Originally Posted by
alexmt
Well, given I'm male, but one of the most obviously genderqueer/genderfluid people you'll meet - very few people have the nerve to call me sir or mister for fear of offending me
I actually had person once call me sir, then immediately apologise. And I'm like "gender is crap, I don't care what pronouns you use."
But other than that aside, no, most merchants I've experienced are okay with turning off DCC. Only in Ireland is DCC a huge problem, and there just use Amex/Discover, to be honest.
That said, I've also never been refused a signature transaction and some of those other goodies. Been forced to hand over my passport, but not refused.
I don't have a problem with picture ID verification, and I'm not well read enough to know where it is the law versus a store policy. For instance, Spain requires (required?) photo ID for signature credit card purchases to curb fraud. It's easier to let them glance at the passport than fight over that. (I need to save some energy in case I need to ward off DCC.
)
The easiest thing to do is use AmEx - I've done this before - or Discover, but I prefer some of my other cards for the various rewards programs. I tend to find that Visa provides a better exchange rate than AmEx, but this is far from conclusive.