It's not a worry at all in China for purchases <200 if you use WeChat or Alipay. For larger amounts, it can come into play, but isn't an issue for most web based transactions, including ctrip and major hotel chain websites.

If you do drop Y1000 on a dinner at Dadong, you can either use Wx/Ap and pay a small conversion fee on the difference between 200 and 1000 or pay directly with your credit card (minor risk of DCC). I suppose you could also break the 1000 into 5 separate payments; that's common with group dinners, but a little tacky if it's just you and your family members.

Do businesses frown upon/refuse splitting the payment to 200 CNY packets?

And can I assume significant hotels will give an option to directly charge my foreign CC without using QR pay?

I think those are waters that most people simply don't enter because we're only talking about a few bucks on top, but if you get a bill that's Y390, splitting it down the middle with your partner is no big deal.

I book most of my hotels through Ctrip (no DCC) so I don't have many data points. However, I did a direct booking with Hilton last week and DCC wasn't offered.

Sorry I wasn’t clear.

I have a “pay at hotel” booking. It is an IHG hotel. Can I assume I can use a foreign credit card at check in to pay and avoid Alipay/WeChat pay?

Don't they give you a quote in your preferred currency? WeChat/Alipay isn't great for large purchases in foreign currencies because they only absorb fx fees for amounts 200 or less.

Most major chain hotels, even the chinese ones like Atour, accept foreign bank cards (MC/Visa are processed through Unionpay networks).

That said, in smaller towns and cities, they might have to dust off the card machine :p. I had one case where they tried but after 3 attempts I just said screw it and paid by Weixin and swallowed the processing fee. But maybe because I am used to FX related fees anyway since in Europe, our bank cards are less generous with perks and charge more fees in general.

I was tempted to comment along the same lines in my previous post. If you're in a small city that doesn't see much foreign credit card usage, even if the establishment can process foreign cards, the path of least resistance is to suck it up and use wx/ap (i.e. do you honestly want to spend an extra 10 minutes confusing the staff on using their old POS machine just to save Y30?).

ETA: I object to DCC out or principle, but Alipay only eating fx conversion costs up to 200 doesn't fall into the same "outright stealing" category.

Trip.com lets you choose the currency (including CNY) which you pay in (for cards). From what I saw, there is no real markup compared to xe.com rates. Ctrip can only charge in CNY.

By the way - recently discovered that foreign issued Unionpay does not get charged the wx/Alipay fee above 200RMB.

Still waiting on a Trip.com refund for a booking charged in NZD to work out whether it hit my card as an NZD or CNY charge. Will report back.

In the mean time, why does it quite often cost more for a double bed hotel room than a twin hotel room with 2 single beds in China/Hong Kong?!

If you paid with NZD, I'm pretty sure they will refund you NZD. Can your bank even accept CNY?

I don't find that to be the case in general, but here are a few thoughts:
1. Compare the room sizes; if the double bed is in a 25 sqm room and the twins are in a 20 sqm room, it makes sense that the former is more expensive.
2. In some hotels, doubles are more desirable than twins, even if the layouts are the same. Think about usable non bed space (i.e. where you might want to put your luggage or sit in a chair).
3. Look at the room descriptions; "no window", in particular, drives down prices.
4. I haven't seen it in China or HK, but Japan, for example, has a person charge concept. If you select two people instead of one, the price might be higher, regardless of the room type.

That happens in many countries, not just China. I've experienced this in Germany, Sweden, and US.

These days, more often than not, because of anti money laundering rules, it is a simply a transaction reversal so what comes back is what left your account, nothing is changed.

If they don't reverse the transaction and refund a specific amount, then you can sometimes get a currency exchange difference if the interbank rates have moved in the meantime, but it's usually a rounding error.

Credit cards can spend in many foreign currencies, and also can receive refunds in those same foreign currencies. The banks love to charge you for the privilege though.

Was not aware of AML rules potentially changing refunds. I've purchased online from overseas and been charged 2.5% by the credit card issuing bank as an FX commission. Then when the original purchase amount was fully refunded, it was refunded at the currency exchange rate of the date of the refund (which can be "win" or "lose"), AND another 2.5% for the FX conversion (definite lose). If what plunet is saying is correct that the transaction is simply now reversed, that would be much better and fairer.

For the record, my bank now has refund credits for the exact same NZD amount that Trip.com initially charged for the refundable bookings.


These days it can be still be quite opaque what is going on at the back end. In NZ, one bank has started charging for foreign currency exchange commission even if the transaction is in NZD, if the transaction is processed overseas. This has led to widespread customer complaints as the end consumer should not be expected to know the back end details, but on the other side the bank does apparently incur a cost for the transaction to take place.

It looks like if I was with Kiwibank, these Trip.com transactions WOULD incur international currency transaction fees: https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFin...rd_fee_update/

Trip.com can't realistically refund you in CNY because the original card transaction was in NZD. The only remaining risk is that Kiwibank could treat Trip.com as an offshore (e.g. Singapore, HK, or maybe the USA) merchant and charge a foreign transaction fee despite the transaction being denominated in NZD. That's a merchant-location issue, not a currency-conversion issue.

I do most of my purchases in USD these days, and a fair amount of refunds. Not once, has the refund amount been different than the amount I paid (less applicable fees, also in USD). That said, I have zero experience with Kiwibank or NZD.

The only refund I got stung on was some time ago so hopefully process are now in a better place.

Would be interesting to know how Kiwibank will now treat overseas NZD transactions that get refunded!

But back on topic, experience so far with Trip.com has been very positive, though I have not set foot in China yet. Shanghai-bound this weekend moondog !!