Originally Posted by
Majuki
Why do you feel that the card useless for all purposes? Would you use another credit card for non-Alipay/WeChat Pay purchases? The original reason I got this card was to avoid DCC in Mainland China. The Alipay Tour Pass wasn't a thing at the time I got the card, and a couple of pre-2020 field tests worked well. Without access to a local bank account, I'm unsure that I'd want to pay the fee that the Alipay Tour Pass now charges, but I'd also question Visa/MC acceptance. Is DCC still as much of an issue as it was 10+ years ago? I've only had one Visa transaction in Mainland China (with all other card transactions being UnionPay or Amex), so I don't have many recent data points.
My last trip to China I just paid for everything with Alipay and don't want to bother asking for a POS. I didn't end up using this card at all and will probably leave it at home next time.
The ICBC US UnionPay is treated as a foreign card:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35226838-post370.html
You don't need to use Tour Pass anymore as you can directly link foreign cards to Alipay (but there's a 3% transaction fee for purchases over Y200. This will also get charged with the UnionPay card)
The card is denominated in USD anyway and I'd rather earn 1 UR from CSR than 1% cashback.
Originally Posted by
moondog
1. Ctrip (I feel bad for using a single company instead of the category here, but if I just said "travel agencies", we'd run into some exceptions)
Ctrip does charge a 3% fee for using a foreign credit card but it codes as travel so you can make it back.
Sometimes this is cheaper (including the fee) than Trip.com for plane tickets.
Originally Posted by
mlin32
But if my MC levies a FX surcharge for all transactions not in Euro, wouldn't it make sense to use a Unionpay card linked to a RMB bank account ?
FYI : the banking system in Europe is not free, like that in the US. We pay for the luxury of having a bank account, and pay for having a credit (delayed debit) card, if the bank is kind enough to issue us one. So hefty FX fees are normal.
I found this page:
https://www.bankofchina.com/de/de/pb..._21740193.html
and the application form is here:
https://pic.bankofchina.com/bocappd/...8711297162.pdf
I didn't see any fees though. How much does it cost / do you need a minimum balance in a linked account?
I'd get it if the amount you pay in FX fees in China per year is more than the annual fee...