Airbnb does not give an option to pay in the local currency on credit card

mapryan

When I buy something in another country, for example a Ryanair flight from Germany to London, the option is there to pay either in Euros or Sterling. However, Airbnb doesn't give you this option but always forces you to accept their conversion, even though the price can be shown in the local currency when it's booked.

Is this legal under EU law? Do they have to offer me the ability to pay in the local currency? I would imagine if they didn't have to then Ryanair wouldn't be doing it!

Thanks

glentoran99

mapryan wrote: »

When I buy something in another country, for example a Ryanair flight from Germany to London, the option is there to pay either in Euros or Sterling. However, Airbnb doesn't give you this option but always forces you to accept their conversion, even though the price can be shown in the local currency when it's booked.

Is this legal under EU law? Do they have to offer me the ability to pay in the local currency? I would imagine if they didn't have to then Ryanair wouldn't be doing it!

Thanks

Do not have to pay in the currency of departure with Ryanair? rather than given a choice?




but I don't think you can force anyone to accept a different currency

mapryan

No, Ryanair will try to convert your flight costs to the currency of the credit card you're using & then charge you an FX fee for doing so. You have to specifically tick an opt-out box (which is a little difficult to find) that you want to be billed in the local currency which will always work out cheaper

The problem I have with Airbnb is that they don't give you this option. They force their exchange rate on you. For my booking this worked out they they managed to increase their fee for the booking by over 22%!

glentoran99

What currency do they insist on charging you in? You seem to be able to change language and currency, Seems to be an American site is it dollars you are paying in?

NFH

mapryan wrote: »

However, Airbnb doesn't give you this option but always forces you to accept their conversion,

To which currency does Airbnb convert and how does it determine this currency?

mapryan

glentoran99 wrote: »

What currency do they insist on charging you in? You seem to be able to change language and currency, Seems to be an American site is it dollars you are paying in?

I have a UK Halifax Clarity Card and they are making me pay in Sterling after adding on their conversion fee for the currency change. I would rather pay in Norwegian Krona without converting it into GBP as I get the Mastercard rate and would save myself this 3% fee.

mapryan

NFH wrote: »

To which currency does Airbnb convert and how does it determine this currency?

I called one of their support people and they say that they always charge in the currency of the card used. Obviously, this will always work in their favour for cross-border bookings

NFH

mapryan wrote: »

I called one of their support people and they say that they always charge in the currency of the card used.

How do they know the currency of the card used? The first few digits of the card number can be used to determine the country of issue, but not the currency. For example, there are plenty of EUR-denominated and USD-denominated cards issued in the UK.

Have you compared Airbnb's rates against the live wholesale market rates at www.truefx.com?

eDicky

NFH wrote: »

How do they know the currency of the card used? The first few digits of the card number can be used to determine the country of issue, but not the currency.

I think that the assumption is made by the system that any UK card is denominated in GBP. For example yesterday when I loaded some euros on my Revolut using a euro debit card issued in Jersey, the warning came up that I may be charged by my bank if I debit a currency different to that of the card.

But surely AirBnB determines the currency by means of the detected location of the internet connection, and quotes in that country's currency, even before any card number is entered. Perhaps if the OP can make his connection appear to be in Norway, by using a VPN or something (I am not techie enough), price in NOK will be quoted.

NiftyDigits

To be fair, when AirBnB did my conversion, there was no discernable FX fee. Perhaps that has changed...but I don't think so. 22%? I don't believe it.

SW17

NiftyDigits wrote: »

To be fair, when AirBnB did my conversion, there was no discernable FX fee. Perhaps that has changed...but I don't think so. 22%? I don't believe it.

I'm guessing the 22% reference is 22% increase on the Airbnb fee, which would be 2.5-3% on the entire booking price (Airbnb fee is usually in the region of 12% of the booking cost IME). That's believable if they are using their own exchange rate.