Lessons Learned

I recently purchased two Business Class tickets on Thai Airlines from LAX to BKK. Needless to say, very expensive - almost $10,000. I purchased them via the Thai Airlines U.S. web site and paid via MasterCard.

I did not realize that even though I purchased the tickets via their U.S. web site the point of payment was Bangkok. So, my credit card company charged me $298 in "Foreign Exchange Fees"! Most credit cards charge this fee, up tp 3% of purchase. A few like CapitolOne do not.

If you call the Thai Airline reservation desk in Los Angles and make the reservation it will cost a lot more than via the web site. So, I sent an e-mail to Thai Airlines complaining about this. They told me if you make the reservation via the web site you can put it on hold without paying for 48 hours. You can then call the reservation desk in LA and pay to avoid the fee.

The lesson to be learned here is to be aware of what fees your credit card imposes. If you do a lot of overseas buying it would be best to consider CapitolOne or another card that does not impose the Foreign Transaction Fee.

Also, be aware of where payment is being made when buying over the web. I'm sure the same problem I had with Thai Airlines could occur with Indian Airlines, etc.

This is from a U.S. perspective. I don't know if the same things apply to our European friends.

On the "flip" side of that Charlieb, if you pay your AEK Udon hospital bill by credit card they reduce the cost of some items on your bill by 10%.
First time I had ever heard of a price "reduction" for using your card. I suppose it goes to partially offset the FEC (Farang Excess Charge) on the bill.

Charlieb wrote:
This is from a U.S. perspective. I don't know if the same things apply to our European friends.

No it doesn't. Not in the UK anyway. On the UK THAI website you get quoted in GBP and that's exactly what you pay charged to your Visa / Mastercard.

OT...................

old-timer wrote:

Charlieb wrote:
This is from a U.S. perspective. I don't know if the same things apply to our European friends.

No it doesn't. Not in the UK anyway. On the UK THAI website you get quoted in GBP and that's exactly what you pay charged to your Visa / Mastercard.

OT...................

I can second that for continental Europe, but hasten to add that my Master & Visa Card do take their cut by applying a conversion fee (abt. 1%) to the exchange rate.