Dynamic Currency Conversion

stutwentyfour

Hi Guys

Flying out to Greece in a few weeks and wanted some advice on how to use my cards properly. I have Nationwide Credit and Debit Cards, and have just come across this Dynamic Currency Conversion term.

Could anybody tell me how to use my Debit Card for withdrawing cash properly, and my credit card for transactions, without getting stung by this DCC.

Thanks

ManAtHome

Never had a sniff of the DCC scam in Greece - they've always charged in Euros on my Nationwide CC and HSBC debit card. Think your debit card needs to have a match for the symbols on the ATM - I use Maestro and have never had any charges from Emporiki bank ATMs. By the way, banks are usually a good place to change Stirling notes to Euro - you're unlikely to get a better rate on the street.

And if you're one of these mucky smokers (like me...) prices at the airport are the same as anywhere else (although I usually buy 1/2 my stocks in the resort just in case). Can usually get some reasonable deals on whisky at the airport - if you're into Bacardi buy the white rum at the resort instead.

Caveat - I'm an old fart, so go to old fart resorts, your mileage in "groovy happening" spots may vary!

blackanchorage

I use a Nationwide Credit Card. In restaurants in Spain, I was offered DCC more often than not. Most of the time I ended up paying cash to avoid it, because they refused to charge in euros (in contravention of the rules around this). In future I'll always pay in cash to avoid the hassle.

I was only offered DCC once at an ATM, but then I was offered the choice of not using it.

I had a real fight with the hotel bill getting the original DCC refunded - I couldn't pay in cash for that - and spent half an hour getting them to charge me in euros. It saved £19 on a £630 pound bill though (I saw both amounts on my credit card statement).

Regards, Roger

grumbler

See these threads:
DCC and ATMs abroad: for the attention of Nationwide card users
How can I avoid DCC when using Visa abroad?