Originally Posted by
Majuki
Merchants can play ball for one and accept all cards. And, in those areas where surcharges are allowed, not charge surcharges and accept credit cards as a cost of doing business. Maintaining a double standard earns little sympathy.
I encourage you to read more about the NY case before jumping to this conclusion. In fact, it seems that very few merchants have taking advantage of the surcharge ruling, but it is quite reasonable IMO.
Take Ctrip, for example:
-99% card not present transactions, high chargeback rate ---> sky high processing fees
-scant margins on airplane tickets (I've heard 2%)
-as such, their 3% cc surcharge (on airplane tickets only) makes sense to me
Travelzen's practice of making up its own exchange rates in order to recuperate the same 3% is far more disgraceful insofar as I'm concerned.
And, it should go without saying that I despise mandatory DCC far more than either of these practices or FTF.