I will readily admit that Discover is far more useful in China than Visa/MC... no marketing required because they are linked up with Union Pay.

Good point but the miles aren't nearly worth the DCC spread if you can't avoid it.

You don't know whether or not the scam will hit until it's done though. In China, Discover can be an alternative, but even Discover doesn't always work with UnionPay terminals as others have indicated.

I'll give you two cases in which they might be (that I've intimated above):
-8+ miles/dollar promos, which are usually targeted, but are fairly common (and are often tied to specific merchant categories like hotels)
-need to hit ~$5000 in spending in order to unlock 50k+ miles

Discover uses UnionPay rates which is not good. And Discover doesn't have cool features like spending $25000 and waive the United PQD requirement, this kind of stuff.

And when you use Discover, lots of the times the merchants will show as "UnionPay Merchants". With Visa/MC/AMEX, they will always show up with names in Pinyin.

Sometimes Discover's anti fraud kicks in, and the POSs would say things from "Stolen Card", "Locked Card" to "Expired Card" and other weird stuff. If you have Discover Mobile, just log in, and it will show "Fraud Alert", with that denied transaction listed. Like confirm that was done by you, and your card will be good in no time.

I am curious to your eating lunch in Renaissance in Shanghai and get CC bonus and elite discount stuff. I have the Chase Ritz Carlton CC, and when I go to Ritz Carlton Financial Street in Beijing, the restaurants use BoComm machines, which are different from there front desk BoC machine. With Chase, only the BoC machine with the merchant name of "Ritz Carlton Beijing Financial Street" is recognized for 5X points. The restaurants' ones have names totally in Pinyin.

Chase re-instated points for about five times, and the last time the rep explicitly told me this POS is not entitled to 5X points.

How is your situation at this Renaissance?

Also, if you are Platinum, you get dining discounts? Do you have to be checked in at the hotel to get the discount?

Only if you put a home sticker of 银联 on the card, can you use Discover without hassle. People will treat it as a foreign card, and the irony is, even though it is used as UnionPay card inside UnionPay's system (issuer is "UnionPay International Business Platform"), people think they have to see the "Discover" or "Diner's Club" logo on their "accepted cards" board to accept it. In the end, it is really not accepted at so many places.

In my experience, Discover cards work on every UnionPay terminal. It's just that Discover's anti fraud system treats Chinese transaction so vigilantly. Merchant would just say your card is not accepted when errors come up.

Log in, confirm, and swipe again.

Well in all cases except harrods and GL in Europe, I have been able to void a DCC slip when encountered (sometimes with difficulty as in the case of decanter at st Regis Shenzhen).

Taj exotica case was exceptional because I desperately needed the us$1,531 spend to knock out a 4 mile/us$ welcome offer plus 4 mile/us$ overseas spend offer from citi HK. No miles accrue from DCC for citi HK.

How did that St. Regis Shenzhen thing go in the end?

I've had that issue happen more than once, and it's different from when the terminal just refuses to process my card because the "Restricted Card" and "BIN Restricted" errors only happen at very few places even when others will run it just fine.

Three times it's happened to me this year- once at a computer market, once at a Watami (I remember this one very clearly because it errored out as soon as the card was swiped, meaning the firmware itself was restricting it), and once at a (legitimate!) massage place. So it's not common by any means and it's possible to never encounter it but it does happen.

It's annoying because it just makes me look silly when I insist they try it, saying "yes, it's a UnionPay" card, and then it errors out even when I can go to a nearby supermarket five minutes later and use it just fine.

The name of the restaurant always comes out in pinyin and there's never any DCC problem, so I'm assuming they're not using the same terminals as the hotel, but they've always posted 5x spend without me having to call Chase.

Also, I get 15% off my meal and I'm only Silver (which comes with the card). Gold and Platinum get higher discounts. And no, I don't have to be checked in. I've never stayed at that Renaissance before, only eaten there.

I actually have UnionPay stickers left. I can mail you some if you want, just put it on your Discover and make it officially UnionPay... That works for me. People only ask me which bank issues it, but they never say this is not UnionPay...

Is the hotel Renaissance Yu Yuan?

It's just like when you go to make a charge with a merchant thinking you'll get hit with DCC, and say, "Please charge me in <name of local currency>." The cashier gives you a strange look and says, "Of course we'll charge you in <name of local currency>. What did you think we'd use?" It does provide a good educational opportunity if you have the language skills.

I say this, as a matter of habit, and there is probably some benefit to doing so, but the ensuing conversation is rarely productive.

You have to remember who you are talking to. The clerks are probably either part time workers or university students working for the summer or whatever. They may be told the terminal will indicate two currencies if a foreign card is tendered. Press the button for cardholder currency. If they ask, tell them it's just an approximation for your benefit or whichever of the great lies the merchant has decided to use. Yes see you are being charged in euro but we list your currency as a service to you. They don't have a clue. You call over the manager and the manager may be somebody with slightly more experience. Or maybe he or she knows what's going on.

Of course, I have had managers tell me nobody ever complains and to keep the queue moving they don't bother to ask. And then the hassle begins about whether they can void a transaction. Meanwhile the queue behind you is getting longer. Of course, this assumes it is going on in an English speaking environment. What if it's not?

It may not be as simple as you would like to think it is.

Not the Yu Yuan, it's the one at Zhongshan Park. However, I spoke too soon; I just checked my Marriott Rewards account and it stopped posting as Marriott spend this year. I wonder what changed?

Also, I'd appreciate it if you've got any stickers left. At least it'll help with the merchants who complain because it's not got the logo.