International Hotel booking via Agoda | Credit Card charges

[wanderer0]

yes , I have Zero forex cards, AU Ixigo, UNI X gold, Yes marquee, SBI, CB, One card. which card do you suggest to use and in which currency ? please help

For Online transactions: So for 0 forex cards, you pay in foreign currency. Simple as that. For Yes Marquee and SBI CB you can choose local or foreign whichever because their forex & DCC charges are same(1% & 3.5% respectively). I think Marquee gives you best reward points in terms of value so go with that.

For Offline transactions: don't use SBI CB and always choose to pay in foreign currency. Never in INR. So use Marquee or any 0 forex cards for offline swiping.

Also check this: https://technofino.in/community/thr...national-transactions-and-travel-guide.39357/

 

[wanderer0]

Also a tip for hotel booking @KLB@96, use skyscanner instead of checking multiple sites and don't book from agoda mobile app, book it from browser even when you're using phone. It shows high prices on mobile app even if you're coming from skyscanner.

 

[KLB@96]

For Online transactions: So for 0 forex cards, you pay in foreign currency. Simple as that. For Yes Marquee and SBI CB you can choose local or foreign whichever because their forex & DCC charges are same(1% & 3.5% respectively). I think Marquee gives you best reward points in terms of value so go with that.

For Offline transactions: don't use SBI CB and always choose to pay in foreign currency. Never in INR. So use Marquee or any 0 forex cards for offline swiping.

Also check this: https://technofino.in/community/thr...national-transactions-and-travel-guide.39357/

Thank you for suggestion

 

[Dragon_slayer]

Yes. Bank can only charge one. If you pay in INR then there's no Forex(foreign exchange) fee because Agoda has already done the conversion for you and the bank gets mad and then it charges DCC which is mostly lower so you still save some money.

Oh wow. I thought i was being charged both DCC and Forex.

 

[wanderer0]

Oh wow. I thought i was being charged both DCC and Forex.

You're not alone. Many people here think so. And you're not completely wrong because DCC is a tricky thing to understand.

If you don't mind let me clarify it.

Forex markup is simple. You pay in USD or anything, your bank converts it to INR and you pay forex markup (usually 0-3.5%). So most people just get a 0 forex card, pay in local currency and live happily. However if you wanna dig deeper and save more money, keep reading.

DCC comes into picture only when you pay in INR. It has two parts:

1. DCC service: this is the service provided by the foreign merchant so you can pay in INR. The merchant's bank handles the currency conversion and adds some charges and you pay it all in INR. If you think about it this is just forex markup but from merchant bank side. Put simply, merchant bank is levying forex markup on you this time, instead of your bank. It ranges from 0-5%. This is the most important part for us.
2. DCC fee: this is a penalty from your Indian bank because you paid that juicy forex markup to a foreign bank instead of your own bank. It's usually 1-3.5%.

Now people who say you pay both Forex markup + DCC when you pay in INR are right but not entirely because the forex markup is already included in the amount that is shown to you in INR. Yes you pay it but not to your own bank. Your bank only levies DCC on such transactions.

So....

1. For offline swiping abroad: Because DCC service charges from merchant bank(aka their Forex markup) can go as high as 5%, it's better to pay in their local currency and let your bank put Forex markup on it. Simple and cost effective.

2. For some online trasactions on international sites (like agoda): their DCC service is basically free, meaning no additional charge from merchant bank. So depending on your card, it may be better to pay in INR and let your bank add DCC fee on top of it because usually DCC is lower than forex markup for Indian banks (except ICICI).

In simple words, for online txns pay in INR if your cards has high forex markup but low DCC otherwise pay in local currency.

This is the part where people get confused. They think their bank will still add Forex markup if you pay in INR which is simply not true because merchant bank has already done that. Hope it helps. I should probably write a wiki at this point.