Don't trust their percentages. I had one of these scam merchants (Goldcar Rentals on Gran Canaria) pull the DCC stunt on me recently. The contract claimed it was a 2.25% fee, but their exchange rate was $1.41+ and the midmarket interbank rate on that date for the euro was never above 1.35. Either they flunked math or they are applying their percentage to a rate that already contained some amount over the interbank rate.
Look up the actual mid-market interbank rate.
Originally Posted by
SF_trotter
Thanks Moondog.
In my case I don't need to look up the interbank rate because my receipt explicitly says the markup was 3.75%:
"This transaction is based on Reuters Wholesale Interbank exchange rate plus 3.75 percent international conversion margin."
So Virgin Blue did disclose the markup after I completed my transaction, but not during. Nowhere during the booking process was I informed that I was going to be charged in my own currency at a mark-up, let alone given the option to decline it. I even went through a dummy booking process to double check.
I'm actually a little surprised that Virgin Blue is so brazenly violating Visa's rules.