Paying for SQ flights in British Pounds
 

Hi All,

Is there any way I can buy a flight from Oslo to BNE via Singapore's own website and pay in GBP? When I try I on their UK site I get redirected to their Norwegian site and am asked to pay in that currency. I want to use mu UK credit card to book for extra security but I don't want the exchange rate that they will offer.

What do others do in this type of situation please?

I don’t think you can do this. A travel agent may be able to, but will charge you the fx behind the scenes. Which, come to think of it, an OTA will as well.

Could OP call SQ's London office and book over the phone in GBP (assuming your UK CC is tied to a UK address? It might wipe out any differences (if SQ charges a call-in booking fee) but could be worth exploring (though on idea if it would work).

Alternatively you might be able to use a VPN to access the UK SQ website and book it that way

A VPN won't change the OP's issue if Singapore's website automatically changes to the country from which the OP wants to depart. That being said, the website should offer (at the end of the booking process) the option to pay in local currency or in the card currency.

Alternatively, there's calling the SQ office or booking with a UK-based travel agent (expedia.co.uk may do the trick).

One way or another, you'll be paying fx fees.

Thank you all. As I suspected there's not a cheap option.

Logging into Expedia.co.uk does work & tickets will be charged in GBP.

Please follow the redirect as we send this to the SQ forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

When you get the final payment screen there is potential to switch currency, I’m not sure if GBP is an option, or if it is available for ex-OSL itineraries, you’d have to go through the flow to tell you if it is or not. But, as with most dynamic currency conversion, the amount you will have to pay in GBP will almost certainly be higher than paying in NOK and having the bank convert it.

Admittedly, I have no first hand experience with SQ, but I would expect any SQ ticket office or call center to be able to reprice and charge your credit card in the currency you prefer (using the much more generous exchange rate in the airline system when converting from NOK til GBP rather than the exchange rates of your CC which easily comes with a 2-4% mark-up). Obviously, you will have to pay applicable fees to SQ for making the booking via phone, but sometime you are able to get the fee waived by stating that the itinerary was not possible to book online (or state it as it is, you want to pay in GBP rather than NOK). Good luck!

In my experience the airline IT systems doesn't use DCC - the exchange rates used are very close to market rates. It is the bank of the vendor that use DCC (and benefits from it). Only when paying manually for the ticket at the ticket office by swiping your CC, the device is likely to apply DCC and you have to insist that you are charged in local currency rather than letting the bank of the vendor convert the amount into your currency (I have tried that numerous times with TG in Thailand)

SQ's web booking engine certainly does not use market rates when converting to a different currency. An example, I looked at just now:

SIN-BKK-SIN = $294 SGD, and currently $294 SGD = 164.23 GBP. Yet select GBP for payment on SQ website, it converts to 172.33 GBP, a mark up of almost 5%. I'm not sure what happens elsewhere, but in Singapore the conversion fee is around 3% for most cards. So this is 2% higher than paying with a CC in foreign currency.

I had problems trying to book ARN-AKL and pay in UK£ but managed in the end by using a UK TA who was very helpful (TravelUp), although the routing was valid SQ said it couldn't be done and I couldn't pay in UK£ anyway. The TA booking has worked OK and we are now in NZ enjoying our trip.

I use a debit card that does market exchange rate transactions (HSBC's Everyday Global) but there are credit cards that do the same, certainly in Australia and I doubt it's unique

Normal Visa or Master cards do certainly not use market rates. There is at least a 2-4% markup depending on the currency. It must be a significant cash cow for Visa/MC...