Amex Qantas Discovery Card Foreign Transaction fees - Please help!

[Anthonius Lukito]

Hi, i have an Amex Qantas discovery card and will be going to Singapore soon, and one of the hotel I am interest in staying at, have a promotion stay 2 get 1 night free when I pay using Amex.

I called Amex rep AND emailed them and I still don't have a definite answer on the cost of foreign transaction using this card.

From what I understand the cost involve are:

1st: Conversion fees – If SGD is around $1.3 (xe) Amex will convert at around ~$1.23 (from the rep)
What I don't understand: They said they get their rates from Reuters which have ALOT better rates (closer to xe)

2nd: Foreign Transaction Fee – The converted amount (AUD) + 3% is the final price you payIs this correct? PLEASE if there is anyone out there that knows the cost involve tell me!


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[greenfrog86]

I wouldn't worry too much about the two rates - the AUD/USD rates could be 1:1 for simplicity in your calculation so I would just convert SGD to AUD directly to give you a ROUGH in indication of cost.

Remember that fx rate calculations always fluctuate and you cannot choose what the rate is going to be so get a rough idea of the AUD amount and maybe add a tolerance of +\- 5% if you're worried about having enough cash at hand to pay your statement.

As far as the fee goes, this will be 3% of the transaction amount and will be included in your statement.

I'm not sure why you are so worried about the exact cost of the purchase....? Do you have some more context?

 

[moa999]

No 1st discount.
In your example conversion should be at $1.30, then in step 2 the 3% is charged.

Which Singapore hotel?

 

[medhead]

Yesterdays rate was closer to $1.25.


Sent from the Throne

 

[Anthonius Lukito]

See one person is saying 1.3 (market rate) and another is saying 1.25 which one is right? The hotel I want to stay at is fairmont singapore.

The reason why I am concern is because I want to see if the total cost of the hotel (fairmont - use amex) exceed the total cost
of another hotel (swissotel - any card).

Again if anyone know the exact rate they use please do share

 

[medhead]

They convert to USD and then to AUD. There is basically no way to know the exact rate you'll get. But it'll be within about 3 to 5 cents of the published mid market rate. (I think someone already mentioned that). That is about the best answer you're going to get.


Sent from the Throne

 

[moa999]

It should be the market rate you find on sites like xe.com
There is no way to know in advance - can also be caught by delays in the hotel processing (eg if machine down and they do an offline txn), it may not post for a few days.

 

[greenfrog86]

Do you really care that much?

Hotel one = SGD converted to AUD for rough cost, plus amex fx fee of 3%

Hotel two = SGD to AUD plus 3% fx fee, unless you pay on a 28 degrees card or similar.

If the hotel cost difference is more than say $50 ask yourself whether the more expensive hotel is worth it.

You'd need a pretty significant difference to make it actually matter...

Are you thinking of paying for the Swissotel in cash or something? If that is the case then it's just the 3% that will be different, because either way you need to pay in SGD and therefore will either have an Amex conversion or a conversion when you buy your cash (or withdraw it which may incur fees unless using Citibank plus or 28 degrees etc)