I have just returned from Ireland and UK and noted that when a credit
card is used in a hotel
or restaurant many organizations will attempt to bill the card in US
Dollars using their own inflated
exchange rate. It is important to specifically request that the card
be billed in the countries currency to ensure that you will get the
best rate for that day directly from the card issuer. Additionally, in
Ireland, on one attempt to charge me in Dollars was a note that stated
I accepted an additional 3.5% fee for accepting the bill in dollars. I
ripped it up and requested to be billed in Euros. Also, if you accept
fast check out at hotels you will more than likely be billed in
Dollars and incur the bad exchange rate and extra fee. Always request
to be billed in the home currency
when using credit cards in Europe to avoid the problem.
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