Apparently I dodged a bullet

[L-TWT]

B/c this past February I went to Trinidad & Tobago for carnival, I figured that I would be able to use my recently opened Discover It card, but I was wrong, card not accepted no where on the island, so i was forced to use my Citi Double Cash, which I used ALOT. My statement just posted this morning, and i was not charged a single Foreign Transaction Fee of 3%, I not mad by any means just surprised, B/C all purchases made under description has "merchant country" and it specifically states Trinidad & Tobago. So has Citi stop charging FTF or did they make a mistake on my statement?

[chwebb1]

I haven't used my DC for foreign transactions (I'll use my Discover if I can, or I'll use my Barclaycard Ring, since it has no FTFs). But the cardmember agreement says that they'll charge 3% FTFs. It sounds like they made a mistake.

[NRB525]

If you did a lot of transactions, it is unlikely this is a mistake.

I would guess Trididad and Tobago may be in some "non-foreign" category, Caribbean islands are close to the U.S., where Citi may have strong enough banking and/or there is enough spillover US travel, that they treat it as a U.S. location.

The real test is, you must now go to Europe for another vacation, then to Asia, and South America, in order to provide us with more data points. Go you must!

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

If you did a lot of transactions, it is unlikely this is a mistake.

I would guess Trididad and Tobago may be in some "non-foreign" category, Caribbean islands are close to the U.S., where Citi may have strong enough banking and/or there is enough spillover US travel, that they treat it as a U.S. location.

The real test is, you must now go to Europe for another vacation, then to Asia, and South America, in order to provide us with more data points. Go you must!

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This. My parents take cruises a couple times a year and charge everything get put on my fathers AARP card. I think only one stop they made and I don't remember which island, had a FTF. I would assume they want use of their cards and have made them more outlet of the US than anything.

[Imperfectfuture]

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@NRB525 wrote:

If you did a lot of transactions, it is unlikely this is a mistake.

I would guess Trididad and Tobago may be in some "non-foreign" category, Caribbean islands are close to the U.S., where Citi may have strong enough banking and/or there is enough spillover US travel, that they treat it as a U.S. location.

The real test is, you must now go to Europe for another vacation, then to Asia, and South America, in order to provide us with more data points. Go you must!

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This.  The real exchange hit is in Europe right now especially.  Asia, Australia, South America?  Definitely Canada.  But Bahamas not so much.

[DantGwyrdd]

Were you charged in US dollars or TT dollars? If the original charges were in USD, then you wouldn't be charged a fee as there was no currency conversion (the "foreign" in FTF refers to foreign currency not foreign location).

[L-TWT]

Charges were in TT, converted to US dollars no statement

[BottomRanker]

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@DantGwyrdd wrote:

If the original charges were in USD, then you wouldn't be charged a fee as there was no currency conversion (the "foreign" in FTF refers to foreign currency not foreign location).

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That's not true. FTF stands for Foreign Transaction Fee, and the currency of the transaction does not protect you from the fee.

Some banks explicitly state in your agreement/terms that a FTF is applied to any transaction in a foreign currency or any transaction that takes place outside the United States, even if the transaction is in USD:

1. https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/credit-cards-terms-and-conditions.go?cid=2111826&po=3C&re...
2. https://www.usbank.com/splash/credit-cards/business-cash-rewards/16593.html

But even if that's not explicit in the terms, you may still be charged, because FTF is not limited to the currency.

[DantGwyrdd]

I stand corrected! Glad that I've learned something new today, kudos!

OP: Wait for the statement then--I just remembered that when I got some cash abroad with my Ally debit card that the amount on the ebanking website just showed the full amount (with the fee included), but did not specify that an FTF was applied, whereas when the paper (pdf) statement cut, it showed the fees applied.

[Anonymous]

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@BottomRanker wrote:

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@DantGwyrdd wrote:

If the original charges were in USD, then you wouldn't be charged a fee as there was no currency conversion (the "foreign" in FTF refers to foreign currency not foreign location).

---

That's not true. FTF stands for Foreign Transaction Fee, and the currency of the transaction does not protect you from the fee.

Some banks explicitly state in your agreement/terms that a FTF is applied to any transaction in a foreign currency or any transaction that takes place outside the United States, even if the transaction is in USD:

1. https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/credit-cards-terms-and-conditions.go?cid=2111826&po=3C&re...
2. https://www.usbank.com/splash/credit-cards/business-cash-rewards/16593.html

But even if that's not explicit in the terms, you may still be charged, because FTF is not limited to the currency.

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Right, and this is the killer for those hit by Dynamic Currency Conversion, where the merchant offers to charge you in dollars (or whatever home currency).  The sell is "this way you know exactly what you will charged" and those that know about FTF but not enough might think that this will also allow them to avoid those fees.  Instead, you end up with a lousy exchange rate (merchants offer DCC because they make a large profit) + any FTF charged by the card.