deposit credit card fee?

[Bowie MeMe]

Has anyone else had a 1% "international transaction fee" charged by Visa when placing a deposit with an American discount cruise company in PA. for an Oceania cruise. Visa (State Farm Bank) is trying to tell me that Oceania is not an American company but an Irish company and that I have to pay for the Irish pounds. My quote was from an American company in American dollars and I am sure that Oceania has an American office in Miami. To add to confusion I also bought and paid for airline tickets from Iberian Airlines on the same day and they did not have an "international transaction fee" (Yes the agent did tell me that Iberian Airlines (a Spanish carrier) must be an American company!:p Any ideas before my final payment is due and I get 1% added to my price.

[hondorner]

This comes up frequently; a search may reveal several threads about this. What you are being charges is a "foreign TRANSACTION fee", not a currency exchange fee. It comes about because Oceania, an American company, does business with an Irish bank. Visa charges a fee for this kind of transaction; some banks abosrb it and do not pass it on, some pass it on and I think there are some who tack their own fee on top. The fees charged to the customer range from 0 to 3%, with 3% being the most typical.

 

The fee has nothing to do with whether the company is American or foreign; in the cases you mention, Oceania banks with an Irish Bank and Iberian banks with an American bank and thus does not trigger the transaction fee.

 

It does not cost Visa any more money to handle the transaction regardless of where the bank is located; it is just a fee they charge because they can.

 

There are a couple of solutions, one a short term solution and the other more permanent. In the short term, have your travel agent notify Oceania that you were charged the fee and request they issue you a shipboard credit for the amount. Oceania is not able to have a credit issued to your credit card account, because Oceania did not receive the fee, but in the past they have issued a credit to the ship board account as a customer relations gesture.

 

Longer term, you should seek out a credit card that does not charge the fee and use that card to pay Oceania. It will also be useful if you make any credit card purchases outside the USA when traveling, because the transaction fee will be added to the currency exchange fees anytime a non-USA bank is involved. It is getting harder to find such a card, as many of those who absorbed the fee in the past are changing their terms in these difficult economic times. I had a World Points Visa from Bank of America that did not charge the fee, but changed the terms in June of '08 and now charge 3%. I also have an American Express World Points card that was originally offered by MBNA under license from AmEx, now part of Bank of America, that does not charge the fee.

 

If you have a Discover card, you have until May 1st of 2009 to use it without a fee, then they will begin charging 2%.

 

To the best of my knowledge, Oceania has never explained why they use the Irish bank, but they have enormous sums of money passing through their hands, and I can only assume that they have obtained such favorable terms from the bank that it more than offsets the annoyance and ultimately benefits the passenger.

[DaveFr]

Has anyone else had a 1% "international transaction fee" charged by Visa when placing a deposit with an American discount cruise company in PA. for an Oceania cruise. Visa (State Farm Bank) is trying to tell me that Oceania is not an American company but an Irish company and that I have to pay for the Irish pounds. My quote was from an American company in American dollars and I am sure that Oceania has an American office in Miami. To add to confusion I also bought and paid for airline tickets from Iberian Airlines on the same day and they did not have an "international transaction fee" (Yes the agent did tell me that Iberian Airlines (a Spanish carrier) must be an American company!:p Any ideas before my final payment is due and I get 1% added to my price.

Oceania is an American company charging in American dollars. The transaction fee arose because Oceania uses a bank in Ireland to process their credit card transactions. (See: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=921699&highlight=credit+card) This recent thread will explain things nicely.

 

The good news is that Oceania will issue a SBC for the 1% fee charged by your credit card bank. If you look around, you'll be able to find credit cards that do not charge a foreign transaction or conversion fee unless the charge was in a currency other than US dollars. I have a Costco Amex and a Juniper Bank (Barclays) Mastercard that only charge a fee when there is a conversion from a foreign currency.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Dave

[Bowie MeMe]

Thanks for all the information. I called Oceania after my travel agent and the agent was about as interested and concerned as if I was a tramp on the street. No concern of their's if my cruise, bar bill, excursions, tips and all the rest go up in price by 1% so they can get a "better processing fee" from an Irish bank. I wonder if there would be any concern if I took the same cruise cheaper and without having to change credit cards by using another cruise company. Agent had an answer -- call your travel agent if you want to cancel. I feel so loved.

[Kruzin Again !]

We used a Capital One card and verified beforehand that they absorb the fee when we cruised this past November on our Transatlantic.

