Thanks. I sent off a message to Starwood to see if they can make them refund the original and charge me in the local currency. Looks like the currency conversion got better by about $15 since then, too.

typically the markup is 3%. Some hotels use the front desk FX rates which have a variance greater than 3%.

when checking into hotels it's important to specify you want to be charged in the local currency as some hotels (even major brands) are defaulting to changing the currency unless you request otherwise.

This was at the train stations throughout Switzerland, as well as commercial locations like hotels and restaurants.

CSP isn't suppose to impose any kind of FX surcharge, right?

Yeah... this was a prepaid reservation booked online (for August), at Starwood's website. Terms on the reservation online say I will be charged in the hotel's local currency, but I was not. There was no place for me to choose what currency I wanted.

CSP has no FX fees or surcharges, but as I wrote a few posts up, make sure to pay in local currency. Be aware that the CSP does not have EMV, so some unattended kiosks, like those at train stations, might not accept your CSP.

Also, Switzerland is amazing ^.

Make sure to mention that in your dispute. I don't know if Chase can refund you and then recharge you, but they might be able to give you a credit worth the 3% charged.

Sorry for a newbie question.

I fly predominately Delta and have a Delta Skymiles account. However, I live most of the time in Europe.

Would it be better to purchase tickets directly from Delta (not sure if the rewards rate is higher) or through UR portal on a site such as travelocity or expedia? In other words, does the Skymiles miles accrued with Delta differ depending on where it was bought?

You should be fine earning DL miles for your DL flights when booking via UR portal.

Why do you use DL if you're Europe-based? Wouldn't a Euro-based airline make more sense? I find DL miles difficult to redeem in EU anyways...

good luck, never had luck doing that

Travelocity Bonus Points
 

Guys,

Struggling with 2 bonus UR points for Travelocity.com purchase. Made a cruise purchase on Chase Preferred Visa (shows up on the statement as Celebrity Cruises) and got 1 point per $ spent and 1 point for travel bonus. But I did not get 2 points bonus for using Travelocity.com Any ideas how to resolve this?

2X Pts Time Share (Condo Rental as well)?
 

HI, I did a search but couldn't find anything...forgive any oversight.

Does the 2X pts benefit for timeshares cover condo rentals through local real estate companies, VRBO, etc?

Thank you for the help.

It depends how the merchant, no matter who it is, codes themselves in the system.

I went to an ice cream shop/bakery that I thought would be considered eating out and the merchant coded themselves as a food market (much like 7-11)

When you booked the pre-paid rate at Starwood's website, did it quote it in local currency or USD?

I've had the merchant push the "USD" button on the POS machine several times for me without my consent, and every time, the receipt says something to the effect of "I was given the option to pay in my home or local currency." The Visa rules are very clear to this as well:

For these transactions, I had the cashier void the transaction, and re-process it in the local currency. As a side note, I don't think the cashier was told to use DCC by their boss, they just assume I'm some tourist that's used to dealing in USD.

At any rate, I would call the hotel and see what they can do, but my expectations for Starwood are incredibly low. I had a terrible experience with the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney last year, where they refused to refund for an early check-out, despite having a fully refundable/cancelable rate. It took a threat of a chargeback for the entire stay (3000 USD) for the manager to make a "one-time exception." As a result, I've moved all of my stays to Hyatt.

I've always loved how I call and get connected straight to someone on the CSP line. I just called and it wants me to wait 5 minutes to talk to someone. This is really re-assuring since I just got a notification someone it trying to log into my account online.

Edit: Nevermind, it was just an award wallet page I left open in the background that needed to re-auth with Chase.

Thanks for your help. I'll have to check with the condo agent.