Originally Posted by
alexmt
Starting next December, you'll only need one SIM for all of Europe
Next means 2015, right? I've heard the EU is fed up with roaming. In US, you cross the state line into another state, but still the same country; in EU, you move about the same distance and you are foreign... Kind of interesting.
Originally Posted by
reclusive46
In most countries there are probably more non-amex issued amex network cards than Amex issued cards. 4 Banks in the UK issue American Express cards (Lloyds, TSB, MBNA and Barclaycard). I know Australia is very similar along with several others like Russia, India and Greece.
The main reason there is no DCC on American Express transactions is because American Express is usually the acquirer (for its own transactions only obviously) and the network. It would make no sense to have DCC as American Express makes the foreign transaction fee (off the issuer if not an Amex issued card and usually off the customer if it is an Amex card). American Express would be competing with themselves!
Don't forget Wells Fargo, who denied my Propel World application... I think your reasoning in the second paragraph totally make sense.
Originally Posted by
Majuki
How does the transaction present to the issuer? I know most US cards now have foreign transaction fees rather than currency exchange fees, so I had wondered if Visa/MasterCard present the transaction in the card's currency to the issuer. (...which would make the bank's additional 2% above the Visa/MC rate a true profit grab rather than a value-added service.)
Good question... Visa should have done the exchanging, right? So, maybe you're right that transactions are presented in local currency.
But I think there is still a difference between authorized and posted. The conversion should be done by Visa/MC when it is posted, so at the time of authorization, there can be things done to deny DCC, right?
And, Visa/MC can always know USD is charged in China, so a no-DCC list can be maintained by them.
Originally Posted by
jamar
China Unicom HK- it's a China Unicom SIM issued from HK. I get HK and mainland numbers, and I can make calls in the mainland for HK$0.45 (Guangdong)/HK$0.60 (elsewhere) per minute. Internet is HK$78/500MB unfiltered, lasts a week on the mainland. In Taiwan, Japan, and Macau it's HK$68/day. And it can be reloaded with a Visa/MasterCard issued outside HK- or PayPal. I just sold one to a classmate going there for the first time who wanted cheap, easy-to-use unfiltered internet on his phone.
Though only China Mobile has operation in HK...
Originally Posted by
Majuki
It's ok. I'm wondering is the T-Mobile plan filtered over there too?
Any foreign SIM cards would have unfiltered internet in China. I am using one right now to have stable connection on my Android device for Gmail pushing to work properly.
It depends on the APN of your phone. If it is not cmnet or 3gnet, you get IPs out of China.
It's like a VPN that is always on. Or like proxy, but un-censored (I've tried proxy servers on IE, and youtube.com still got blocked because the data exchange with proxy service is not encrypted, so the string of youtube.com is seen by the firewall anyway).