Foreign currency exchange rates on credit cards??

[Deleted member 29185]

I want to buy foreign airfares and pay with a card, but how do I know what the exchange rate will be? I have a number of cards and I'd like to know the cheapest.

I'm assuming it won't be the "Buy" cash rate of the host bank.

 

[kpc]

Bankwest Plat or 28 degrees MC don't have Fx fees. The latter is fee free but you don't get any points; the former is about $160 pa but earns 0.5 Qf pts per $

 

[oz_mark]

Generally, if you have one without FX fees, that will be as good as it gets.

Outside that, my experience is that Mastercard is very marginally better than Visa, but both provide online calculators that should give you a guide.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Bankwest Plat or 28 degrees MC don't have Fx fees. The latter is fee free but you don't get any points; the former is about $160 pa but earns 0.5 Qf pts per $

Yep, I knew about those, but that's the FX fee. I was wondering how I know what the exchange rate will be?

 

[oz_mark]

Visa: https://www.visa.com.au/travel-with-visa/exchange-rate-calculator.html

Mastercard: https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/consumers/get-support/convert-currency.html

But you won't know for sure, as the date of settlement is what counts, and that may be a day or two into the future.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yep, I knew about those, but that's the FX fee. I was wondering how I know what the exchange rate will be?

with 28 degrees if you go to xe(.com) you pretty much get the rate stated there... tiny variance.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Generally, if you have one without FX fees, that will be as good as it gets.

Outside that, my experience is that Mastercard is very marginally better than Visa, but both provide online calculators that should give you a guide.

Thanks Oz_Mark. That was exactly what I was looking for. I actually thought it was the bank that set their rate, but it's just M/Card, Visa or Amex? Is that correct? So the bank only makes money on a foreign exchange by the FX fee and any interest?

 

[oz_mark]

Thanks Oz_Mark. That was exactly what I was looking for. I actually thought it was the bank that set their rate, but it's just M/Card, Visa or Amex? Is that correct? So the bank only makes money on a foreign exchange by the FX fee and any interest?

Yes, it is the card scheme that does the conversion.

Your bank will get the relevant interchange fee for the transaction,, plus the other bits you mention.
In the case of Visa or Mastercard an international assessment fee is payable by your bank to the scheme, but that's not really your problem (it's about 1%, and is normally included in the 3% or so the bank tack on)

 

[JohnPhelan]

Generally seems to be the prevailing cross rate on the day of conversion. But as far as I know there's no way to know the actual rate you're paying before you do it.

 

[Cynicor]

Exactly as others have said- it's controlled by the card issuer and not the bank. For a card with no FX fees you will generally pay very close to the Xe.com rate. Visa actually use the previous day's rate and MC use the current rate so sometimes you can work this to your favour if there was a large movement overnight.