Originally Posted by drtdk
I'm confused. Being a dumb American, I'll hope that you'll excuse me. The online rates at marriott.com are almost always quoted in local currency. The only exceptions I know of are a very limited number of package rates. If you booked on another site, your issue is with that site, not Marriott. Marriott is not a financial institution. You choose the form of payment to settle your account at check-out. If you want to pay with local currency, you, not Marriott, determines the exchange rate, based on how you acquired (exchanged for) the local currency. If you want to pay by credit card, the credit card company sets the exchange rate based on pre-disclosed terms, which may include a percentage surcharge over and above the conversion rate. For future reference, local bank ATMs typically offer the best exchange rate. Depending on your account relationship, ATM transactions are converted at interbank rates and can be fee free.
My bookings were made at Marriott.com in dollars for Brazil and euros for Hungary even though those currencies are later not accepted at the hotels to cancel their bills (this is already cuestionable). The increase in the hotel rate does not relate to any fee charged by the credit card company but it is due to the high exchange rate that Marriott uses to convert the hotel rate into local currency. When later the CC company uses a fair exchange rate, the price in dollars/euros goes up. Either if you change your money on the street to pay in local currency or if you charge your credit card, you find yourself paying more than expected.