RCI overseas TXN fee

We booked a cruise on the Ovation for 2018 and paid $200 pp deposit on ANZ CC.

My bank statement shows the charge plus 3% overseas transaction fee. We booked in Australia, price is in AUD,with RCI Aus via Australian travel agent. :mad:

According to ANZ it was processed in Miami :confused:and it is up to the merchant to advise it's customers that a fee will be charged.

How should we, as consumers know where the payment will be processed in this age of globalisation?

Is this only ANZ? Or do other financial institutions do the same? Any suggestions to how avoid this fee?

Any advice is appreciated :)

It's up to the supplier to specify where the charges will be formalised, in RCI's case this is Miami and I had the same experience with my ANZ CC whereby my statement reflected the overseas transaction fee that I wasn't expecting. Very irritating.

Now I use my 28° MasterCard for any transactions that may be formalised overseas so I can avoid paying an unnecessary fee.

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We booked a cruise on the Ovation for 2018 and paid $200 pp deposit on ANZ CC.

My bank statement shows the charge plus 3% overseas transaction fee. We booked in Australia, price is in AUD,with RCI Aus via Australian travel agent. :mad:

According to ANZ it was processed in Miami :confused:and it is up to the merchant to advise it's customers that a fee will be charged.

 

How should we, as consumers know where the payment will be processed in this age of globalisation?

 

Is this only ANZ? Or do other financial institutions do the same? Any suggestions to how avoid this fee?

Any advice is appreciated :)

Its cause its processed in USA. I had a similar incident and went back and forth between Celebrity and ANZ in the end I managed to get ANZ to wipe the transaction fee but it was a once off.

Both companies passed the buck between themselves as ANZ will say its RCI who processed it in the USA so there was a conversion fee from AUD to USD to AUD. RCI will say its your bank. But its really RCI as they are the one that chooses to process in the USA.

They, and by that I mean all the cruise lines , can parade up and down and wave the Aussie flag as much as they like....but when it comes to the hard dollars , they are American companies , shipping as much money as they can back home.

They, and by that I mean all the cruise lines , can parade up and down and wave the Aussie flag as much as they like....but when it comes to the hard dollars , they are American companies , shipping as much money as they can back home.

Would that be so they can avoid paying tax in Australia, on money paid in Australia in Australian dollars?

The bank is correct in saying that because they process the charge in Miami that it is considered a overseas transaction. I do recall seeing RCI have a statement SOMEWHERE that any credit card charges are processed in Miami, and may be subject to those charges. I for the life of me can't remember where I saw that though.

If you can find a card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees or conversion fees, use that. It's about the only way you'll avoid that specific charge. As always, look out for other charges on those cards however!

Interesting.. Have used ANZ credit card and so far... no extra charges for RCI deposit or payment.

Quite a few credit cards are doing this now.

If you're going to cruise RCI or Celebrity regularly it pays to get a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, like the 28 Degrees Mastercard.

Would that be so they can avoid paying tax in Australia, on money paid in Australia in Australian dollars?

Your guess is as good as mine. I do not claim to understand high finance.

Looks like 28 degree is the way to go, but if RCI does this who is to say what other company will follow suit?

Maybe it is a tax issue, no income in Oz?:mad:

I made a phone booking on Friday with RCI. The RCI staff member told me at least twice that there was no charge added on to the booking for credit card use but that my bank may charge a foreign transaction fee. I believe that they would point that out to most people as they were making their booking

The transaction fee is trigged when the processing of the credit card is not done in Australia. Hence, RCL do this by processing it in Miami. Now the credit card company only knows it as an international transaction as it not done in Oz so it applies the fee.

That was the way ANZ explained it to me.

How should we, as consumers know where the payment will be processed in this age of globalisation?

Literally, RCL do state it in their booking terms, to cover themselves from this question.

Of course, many would not think they need to read through the terms for this, but that's the legal response.

Is this only ANZ? Or do other financial institutions do the same? Any suggestions to how avoid this fee?

Any advice is appreciated :)

A few ways, in the specific situation.

If you book through an Australian travel agent, they all process locally as far as I know - though many will also charge a credit card fee (but not all).

