My secondary credit card is a British Airways VISA from First USA Bank. I have it specifically to use on frequent trips outside the United States, since my Citibank AA Visa pads the normal Vias 1 per cent foreign currency transaction fee with an extra per cent charge.

Something I read here on FT indicated to me that First USA's United card was the only miles-bearing visa not to have an extra fee. I called customer service before I went to Turkey and the UK in July and was reassured by them that there was no extra fee. However, when my card was up for renewal in August, I decided I wanted to get that assurance in writing. I got an email from someone in customer service repeating that there was no surcharge beyond the one per cent fee. I renewed the card.

At the same time, I asked to have a cardmember agreement sent to me. It arrived this week, and it says the opposite of what the email told me -- that there is indeed a three per cent charge. I wrote again to customer service via email. This time I got a message that said "First USA has changed
how the foreign currency conversion rate is determined for some of our accounts, which includes British Airways."

I would not have renewed this card if I had known. I am also furious that this was apparently done without any official notice - I only got the cardmember agreement because I specifically requested it. (Usually when a card agreement is changed, in my experience, you get a card member agreement with a note that says that changes have been made, that ifyou continue to use the card, you accept those changes."

Do I have any recourse here? It's also possible that all the charges I made in July were ALREADY padded with this fee, of course, and I am definitely out the annual fee.

You have in writing from someone at First USA informing you of a particular fact.

Now that fact looks to be not true as stated in the cardmember agreement.

It will take some time (as First USA customer service STINKS!!!!!) but send a certified letter to First USA (your "rights" are protected only if you write, email does not count) stating you would like them to honor what the customer service rep wrote you. If they will not, you would like your fee back as you renewed based upon this false information you were provided. Then you drop them. Cut and dried.

Thanks, Willie. I take it that you are a customer, too, or were?

(I also urge anyone reading this who has a United visa from first usa to see if Your coverage has changed, too, and to report back on that here.)

Yes, I still am. There is not a limit for UA miles if you are a PE or higher. I had large monthly statements (10K-20K) which was going to my Mileage Plus account.

My most recent horror story w/First USA is I needed a copy of one of the conv checks I had used. Short story is that I got the copy 8 months after requesting it. First USA customer service would regularly state (as I was calling them every two weeks) that they did not feel it was a long time if it was w/in 6 months.

I have many more. Until UA partners w/AMEX, I will probably retain the First USA card.

For awhile they were my primary card, since we were going for a Concorde award. But they COMPLETELY screwed us up at tax time. My Diners and Citbank Visa sent stuff in late January or early February, but First USA didn't send the year-end statement until April. Big help, that.

After that, I began using them for overseas only -- a fair amount of our purchases abroad are deductible, but at least if I save statements from trips abroad, I don't have to separate out other, non-travel-related stuff. This is the last straw,though; I think I'll accumulate all my BA miles from now on on Diners.

Lindsy-

I have 2 cards tied to UA thru First Usa and they have been and I believ remain subject only to the 1% currency fee that Visa & MC lay on everything. In other words, First USA does not add anything more-my guess is UA has this in the contract.

Your post isn't crystal clear-it mentions a UA tied card but it seems after several readings that you in fcat used a BA tied card, and that First USA said that the BA card had a !5 fee but you got charged more.

I bet whoever you called and had email from was thinking of UA even though you have BA. And my guess is you can compain enough to get the excess removed for the recent charges that had a higher fee, since you have a valid email saying that was the fee. A service agreement would be better but they can't expect you to hire a lawyer to question their written advice.

The day they increase the UA cards above 1% is the day I take my considerable business to another card-and not just for overseas charges; I mean for everything.

Mountain Trader, sorry if I wasn't clear: First USA does have both a British and a United card, and I have the British. But I assume that if they are screwing one set of card members, they might be screwing us all.

The problem is that I cannot seem to get an authoritative answer on whether or not my foreign purchases are charged at one per cent or three per cent. (Following Sweet Willie's advice, I have written them a letter.) I have been told many times, in email and by phone, and as recently as yesterday, that the BA card is exempt from the additional charge. But I have also been told recently by several people in authority at First USA that they DO incur the padded fee. One person told me terns had "recently" been changed for a number of First USA Visa, including BA.

I agree with you that this card isn't one I want under those terms. But since I am having such difficulty getting hard information on the BA card, I wonder if you can give me some info on the United card: are you relying on verbal assurances from customer service about these charges, or do you have a current cardmember agreement that spells out the one per cent fee? If not, would you mind asking them to send you one and reporting back?

As a former FirstUSA customer...i didn't encounter any problems with them perse...because I didn't have any problems with their cards, i guess i was lucky...however My brother was furiours when they suddenly changed his DELL card's benefits from no expiration on all DELL POINTS to one year expiration..now he has to use those Dollars or he'll miss him....and he find that hard to believe because who buys a DELL every year??


FirstUSA simply put: they suck.


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Albert

Does anyone know what kind of foreign exchange fee Diners Club charges? Thanks!

Lindsy-

My card agreement is in storage but here's what happened to me.

My agreement said, I am very sure, that the rate was 1% but could be changed at any time with notice. Last winter I got a notice saying the rate would be 3% but that notice was a stuffer with my bill-however, an amendment to the agreement nontheless.

I called and was told the stuffer was a mistake and "...we only charge 1% on all United cards". The denial sounded very firm and a little worried (I assumed the worry was over UAL getting wind of the stuffer). I noted all details on my call such as who I spoke to and from then on, I relied on that call (including the details which I still have) to get me 1% in the future.

I haven't needed that reliance. Since then I have made many charges overseas and near as I can determine, they are at 1%.

A lot of this is guesswork on my part. While I'm a real skeptic, I think the stuffer was an error, and UA likely has a contract limiting them to 1%. As I said earlier, if they ever raise that, they can wave goodbye to me.

I usually call them before I go abroad to alert them that there will be significant charges on the card in countries x and y. I *always ask them if the one per cent is still in effect, and they always insist that it is. I have taken them at face value, since I don't keep track of what the interbank rate is on any given day. I think it would be hard, really. If you spend $10K annually overseas, an extra two per cent of that is $200... money I would rather see in my pocket than theirs, but on any given 500 franc purchase, it would be pocket change and hard to spot.

The thing I find most ominous is that they seem thus far unwilling or unable to send a cardmember agreement that says what so many of the folks on the phone and in email say -- ie, don't worry, Your card is exempt.