Booking a hotel in Greece using credit card

mabelpud

I am planning to book direct with a hotel in Greece. They offer room prices in pound sterling but there is the option to change to pay in euros. If i pay using a credit card is it better to pay in euros or sterling. I did ask my bank but bank couldnt advise me on this so just wondered if anyone else had any advice. Thanks.

la531983

Their price in GBP is likely at a very very poor exchange rate, have you worked it out?

Brie

The general rule when using a UK credit card outside of the UK is to use the local currency as then you will get the exchange at bank rates not something the shop itself might have set in it's favour.  

bagand96

Is their price in GBP an actual price to pay or just an indicative price?  A lot of websites will detect you're in the UK and show you an approximate GBP price for ease, but will actually charge in the local currency of the hotel.

What credit card do you have and how much does it charge for non-GBP transactions? That would be a starting point to working out which way will be best.  Normally advice is to pay in local currency, however if you have a card which charges extortionate non-sterling fees then it may be best to take the hotel's GBP rate, even if it's a poor rate.

Mark_d

I would generally pay in the local currency but I would be using a credit card that has no fees for foreign transactions.  If you have to pay a 2.99% foreign currency fee on your credit card then it might be worth letting the hotel do the conversion but the only way to be sure is to compare the exchange rates.

mexican_dave

I generally pay in the local currency too, using a no fee credit card. The credit card also gives me some consumer protection too. Conversations to GBP from a local currency are not usually in your interest, from what I have learned from general consumer advice.

Doshwaster

Mark_d said:

I would generally pay in the local currency but I would be using a credit card that has no fees for foreign transactions.  If you have to pay a 2.99% foreign currency fee on your credit card then it might be worth letting the hotel do the conversion but the only way to be sure is to compare the exchange rates.

My bet is that if the hotel is doing the conversion they will be charging more than 2.99%. If someone ever offers to do a currency exchange for you then it's usually for their benefit rather than yours. 

The long term answer is to get another credit card which doesn't charge for foreign exchange (e.g. Halifax Clarity) but in the short term I would just swallow the 3% markup on your usual card.

Voyager2002

You can get a Curve card quickly. Use it to "mask" your credit card so that you are not charged the foreign currency fee.