Happy holiday to all.
Can anyone who has had experience of this, confirm that if making an Airbnb booking from the Airbnb Australian website with billing shown in AUD$ for an o/s accommodation, that txn will be charged as a local Australian purchase on my credit card? If not, then I will pay with my 28 Degrees card instead.
Thanks.
Can confirm this, I just got stung for an Aus ABNB booking…
Me too, just did my 'nana at Citibank over a purchase made in AUD from a .com.au website via Paypal (which has an australian division), which incurred an "international transaction fee".
To their credit Citibank refunded the money after phrases like "financial services ombudsman" were thrown around but tell you what is it enraging that this is allowed to happen. If it's in AUD and made through a .au portal then the transaction is local!
No experience with AirBnb but I got caught out booking with the BA Australian site, for flights originating in Australia, listed and paid in AUD. Got a $280 foreign txn fee…complained multiple times to BA who didn't have a clue what I was going on about.
Thanks all. Looks like I'll have to use my 28 Degrees card and earn no points for the spend.
The transaction will be charged in AUD if your the address of your credit card with which you are paying is in Australia. I recently tried to pay for a Japanese airbnb in yen, but was charged in AUD and was told it was because my credit card that i opted to pay with is an Australian credit card.
The information you need is here: https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/95/can-i-pay-with-any…
Hi alchew. Thanks for the link. Interesting that Airbnb slugs you a 3% conversion fee when the currency you’re paying with is different from the default currency of the country where the listing or experience are located.
The bank will charge an international transaction fee as AirBnB is based in the UK. Even if you pay via Paypal, even if you pay in Australian $, the big 4 banks will charge.
This is separate to the currency conversion fee.
It sucks.
Thanks Eve. Told my friend and he checked his 2015 Jan Airbnb HK booking and his Coles MasterCard definitely charged him the international transaction fee ($38!). It was broken down in his statement but he missed it as he was just checking each txn was legit.
Huh? Really? I recently booked a house in Thailand on Airbnb, which Airbnb quoted $900 and $900 was what came through on my Amex with no FX fees.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/267731
No international transaction fee?
Was it a bank-issued card?
Yes $0 Intl transaction fee from my AMEX when I booked (It was an AMEX Explorer - which is not a FX fee free card). The $AUD price quoted by Airbnb and confirmed via their booking confirmation email was exactly what appeared on my AMEX. There where no other transaction fees charged afterwards.
I understand Airbnb will do a conversion from the currency where the listing is based to AUD, but once Airbnb charge you in AUD I don't understand why you would incur a further FX fee from the card/bank.
For the bank-issued credit cards, my understanding is that the big 4 banks started charging international transaction fees as AirBnB is based in the UK and the transaction goes through the UK. They are trying to profit from online sales.
Sounds like non-bank issed AMEX doesn't have that issue.
If that is the case, the banks are taking the pi$s.
I have both a CBA Amex as well as an Amex issued one, I used the Amex issued one because of higher points earn, it looks like I also dodged a FX fee.
@eve:
Citibank too, the scumbags. Time to find a card that offers decent points to FF miles conversion + no international transaction fee + free for life.
/Dreaming.
Post my posting, I made my o/s booking and after selecting the PayPal option expecting it to take me to the PayPal login page, instead it went straight through as payment using my registered my WBC A/E instead of my savings a/c and looking at my WBC a/c on-line, it's showing just the Airbnb amount so far but I'll have to wait for my next monthly statement to see if I will be slugged the foreign transaction fee.
hi mate . how did you go with this? I'm about to book accomodation in the US and wondering which card to use to pay.
Nope. Use 28 Degrees.