens, I use fee-free credit cards, so no fee.
Sep 1, 2011, 12:17 pm
#6
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 3,665
I booked hotels in Italy on Expedia and was charged by some hotels in Euros. The Expedia agent explained that in some cases you are buying from Expedia in your own currency and sometimes you are buying from the hotel in theirs. In general, if you pay in advance and your credit card is charged, it is in the currency of the Expedia agency you use (.com = US, .ca = Canada). If you pay on arrival, it will be to the hotel in theirs.
Feb 3, 2018, 6:45 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: BKK
Posts: 6,741
If the airline in question has a website in your home country, you could try booking that way.
There are many forex free free credit cards these days. Make sure to get one!