Originally Posted by
Majuki
This can be a good approach, particularly if SPG or Delta are your cards of choice. The only downsides are that: 1) not all places accept AmEx, 2) AmEx might not have a competitive rate, and 3) your affinity card of choice might not be an AmEx.
I also feel like it's a defeatist attitude, sort of like using a UnionPay card in China (or Discover in Mainland China).
SPG works fine for us but AMEX indeed is not accepted everywhere like Visa/MC are. Also in some very local places they want a minimum spend for using a card. Like the Chinese restaurant right at Tin Hau MTR requires HKD120 min spend for using CC.
Originally Posted by
zyxlsy
Good one...
So this forced-DCC in Hong Kong is still there?
My experience a week ago is that like MTR or other eateries, they just press the HKD button for you and I don't even receive the slip with the boxes to tick, but directly with a HKD slip.
That was our experiences for the whole week in HKG. All the slips returned for signature were in HKD - there is nothing else to choose from.
Originally Posted by
Newinyork
The trick of changing the currency on Airbnb to avoid DCC doesn't work anymore. Once I entered my card details I got a dialog saying "This is a US card so it'll be charged in USD" and I wasn't given an option to change it.
I disputed it with Chase, Chase said "it seems like your card is charged by a US merchant, so even if the stay is abroad, DCC rules don't apply to them". Any thoughts here?
Chase is correct. It has to be Foreign Transaction - if the transaction is processed by a US merchant account, there is no base to dispute.
We dont use Airbnb for other reasons. Its business model is shady and the quality of lodging is a luck of draw, plus the potential danger of the host might have malicious intent in mind. Being lucky has never been our hallmark so we try to avoid traps from the outset.