Credit card surcharges!

[J&Jtravelcouple]

Anyone have more information on this little gem in the online check-in process where you have to (I think) give a credit card for onboard charges including excursions?

 

Credit Card Details

If you are using a credit card to pay for your onboard charges, a surcharge fee of 1.1% will be applied. Debit cards do not incur a surcharge.

 

We can give a debit card, however with a foreign cruise there will be currency conversion fees. With our FlexPerks Travel Visa, there are no conversion fees so this will really cost us. (Conversion fees are per transaction fees that are above and beyond the normal cost of currency conversion where everyone up charges you anyway. On top of that you get a fixed fee or another % of the transaction for conversion.)

 

Has anyone gotten around this in any other way?

 

 

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[IECalCruiser]

I have never had a surcharge added when using a credit card on Princess for the onboard account. Except for Australian cruises all onboard Princess charges are in USD. Can you give more information on your cruise.

 

 

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[skynight]

Anyone have more information on this little gem in the online check-in process where you have to (I think) give a credit card for onboard charges including excursions?

 

We can give a debit card, however with a foreign cruise there will be currency conversion fees. With our FlexPerks Travel Visa, there are no conversion fees so this will really cost us. (Conversion fees are per transaction fees that are above and beyond the normal cost of currency conversion where everyone up charges you anyway. On top of that you get a fixed fee or another % of the transaction for conversion.)

 

Has anyone gotten around this in any other way?

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I am in the U.S.. I just looked in my Cruise Personlizer. for an upcoming cruise. There is no such statement. Where did you see this? We have never had to pay any surcharges.

Where are you? Is this something country specific? Is your credit card in a currency which is different than the on board currency?

[lstone19]

I think it's an Australian thing. IIRC from this coming up before, it May even just be for Australians on Australia cruises (does not apply to others on cruises out of Australia).

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Thats sucks if it's only for certain markets. We have never had a fee added.

Edited January 4, 2017 by Colo Cruiser

[J&Jtravelcouple]

I am in the US and this is for an Australia/New Zealand cruise. Never saw this before for US, Caribbean or Mediterranean cruises. Perhaps it's an Aussie thing as charges will be in the port of departure i.e., Aussie dollars. Still, a surcharge in too of currently conversion fees would be a lot. Maybe this is in lieu of the conversion fee. Who knows.

 

 

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[lstone19]

What ship and date? And is there anything unusual about your booking such as booked through an Australian travel agency and priced in AUD.

 

 

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[beg3yrs]

I am in the US and this is for an Australia/New Zealand cruise. Never saw this before for US, Caribbean or Mediterranean cruises. Perhaps it's an Aussie thing as charges will be in the port of departure i.e., Aussie dollars. Still, a surcharge in too of currently conversion fees would be a lot. Maybe this is in lieu of the conversion fee. Who knows.

 

 

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It is an Aussie thing. You'll get the same surcharge at hotels all over Australia. It seems to be a point of law rather than a customary charge.

[Hlitner]

I am in the US and this is for an Australia/New Zealand cruise. Never saw this before for US, Caribbean or Mediterranean cruises. Perhaps it's an Aussie thing as charges will be in the port of departure i.e., Aussie dollars. Still, a surcharge in too of currently conversion fees would be a lot. Maybe this is in lieu of the conversion fee. Who knows.

 

 

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You are likely running into a foreign exchange fee. I believe the Sun Princess has, for several years, used the Australian Dollar as their onboard currency. If you give HAL a US Credit card and want them to charge you in US Dollars...they could take advantage of the situation and charge you a surcharge to convert from Aussie Dollars to US Dollars. We would use a common strategy to avoid this surcharge. We have 2 major credit cards that charge zero foreign exchange fees and we would simply register that card (onboard) to pay our On Board Account and instruct Princess to do the transaction in Australian Dollars (this avoiding a Princess sur charge).

 

But the best strategy depends on your specific credit card. For example, if you use an AMEX Green or Gold card and charge in a foreign currency....AMEX will impose a 2.7% foreign exhange fee...which makes a Princess surcharge a bargain. But if you have an AMEX Platinum Card (no foreign exchange fees) having charges in Aussie dollars would be the better deal.

 

And the other issue, when allowing a cruise line to convert currency, is what exchange rate will the cruise line use. With a major credit card they use the international wholesale foreign exchange rate in effect at the time the charge is processed. A cruise line is likely to use a bank exchange rate which might be 1-6% discounted (which means you get screwed) from the current rate.

 

Hank

Edited January 4, 2017 by Hlitner

[kerryincork]

I am in Europe and sometimes there is a credit card fee, here they have to inform you of charge and give you the opportunity to pay by direct debit.

