Originally Posted by
sethb
I've never been offered a rate as good as the credit card rate, or even very close. And back when I used cards with FX fees, they charged those fees even if I did the foreign transaction in US $.
Its actually called DCC Dynamic Currency Conversion, and is never a good deal for the customer. Always take the local currency, and yes, you are likely to have the fees charged for a foreign transaction, even one that is converted to dollars. Many times the merchant staff has been trained to "help" the customer by telling them it will be easier to understand their statement with all the transactions in dollars and they are very willing to pass that on to unknowing public. There should always be an option for local currency on the transaction. If you dont understand the language, you should be able to see the two options on the receipt before you sign or when the chip card are processing