Originally Posted by
glbltvlr
I've traveled internationally extensively my entire career. I have never run into anyone who wanted DCC and I can count on one hand the number of people who even knew what it was.
This idea that people "want" DCC to help them manage their trip costs is totally bogus and designed to give the merchant cover for ripping off their customers. Any modern expense reporting system for business will have currency conversion built in, so there's no need to convert receipts to home currency.
There is one benefit to DCC at my work. If I pay in foreign currency, my employer reimburses me at the GBP amount at the rate on the date I return back in the UK. If I want to be paid the exact GBP amount, I have to provide a credit card statement. Whereas if I take DCC, I can just provide the credit card receipt and not have to worry about submitting the credit card statement.
An example would be where €500 today costs £350, whereas one week again it would cost £360.
My credit card does not charge fees for overseas transactions, but if I wanted to be reimbursed for these, again I would have to submit a statement. DCC eliminates this as there would be no bank charges.
Regardless of what I said above, I normally pay in local currency (objecting to any DCC) and just take my employer's exchange rate. Unless there has been some major movement in the markets, the difference is minimal. You lose out on some trips but gain on others, so it doesn't really matter.
My employer even "falls" for DCC. We have bank accounts in EUR and GBP, but my secretary only has a credit card in GBP. She always seems to go ahead with the DCC when booking stuff online for me. My last flight booking cost about 5% more