In regards to currency conversion fees, this is determined by VISA, and provider of credit card. It is always best to allow your credit card provider to convert currencies, as they apply exchange rate of day of purchase, while cruise ship set their own exchange rate at the most profitable for them.

 

They usually ask you when checking in what currencies do you want to be charged in. Let them know ships currencies, sometimes you can do this on website when setting account, but check when get to dock. They won't let you change once you are on ship

 

I hope this helps 😊

 

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[SadieN]

We've paid a Credit Card fee for several things in the US, including gas.

[lstone19]

A good rule of thumb is never allow a merchant to convert a charge into your home currency (called Dynamic Currency Conversion). They will tell you this is "for your convenience" (so you know up front what the charge is in your currency) but the exchange rate and fees will almost always be worse than what you'd get letting it be processed in the local currency. Per their credit card merchant agreement, they must give you the option of having it be processed in local currency. Putting it through in your home currency without your permission is grounds for a charge dispute.

 

 

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[J&Jtravelcouple]

Thanks everyone.

 

 

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[CruisinFinsUp]

I think I read somewhere else (and I hope I am remembering this correctly) that unlike Canada and the US - where here the merchants pay credit card fees when consumers choose credit (and pass them along in higher product prices),

in Australia the user of the credit card pays the fee directly so only credit card users incur the cost of cc fees, not everyone.

 

This is similar to the old "discount for cash" that used to be offered here at gas stations way back when, and if paying by credit the price was higher.

[Cruiserkenn]

Yes, I had this on my Sun Princess around New Zealand cruise, in October 2016, RT from Sydney.

 

I used a cash back credit card, which made up the difference. No lo problemo:). PS - this same cash back credit card had no foreign transaction fees, so it was no worries with the bill being in AUD.

 

Fantastic!

[iancal]

It is not uncommon in many parts of the world to have a charge added when using a credit card. Often as much as 3 percent.

 

On the other hand, it is possible to obtain a discount for cash in some counties. We certainly ask and get discounts in Europe when we ask about paying by cash.

[likeadisguise]

We can give a debit card, however with a foreign cruise there will be currency conversion fees. With our FlexPerks Travel Visa, there are no conversion fees so this will really cost us. (Conversion fees are per transaction fees that are above and beyond the normal cost of currency conversion where everyone up charges you anyway. On top of that you get a fixed fee or another % of the transaction for conversion.)

 

Has anyone gotten around this in any other way?

 

If it's only for charges made on the ship, you can maybe get around it by buying OBC in advance of your cruise, and using that to pay your statement at the end of the cruise?

[jagsfan]

This is similar to the old "discount for cash" that used to be offered here at gas stations way back when, and if paying by credit the price was higher.

 

 

That practice hasn't gone away. Doing coast to coast road trips we often pulled into gas stations that had a lower price than we'd seen only to find it was the cash price. We finally caught on. I think that was a regular thing with all the Arco stations we saw.

 

 

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[Womble99]

Yes Australian cruises now have a 1.1% credit card surcharge for payment of your on board account. We are on the Emerald and there is a note in the first day patter and on the service desk.

 

Here's a bit that might fry your noodle though. So far I have racked up about $8 cc fees but as yet haven't exhausted our obc?? Will be checking to find out why I am paying cc fees for obc, guessing the IT guru's didn't think it through when implementing......

[lstone19]

Here's a bit that might fry your noodle though. So far I have racked up about $8 cc fees but as yet haven't exhausted our obc?? Will be checking to find out why I am paying cc fees for obc, guessing the IT guru's didn't think it through when implementing......

 

 

 

I assume you're seeing these on-line with your CC issuer. Are you sure these are actual charges? They're probably just authorizations in case you use up your OBC (do they show as pending?). Authorizations are quite normal but if they don't finalize the charge, they drop off after a few days.

 

 

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[Womble99]

No it is listed as credit card surcharge on the cabin statement so it is clear what the charge is for

[lstone19]

No it is listed as credit card surcharge on the cabin statement so it is clear what the charge is for

 

 

 

Wow, that's weird.

 

 

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[Womble99]

Yeah that's what we thought too but we will find out when we get a chance, shore trips to do first though as I am sure they won't change before we get back 😉

[Hlitner]

We've paid a Credit Card fee for several things in the US, including gas.

 

That was because they knew you from North of the Border where you love to pay taxes :).

 

Hank

[vmom]

When I was in Australia, there were surcharges in many venues when a credit card was used.

 

At the hotel we stayed at, Holiday Inn, I was charged 5% extra for paying with a credit card.

 

At several restaurants there surcharges for using a credit card, with the highest being 10%. Even casual take and go type food places often charged extra.

 

I think this is a Aussie thing. We from the US are not used to this, I know I wasn't.

Edited January 5, 2017 by vmom