An update on my hotel restaurant charging me DCC, Citi gave me the choice of chargeback. I said the merchant will just show the slip I signed. Then he came back said I instantly won the dispute and credited a couple of bucks to my account. It showed up a week later but on the same day as the charge was made on my statement.

Next time I will be smarter and write on the slip and take a picture. I just didn't expect it this time. I didn't actually get DCC any time in London which was weird as I expected it. I even got to use Samsung Pay a lot, although the swipe was disabled on many readers and could only use NFC.

Glad you got a favorable outcome. Next time you can cross out the DCC language and write "local currency not offered" on the receipt. With MasterCard it doesn't matter as much as their rules on DCC chargebacks are more permissive. With MC you simply have to state that you were not offered the option of paying in local currency. Visa sets the bar a bit higher, but some issuers - Chase is one - seem to be getting enough chargebacks in the DCC category that they know what to do.

Just out of curiosity, where did the DCC issue happen for you? I think it was a euro area country, but I don't recall exactly where.

I left Lucky a detailed comment on his post about DCC. My favorite parts of the reply from the manager that include the coaching language from Travelex. You're right to include the exchange rate links for both Visa and MC. A lot of people like to use Xe or similar sites, but the only official source (down to the cent) is the rate from either Visa or MC. Using Xe or Google provides a rate that's close but not exact and gives issuers and others some excuses. In contrast, using the official Visa and MC rates for the posting date of the transaction gives you the exact charge that should have appeared on your card's statement.

Speaking of which, klashn and I just checked into the SkyCity Marriott. I followed my own advice and checked in with the AmEx Platinum for the preauthorization. I'll check out tomorrow with my Chase Marriott Visa, specify HKD, and request a courtesy copy. I'll use the percysmith technique and state I need the original receipt and courtesy copy for category bonuses. I'll repeat what I did one year ago. I will report when I get back stateside later in the week.

My sister-in-law is also visiting, so I can be on the lookout for more DCC in the US.

Going to Thailand with my both sets of parents over Chinese New Year. I think I'll use Unionpay though (1THB = $0.2182 CUP, $0.2192 V and $0.22 MC. Plus I don't get the signature Hongkie sign-it-I-want-to-get-out-of-here-can't-breathe-about-to-be-taken-hostage-by-the-[Thai military junta/IS/Al Qaeda]-this-place-is-about-to-swallowed-up-in-a-sinkhole meltdown my mum gives whenever I don't sign something promptly sight unseen.

Another update from the Ctrip episode - seems like Ctrip is back to DCCing us no matter unless we key in an AE http://www.hongkongcard.com/forum/fo...p?id=13819&p=5 #46. The home currency (HKD) amounts can be charged back and a new charge in CNY posted.

I'm starting to think CNX is just a red herring - Ctrip did perform a DCC transaction regardless of what the cardholder chose, but filed the CNY amount as CNX to confuse issuers and cardholders that there is a foreign currency amount but not enable the conversion to be done without DCC.

If you ever come to North America, you don't have to worry. In the worst case, you can almost universally get a cashier to void a sale here, but the only place I've seen DCC has been with the Verizon MX terminals. It was within the customer's complete control, and the cashier couldn't change the input.

On another note, I checked out of the SkyCity Marriott, and I switched the payment card at checkout. The lounge attendant had some difficulty understanding my request to get a courtesy copy of the receipt. This was up in the Executive Lounge rather than at the front desk. The lounge attendant initially had presented me with what looked to be a quote slip, but that wasn't right. He was finally able to get a courtesy copy after I used the magic word 'reprint'. This leads percysmith and me to believe that the SkyCity Marriott might be opt-in DCC, but I have no way to confirm. For reference, here is my receipt from one year ago:

http://i.imgur.com/qe7nCttt.jpg

And here is the one from January 18th:

http://i.imgur.com/te5Tjiyt.jpg

The receipts look identical save for the first one was an offline swipe and this one was online chip, so I believe I successfully dodged DCC once again based on the OFFLINE-OPT/O# receipt with the higher batch number. You will notice that in the course of one year the DCC markup has gone from 4.4% up to 5.35%. Will it be 6.5% next year? It's appaling, but at least they seem to honor currency choices if you insist on it and get the reprint slip. I never trust "check the [X] local currency box, and it's local currency" phrase. In the future, I will check out at the front desk only since they seem to have more experience in the matter of DCC.

I would prefer the slip compared to having it on the card reader. At least it makes it easier to dispute with the slip. I'd take a photo of it. Then batch dispute them all when I get home. If on a card reader there isn't much proof that you wanted to pay local apart from defacing the paper when DCC is forced.

I really dislike DCC. Luckily I haven't experienced it very often.

Sadly the kind more often encountered is the one like Lucky's http://onemileatatime.img.boardingar...on-Scam-2.jpeg which gives the bank a lot of wiggle room.

Esp in a jurisdiction like mine where the burden of proof is on the customer no matter what the VIOR says (maybe with MC I can try arguing I need not worry about whatever selection I may or may not have done at the merchant - I simply don't want DCC now and the MC Chargeback Guide allows for buyer's remorse).

(With Visa I will probably need a legible photo of the merchant slip).

As percysmith said, sometimes the receipts already imply that you willingly accepted DCC. One good thing about the presentation of carbon copy slips in Hong Kong and Macau is that the carbon copy check boxes are foolproof evidence of one's currency choice. MasterCard does give more leeway here compared to Visa.

The Marriott charge posted without DCC at $337.68 vs $356.57 for the DCC amount.

Amount saved by avoiding DCC: $18.89

Foreign Transaction Fees on US$ Purchases
 

We all know about the foreign transaction fees on US based credit cards, however I have found that in many non-US purchases, the credit card machines (or sales people) offer me the option to pay in US$ or local currency.

If I choose US$, does that still count as a foreign transaction?

On one hand this seems like an obvious question, however at the same time, I am just not sure of the answer.

[Note: any conversion fees charged by the local credit card agent would probably outweigh the credit card fee, thus making this a bit of a moot point, however in some circumstances with high category rewards, it could still work out]

Yes

You need to recover a. up to 6.31% DCC processor's commission and b. your card's FTF. Must be a super promo...

The conversion fees are an absolute rip off, basically always pay in local currency and let Visa/MasterCard, etc do the conversion at their rates. DCC (dynamic currency conversion) at the POS is a total scam.

I got DCCed at the Hilton International Airport, Mumbai. I specifically told I want to pay in local currency. They were using IDB bank terminal. They have issued new terminals where opting out of DCC is not possible. But I checked the Rs box and took a photograph of the signed and checked box and told him, to expect a charge back if the credit card statement showed charge in USD. I am currently at Hilton Jaipur for a week. It will be interesting when I check out. My employer ues Visa credit card.

Who is the issuer of the Visa card? India is becoming worse than Mainland China. Were there any tricks you employed like trying to see if they could cancel, or deliberately pressing the US button? Charge it back, and I'm reasonably certain you could get a Reason Code 76 based on the amount of a hotel room.