erjewett

SLEAZY!!! They have done this for years. I used to live in Europe and still have accounts with cards in Europe (EUROS), and they still want to charge the 3% "inconvenience" fee. The only way around it is to pay through Paypal. This is simply a sleazy way to extract an additional 3% and seems it must be illegal some places.

finarg

this seems to be a policy which started about6months ago
prior to that date i was able to change currency on bottom of page and pay with a card in same currency .

now it seems the 3% fee is almost always charged. so their total fee is now 18% (up from 12% awhile ago).important to takei nto account as in low season canusually find very nice four star hotels and/or apartments on other sites
MUCH CHEAPER than airbb total cost.

BrianATX

The issue here is that AirBnB is the merchant of record and is based in the US, therefore it is going to sell its services in USD (presuming you too are based in the US). When you book with them, which I've done a lot, you are dealing with them in your country of residence, not in the country you're planning to visit. For example, if you lived in Argentina and were coming to the US, you'd be charged in Argentine pesos (I'm assuming AirBnB is a merchant in Argentina), even if you see rates in USD.

If they were doing DCC, which they don't have to do, they would need to ask if you'd like to pay in the local currency or home currency (FYI, the right answer is always local).

My guess is the convenience fee does two things: First, it's a revenue opportunity for AirBnb. Second, it is used to cover any FX changes between when you book and when the apartment owner is paid in their local currency.

diburning

That's the whole point of this thread. It's sleazy to price discriminate with this fee simply because we desire services in another country. FX charges SHOULDN'T exist if they're not converting currency. If you live in the US and book in the US, then USD is charged with no fee. If you live in Canada, and book in Canada, then CAD is charged with no fee. If you live in the US but book in Canada, then why should there be a mandatory fee? Where I live should be irrelevant. Hotels don't do this (or at least give you a choice if you want DCC or not). The fact that they are keeping this mandatory fee as profit is what irks us because people booking within their own country would not have to pay this fee, and is price discrimination at the very minimum.

Hilton is based in the US. Marriott is based in the US. When I book Hilton or Marriott overseas, the prices are always in local currency, and I'm always charged in local currency. Where I live and where the business is headquartered should not have anything to do with where the transaction is taking place.

A rose by any other name is still just as prickly. Just because they don't call it DCC does not mean it's not.

Also, Welcome to FlyerTalk!

JBD

Has no one come across what I posted about above (post #30)?

What I'm seeing is the 3% fee CAN be avoided.

Here's a listing that I just used to check this:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/750410?s=JRZ3

When my account is set to EUR (and my home address is still the US), and I'm on the payment screen, it shows the costs only in EUR with absolutely no mention that this amount will be converted to USD.

And since this is an Instant Book, by clicking on the Submit Payment, I'm authorizing my credit card to be charged in EUR.

So the fee is seemingly avoidable.

diburning

And you're using a US credit card with a US billing address? What kind of card? I'd check your statement to see what you were actually charged, and compare the exchange rate with the rates for that day to be sure.

JBD

As I mentioned in my first post, I haven't gone further than the payment page - because I was hoping to get confirmation from others.

I don't have a cc stored in my profile, but my address on record is in the US.

But the main thing is that there is no longer any wording whatsoever about a currency conversion.

You used to see fine print when you first selected your dates, and then of course on the payment page. Now I don't see that fine print anywhere.

In my first post I wondered if this could be a browser issue -

But what I see on that payment page, is that I'll be charged in EUR, period.

So my assumption is that if I made screenshots, submitted my payment, and wasn't charged that specific amount in euros, then I'd have legal recourse.

I'm posting here though, in the hopes of others confirming what I now see on the Airbnb site, and with the hope of hearing from someone that they were able to book a place in a foreign currency.

JBD

I just tried entering the first 4 digits of my AMEX, and presto, the fine print appeared on the payment page. But there's still no mention that there's an additional 3% fee, although it sure appears that it's being charged.

On yahoo today's USD to EUR exchange rate is 1 USD = 0.9389 EUR

When I had my account selected to EUR, the total charge for my test dates was 541 EUR. When I entered the first 4 digits of my cc, this language appeared under that total:And when I selected USD for my currency, the total charge was 592 USD, and this language appeared after entering the first four digits of my cc:Arrggghh

diburning

Straight from the horse's mouth.

alwayssummer

As several have mentioned above. It used to be possible to pay in the local currency of your destination. They have *intentionally* made this impossible.

I was very angry and pissed off for several hours. And then I booked my Airbnb anyway because it was still one third of the price of a hotel. Until they get a big competitor I would say we're stuck with their abusive practices.

On the bright side, I learned about HomeAway today.

Frog Escalator

Forgive me for quoting myself here, but it is evident from the continued gnashing and chomping that no-one has read my post #22 on this very same thread which describes step-by-step the way to get around this shameless fleecing. To repeat myself yet again, I tried this and it worked. I wasn't prepared to submit to paying their terrible GBP-EUR rate without spending a bit of time to try and find a way around this. Did I mention that I tried it, and it worked? Airbnb billed my GBP credit card in euros, which my bank converted very favourably into British pounds with its 0% mark-up on the Visa wholesale rate. Rather than lining Airbnb's greasy pockets yet further with the appalling £ figure they came up with to pay for a listing in a euro-currency country.

diburning

I'm glad that works, and hopefully they won't close that loophole anytime soon.

aogut

i tried something similar. it didn't work for me.

then (cuz i had to make multiple bookings), i tried to buy gift card and then pay the entire amount with it. it said i would pay nothing; but still charged $30 on my credit card on file.

as other said, there used to a trick but they closed it.

can someone please start a class action? i love the Airbnb's offering; but hate it.

cheshirepete

Interesting thread in my search for Airbnb and DCC!

I've just come across this. Was about to make a new booking and have come across this change in policy. I checked my records and I last made a booking in February in EUR, billed to my UK Clarity account (no fees).

Now I'm about to make a 2000 EUR booking and it was insisting on converting it to pounds for me with the EUR option gone. In this case that's a difference of over 60 EUR in conversion fees.

I've made inital contact with their Help desk and they insist as it is a UK card it must be in £. I've contacted Mastercard and they pointed me to their t&c's regarding DCCs, ie:

https://www.mastercard.us/content/da...s-11-15-16.pdf

Before an authorization or preauthorization request for the Transaction is submitted, and
before the Cardholder decides the currency in which the Transaction is to be completed:
• The Cardholder must be clearly informed that the Cardholder has the right to choose the
currency in which the Transaction will be completed;
• The Cardholder must be clearly informed of each of the following:
– Transaction amount in the local currency;
– Transaction amount in the billing currency;
– Currency conversion rate to be applied should the Transaction be completed in the
billing currency; and
• The Merchant must honor the choice of the Cardholder.

I've sent all this back to airbnb and stated I was informed I could perform a Code 4846 charge back which states:

“The cardholder states that he or she was not given the opportunity to choose the desired currency in which the transactions was completed or did not agree to the currency of the transaction,”

So, I await their response! Will update if they answer back.

diburning

They'll probably lie to you saying that you can't perform a chargeback because you agree to their TOS, etc etc. to try to dissuade you from doing so.