Alternatively, different banks have different arrangements. It's probably 50/50 as to whether they charge for overseas transactions in AUD.

Or of course it can also be avoided by paying direct debit (bank transfer) if going through RCL.

It is all in the terms and conditions of the credit card company.

For instance, if I pay RCI with my Westpac Visa I get the 3% charge for an overseas transaction (Miami) even though it is in AUD.

If I use my Westpac Amex there is no extra charge for transactions in AUD processed overseas.

However merchants here usually charge a fee for Amex, so its horses for courses so to speak.

Interesting.. Have used ANZ credit card and so far... no extra charges for RCI deposit or payment.

Which type of credit card please ?

IE: Visa, Mastercard, Amex.

The Op said she used an Australian Travel Agent so she was not paying RCI direct. I would query this with the TA.

'We booked in Australia, price is in AUD,with RCI Aus via Australian travel agent. '

I booked my RCI cruise through a TA and was told no charge for credit card unless it was American Express.

Literally, RCL do state it in their booking terms, to cover themselves from this question.

 

Of course, many would not think they need to read through the terms for this, but that's the legal response.

 

 

 

A few ways, in the specific situation.

 

If you book through an Australian travel agent, they all process locally as far as I know - though many will also charge a credit card fee (but not all).

 

Alternatively, different banks have different arrangements. It's probably 50/50 as to whether they charge for overseas transactions in AUD.

 

Or of course it can also be avoided by paying direct debit (bank transfer) if going through RCL.

I did book through an Australian travel agent, no mention about the 3% charge.

Literally, RCL do state it in their booking terms, to cover themselves from this question.

 

Of course, many would not think they need to read through the terms for this, but that's the legal response.

 

 

 

A few ways, in the specific situation.

 

If you book through an Australian travel agent, they all process locally as far as I know - though many will also charge a credit card fee (but not all).

 

Alternatively, different banks have different arrangements. It's probably 50/50 as to whether they charge for overseas transactions in AUD.

 

Or of course it can also be avoided by paying direct debit (bank transfer) if going through RCL.

I did book through an Australian travel agent, no mention about the 3% charge.

I did book through an Australian travel agent, no mention about the 3% charge.

I would query this surcharge too. It wasn't the Captain one was it as they are notorious for charging fees

I would query this surcharge too. It wasn't the Captain one was it as they are notorious for charging fees

No it was not.

I have now queried, in a nice way. Specially as we cancelled the original booking and re booked to get the OBC advertised. So now it looks like we paid the original deposit, there will be a refund which no doubt the bank will reduce, and then paid the second deposit. It all adds up at the end.:mad:

I did book through an Australian travel agent, no mention about the 3% charge.

Bit weird then, glad to hear you're querying it. It'd be the first time I've heard an agent sending their transaction off shore.

I did book through an Australian travel agent, no mention about the 3% charge.

Bit weird then, glad to hear you're querying it. It'd be the first time I've heard an agent sending their transaction off shore.

It sounds like the agent just passed on the OPs credit card details to RCI, who then charged the deposit to the card.

Agreed, that's the way they do it in the US. But it hadn't been the way done here.

It sounds like the agent just passed on the OPs credit card details to RCI, who then charged the deposit to the card.

That is exactly correct. The TA just sent it straight to RCI, if I pay through the TA they charge 1.1/2%, so, in future I'll use 28 degree CC and insist that it is passed to RCI direct.

Very disturbing experience, no wonder they will not divulge an email address or phone number for RCI Australia. Wonder how much tax RCI pays in Australia. :confused:

It's all par for the course - just use a 28 degree credit card or similar for booking directly with Royal is my suggestion as the Travel Agents rarely offer any perks that make booking through them worthwhile.

Also, if you book through a travel agent then Royal can't talk with you directly about your booking which is a pain - you have to go back to the travel agent & wait for them to get back to you.

Once on board your expense account will be charged to your credit card in the US as well (unless you opt to pay cash which most people don't as it's a hassle having to carry the cash etc), so we only ever use our 28 degree CC for our ship expense account.

Also, tick the box on the boarding docs that says you want your bank to calculate the CC conversion not the cruise line for a better exchange rate in most cases. :)