Surprised no reaction from BYD owners on this forum

[pumpjack]

booking hotels on agoda with my visa debit card,  it asks on agoda site if i want to pay in thai baht or gbp. 

 

what should i pay with .  thnks

[KhunBENQ]

Very likely (but not always) a debit card will apply extra fees for paying in foreign currency.

So as rule of thumb: pay in GBP (British Pounds).

 

Can you check the Agoda prices in GBP and in THB?

Todays currency market rate is about 45.3 for the Pound.

http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=GBP&To=THB

 

Whats the rate of the Agoda prices?

[Pib]

If it's a Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) transaction then paying in the currency of your card will be more expensive because of a lower exchange rate given...usually 2 to 4% lower because the merchant you are making the purchase from will most likely use a lower exchange rate....actually it's not the merchant (Agoda in this case) but the bank the merchant will use to process the transaction.

 

It's no different than a purchase in a store or using an ATM if a DCC transaction is offered (i.e., paying in your home country currency)....if you allow/select the DCC transaction (which they will most likely not call a DCC transaction...instead just ask you if you want to accomplish the transaction in your home country currency) then you will end up paying more when the dust settles due to the lower exchange rate most likely given.

 

Almost always best to process the transaction in the local currency.   DCC bad for the customer; DCC good (more profit) for the merchant/ATM operator.

Edited December 4, 2016 by Pib