I will say two things one time and stop before I send this thread down a tangent that will earn a one-way ticket into OMNI/PR territory. First, you interject insistently that credit card surcharges, foreign transaction fees, etc. should be illegal, yet you freely have admitted to charging surcharges to your own customers. Second, I don't know what it is with you and America bashing. DCC is a problem that affects more than just Americans using their cards overseas. Yes, we've all seen the ugly American stereotype abroad, but the obnoxious tourist can be different nationalities depending on the location.

When you witness a tourist confused about the exchange rate, do you make an attempt to educate that person, or do you just engage in a moment of schadenfreude knowing that the tourist is about to be ripped off with DCC (plus likely a 3% FTF card)? Truthfully, I've never seen a DCC transaction where the person was demanding to pay in "real money". In all of the cases I've seen, the DCC happens without the customer realizing it, and the merchant doesn't say anything. Before I got educated on what DCC was, I was unknowingly hit a couple of times. In none of those instances did the staff at the hotel indicate that DCC was happening, and I didn't realize that I had been billed USD at an extremely unfavorable exchange rate (luckily on a 0% FTF card).

Furthermore, it's instinctive to retreat to something you know, so when asked the question, "Do you want to use EUR or USD?" people will usually reply, "Oh... USD!" But this is no different than the post from the other day about the person selecting HKD over MOP. It's just an issue of familiarity and what the instinctive reaction from the person will be. Other people would be surprised that it's an option. "You mean I can pay in <issued card currency>?" The cashier is just likely to respond, "Yes." I have never, not once, heard a merchant extoll the supposed benefits of DCC. In contrast, the only time that I've heard the lies start is when a customer in the know is attempting to get out of a forced DCC situation.

When you witness these situations in the wild, it is a perfect opportunity to educate the person. Give the person access to the tools to get the current exchange rates. Tell the person that it's always better to pay in the local currency because the credit card will get the best exchange rate. Avoid letting the merchant say they can offer you a known exchange rate upfront because it's far worse than what you'd get from Visa/MC. Finally, if the person is using a card with a FTF, let that person know of options for cards without FTF. Sure, some people might not want the help or advice, but in my experience most have said, "Thanks for the information. I didn't know that before!"