Originally Posted by
moondog
I'm currently at Cantina Agave, which is trying to DCC me. I'm in the mood for a bit of a battle this evening, so I'm sticking by my guns:
1) zhao shang bank: 3888 3565
2) they claim that foreign cards ALWAYS get billed in FX, and there is NO workaround
3) their surcharge is only around 3%, so not the end of the world
But, this is proof that DCC is starting to run wild.
....
Fast forward 10 minutes:
-Zhao Shang Bank is actually part of HSBC
-resolution: reduce my tab by 3.x %, rebill me in USD, credit the restaurant with the difference... as happy as I am to recover the single dollar, this attitude proves that the banks honestly don't care about us
Isn't 招商银行 == CMB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Merchants_Bank with its own listing (SEHK: 3968, SSE: 600036) and is 18% owned by Cina Merchant's Group?
Haha. We got two competing overseas spending card offers this Easter:
HSBC:
$1.23/mile HSBC extra 12.5X ($1.23/mile) on overseas spending to 15 Apr 2013
BEA: $0.89/mile
9X points for overseas restaurant and hotels spending over Easter
But unfortunately, to earn miles, both offers require use of Visa/MC...
And some brave souls are taking the cards
up North http://www.hongkongcard.com/forum/fo...hp?id=9809&p=5
Oh good luck...and popkanmai