Pay in euros or sterling

soba

I'm looking to book a hotel in Finland. With the euro/£ rate as it is, and if I get the choice, would it be better to pay in euros? I'd be using a Halifax Clarity credit card to pay.
Thanks.

KonkyWonky

Pay in Euroes, that way you get the official card exchange rate which is pretty much the best rate going.

If you pay in Pounds the exchange conversion is not carried out by the credit card company but a third party company. They can pretty much set their own exchange rate.

EDIT

This link lets you see what the current exchange rate used by Mastercard is https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/

Check the price of the hotel in both currencies and work out which is cheaper based on the exchange rate.

boliston

That would seem kind of odd paying for a hotel outside the UK in UK pounds! Do many British hotels offer guests a choice of foreign currencies to pay in as I have never been offered anything but UK pounds when checking out.

soba

Sorry, I didn't explain properly. It's through a hotel booker and there's the option to pay in euros or sterling.

boliston

soba wrote: »

Sorry, I didn't explain properly. It's through a hotel booker and there's the option to pay in euros or sterling.

OK I see - I've only ever actually paid the hotel itself I guess.

PeacefulWaters

soba wrote: »

Sorry, I didn't explain properly. It's through a hotel booker and there's the option to pay in euros or sterling.

How many £ do they want?

How many € do they want?

What card fees will you incur for €?

When is payment due?

benjus

boliston wrote: »

That would seem kind of odd paying for a hotel outside the UK in UK pounds! Do many British hotels offer guests a choice of foreign currencies to pay in as I have never been offered anything but UK pounds when checking out.

This is usually offered when paying with a credit/debit card that is not in the local currency - the card machine may offer the option to pay in the card's currency instead. It's called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). However, the exchange rate is usually not very good. As PeacefulWaters has said, it all depends on which card you plan to use and what the EUR and GBP amounts actually are.

zagfles

And the thing to be aware of is that the retailer gets a cut of the DCC commission, so it's in their interests for them to convert the currency. VISA & Mastercard rules say they must get your consent before doing this, but the more dodgy retailers will just do it without asking you. Some even claim it's not possible to pay in the currency of the country you are in!