[lovecruisingtoo]

Thanks for all the information. I called Oceania after my travel agent and the agent was about as interested and concerned as if I was a tramp on the street. No concern of their's if my cruise, bar bill, excursions, tips and all the rest go up in price by 1% so they can get a "better processing fee" from an Irish bank. I wonder if there would be any concern if I took the same cruise cheaper and without having to change credit cards by using another cruise company. Agent had an answer -- call your travel agent if you want to cancel. I feel so loved.

 

What was your travel agent's response? If they had an "I don't care" attitude, you need a new agent.

 

An easy way to take care of it is to cancel and rebook with another agent. Or you can transfer your booking to another agent. Before you transfer, explain to the "new" agent what the problem is and I am sure they will work the issue in order to get your business.

 

There are some agents here on the board that have worked extensively with Oceania and I am sure can help.

[DaveFr]

Barbara,

 

Simply have your travel agent contact Oceania and get you a SBC to cover the amount of the international transaction fee. Please don't get so worked up over something so minor that is easily remedied. Or, if it sticks in your craw and will eat at you, just cancel the cruise and use a different cruise line. Life's too short to stew about something like this.

 

Dave

 

P.S. Just so there's no misinterpretation, Oceania doesn't get a penny of the transaction fee. It all goes to your credit card bank.

[Leonid]

Dave,

 

What a caring individual! Do you treat everyone in a like manner?

 

Len

[DaveFr]

Dave,

 

What a caring individual! Do you treat everyone in a like manner?

 

Len

Len,

 

I guess it is true that no good deed goes unpunished. Being flamed for trying to offer helpful advice to Barbara just amazes me. :confused:

 

Have a good day.

 

Dave

[Bowie MeMe]

Well if everyone just lets Oceania go on strolling to the Irish Bank and there is no reaction on the part of the customers-- then we deserve the policies and costs that are not in the customer's best interest. I believe that a good cruise and good service must start with BEFORE the cruise and I the customer believe that the agent I spoke with at Oceania was short and rude and told me if I don't like it cancel the cruise. This does not make me think that my dream cruise is off to a great start. Oceania sends me about 3 pieces of advertising per week as does every other cruise line on earth (I have cruised on 10 lines for 28 cruises). Why not spend some of that money on a nicer representative so I don't REALLY think about canceling and keeping MY hard earned American dollars. I so think this transaction fee is Oceania-- none of my four other cruises this year (Cunard, Celebrity, Majestic and Princess) had the fee and the credit card was always the same.

[CintiPam]

Well if everyone just lets Oceania go on strolling to the Irish Bank and there is no reaction on the part of the customers-- then we deserve the policies and costs that are not in the customer's best interest. I believe that a good cruise and good service must start with BEFORE the cruise and I the customer believe that the agent I spoke with at Oceania was short and rude and told me if I don't like it cancel the cruise. This does not make me think that my dream cruise is off to a great start. Oceania sends me about 3 pieces of advertising per week as does every other cruise line on earth (I have cruised on 10 lines for 28 cruises). Why not spend some of that money on a nicer representative so I don't REALLY think about canceling and keeping MY hard earned American dollars. I so think this transaction fee is Oceania-- none of my four other cruises this year (Cunard, Celebrity, Majestic and Princess) had the fee and the credit card was always the same.

 

DaveFR and others have given you excellent advice. Perhaps you do not want to get a new credit card but you really should get a new travel agent because he/she should have fixed this problem for you immediately.

[TERubacky]

Thanks for all the information. I called Oceania after my travel agent and the agent was about as interested and concerned as if I was a tramp on the street. No concern of their's if my cruise, bar bill, excursions, tips and all the rest go up in price by 1% so they can get a "better processing fee" from an Irish bank. I wonder if there would be any concern if I took the same cruise cheaper and without having to change credit cards by using another cruise company. Agent had an answer -- call your travel agent if you want to cancel. I feel so loved.

 

Dear Barbara,

 

first and foremost, please accept my apologies for the treatment you recieved. It is unacceptable and not what our company is about. If you would do me the honor of taking afew minutes to speak with me, I would like to look into this situation and offer an apology in person.

 

As I do not have any contact information for you, would you kindly call our offices and ask to speak with me?

 

Many thanks,

 

Tim Rubacky

Oceania Cruises

[hondorner]

Once again, Oceania shows what a class act they are. This type of response is not surprising to those of us who have been watching them for a few years.

[Bowie MeMe]

Thank you for your response. I will call you when I return home from our current travel. Barbara