No FTF cards - does Mastercard still impose 1% fee?
Jun 30, 2015, 12:07 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Melbourne, Florida, USA
Posts: 2,983
This page seems to imply that many no FTF cards really are no FTF. Is Barclays the odd man out in *not* absorbing the 1% fee on their 'no FTF' card?
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/cred...fee-chart.aspx
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/cred...fee-chart.aspx
Jun 30, 2015, 12:11 pm
#18
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 409
It says fee waived next to the total (which includes both), so I interpret that to mean the total fee is waived. Can anyone confirm either way?
Jun 30, 2015, 12:18 pm
#19
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: SAN
Posts: 1,171
Note that Capital One cards don't support PIN for purchases at all, so there may be problems with unattended gas stations and ticket kiosks and such, especially in Europe, where they are configured for Chip and PIN only. Your Arrival+ does support PIN, but prefers Signature, so you'll still have to sign for most things but if there are places that only support PIN, it will work.
Jun 30, 2015, 1:41 pm
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
So does Google currency conversion factor in this 1%? I was in Norway earlier this month, and I was comparing the conversion rates I was getting from the Barclay Aviator Red card (which also says it's 0% forex) with the conversion rates from Googling "convert xxx NOK to USD", and it matched perfectly for one or another day (it wasn't always the conversion rate on the day of going "pending" or on the day of posting, it seemed to vary a bit as to which day it was if there were several days between pending and posting).
Jun 30, 2015, 6:47 pm
#21
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP , Delta Gold Medallion, "Credit Card" status for various hotels
Posts: 672
I contacted them regarding the Aviator Red card and got an almost verbatim response regarding the 1% mastercard fee.
Jun 30, 2015, 6:58 pm
#22
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: EWR-SEA-IAD
Programs: UA 1P MM, AS MVP G*, SPG Gold, Hyatt Plat, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 977
Hmm, I've used it extensively in Hong Kong and always got a near perfect rate. Certainly never noticed a 1% difference. Then again the rate is pegged but my CSP has a 1% diff sometimes.
Jul 1, 2015, 9:09 am
#24
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
There is extensive comparison of VISA vs MasterCard practices in this very recent thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...nge-rates.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...nge-rates.html
Jul 1, 2015, 10:32 am
#26
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,112
Jul 1, 2015, 11:28 am
#27
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP , Delta Gold Medallion, "Credit Card" status for various hotels
Posts: 672
Based on the Chase thread, the practice of adding the 1% seems in line with other banks. If anything, it sounds like using a MasterCard is slightly better than visa, since they tend to base their rate off of actual market rates at the time of conversion, while Visa uses a daily average.
Jul 1, 2015, 12:52 pm
#28
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 817
Which card do you have? The Venture, Quicksilver, and Spark families are all Chip and Signature. But you can't just call and ask to get a chip version, when they decide to send you one they'll notify you by email a couple weeks before it comes. If you don't have one of those cards, you could probably contact them about converting to a card that does come with Chip and Signature.
Note that Capital One cards don't support PIN for purchases at all, so there may be problems with unattended gas stations and ticket kiosks and such, especially in Europe, where they are configured for Chip and PIN only. Your Arrival+ does support PIN, but prefers Signature, so you'll still have to sign for most things but if there are places that only support PIN, it will work.
Note that Capital One cards don't support PIN for purchases at all, so there may be problems with unattended gas stations and ticket kiosks and such, especially in Europe, where they are configured for Chip and PIN only. Your Arrival+ does support PIN, but prefers Signature, so you'll still have to sign for most things but if there are places that only support PIN, it will work.
Last edited by greggarious; Jul 1, 2015 at 1:53 pm
Jul 1, 2015, 2:14 pm
#30
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,112
MasterCard charges us a Currency Conversion Assessment of 20 basis points (.2% of the transaction) for performing
the currency conversion. In addition, MasterCard charges us an Issuer Cross-Border Assessment of 90 basis points
(.9% of the transaction) on all cross-border transactions regardless of whether there is a currency conversion. As a
result, we charge you a Currency Conversion fee of .2% and a Cross-Border Transaction fee of .9%. The
Cross-Border Transaction fee is charged on all cross-border transactions regardless of whether there is a currency
conversion. A cross-border transaction is a transaction processed through the Global Clearing Management System or
the MasterCard Debit Switch in which the country of the merchant is different than the country of the cardholder.
the currency conversion. In addition, MasterCard charges us an Issuer Cross-Border Assessment of 90 basis points
(.9% of the transaction) on all cross-border transactions regardless of whether there is a currency conversion. As a
result, we charge you a Currency Conversion fee of .2% and a Cross-Border Transaction fee of .9%. The
Cross-Border Transaction fee is charged on all cross-border transactions regardless of whether there is a currency
conversion. A cross-border transaction is a transaction processed through the Global Clearing Management System or
the MasterCard Debit Switch in which the country of the merchant is different than the country of the cardholder.