Credit card conversion fees/forms of payment

twoblues

O.G.
May 26, 2008
214
70
Hello,

My credit card company charges 3% conversion fee for purchases abroad. Do you know if Hermes takes personal checks? I want to avoid paying the 3% fee at all possibility. Are there credit cards out there that do not charge this fee? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Hello,

My credit card company charges 3% conversion fee for purchases abroad. Do you know if Hermes takes personal checks? I want to avoid paying the 3% fee at all possibility. Are there credit cards out there that do not charge this fee? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
ING direct does not. and many other online only banks dont either. but ing is a debit card so you would have to the cash.
 
Hello,

My credit card company charges 3% conversion fee for purchases abroad. Do you know if Hermes takes personal checks? I want to avoid paying the 3% fee at all possibility. Are there credit cards out there that do not charge this fee? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Capital One does not add a foreign currency charge or the "foreign transaction" fee that everyone else seems to have added. Their exchange rates seem to be the same one the other cards use, so if you travel a lot it's a handy card to have! BTW, even when stores in Europe give you the option to pay in USD or the local currency, in my experience I've found it cheaper to stick with the local currency.
 
oh.. i also forgot that traveller's checks will be an option as well. pyrexia is right, if you are right there and wants to just grab the bag and run (and i mean, pay first, of course :lol:), then traveller's check is an option, right?
 
Hermes in most European boutiques definitely takes wire transfers.

You'll need to factor in about 3-4 working days for the funds transfer to take effect for a transaction between two different banks in two different countries. You will need to add in the wire service fee (and depending on the bank, sometimes there are wire service fees both ways i.e. both banks will levy a small fee.) If you add in all of these, I'm not sure there is significant savings vs. the 3% levied by your credit card.

One advantage to using a credit card is that if the item gets damaged or lost in transit, you are covered (at least this is the policy for most banks.)
 
oh.. i also forgot that traveller's checks will be an option as well. pyrexia is right, if you are right there and wants to just grab the bag and run (and i mean, pay first, of course :lol:), then traveller's check is an option, right?

I can't remember if H takes traveller's checks, because I've never used them, but even if they don't, there are quite a few places in Paris that will allow you to cash them out easily.
 
FSH takes wire transfers, but you will not be able to take your item the same day as the transfer needs some time to clear.

They do not accept personal checques.

If you pay with AMEX, FSH has the option to run the charge in either USD or in Euro, your choice at POS (^(oo)^)v
 
This is very likely dependent on the bank/CC, but IME, CC fees (even with the less than favorable conversion) is less than what my bank charges for an international wire transfer.

DH's Amex has very favorable terms for the consumer based on conversions, etc, but I don't think it's a normal Amex. (Not that I'm allowed to use it often, LOL :roflmfao:)
 
Thanks for all the tips! That's interesting re: Am Ex and charging in dollars. I wonder if the currency conversion rate is as good as the credit cards/banks?

In my experience (mine are non-US credit cards), Amex gives the worst exchange rates. This is when charging in Euros at the time of purchase.

And when charging straight to my local currency at check-out, the rates are usually worse.
 
Same here, my Amex has the worst exchange rates. The bank issued credit cards have much better rates.

But Amex offers my purchases 100% protection against loss, damage or theft for 30 days within purchase, so I like that extra security esp. when I am buying while on a trip.