NFCU @ 0% or Amex @ 2.7% in cancun?

[bourgogne]

hi, asking for a friend that is going to stay at a marriott for a week starting tomorrow.  booking made via expedia, they need the physical card so pre-payment is no bueno - guess doing a pre-pay at the time of reservation would have been best but too late now.  room/tax is $3200 for the week.  does nfcu flat out beat amex on this when factoring in the fee and conversion rate?  marriott will only process the transaction in pesos. would perfer to use amex...just not my area of expertise so thank you in advance

[coldfusion]

To some extent it depends on the card issuer but the conversion rates are typically more favorable when the charge is made in the local currency and the payment network (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) handles the conversion to US dollars.  In short, pay the hotel bill in pesos.

Edited: I'd use a no-FTF Mastercard or Visa before a 2.7% FTF AMEX.

[bourgogne]

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@coldfusion wrote:

To some extent it depends on the card issuer but the conversion rates are typically more favorable when the charge is made in the local currency and the payment network (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) handles the conversion to US dollars.  In short, pay the hotel bill in pesos.

Edited: I'd use a no-FTF Mastercard or Visa before a 2.7% FTF AMEX.

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excellent, thank you.  for science I am going to have them buy a beer with both cards and see what the diff is

[K-in-Boston]

Dynamic currency conversion (where a foreign retailer charges your card in US currency) should always be avoided!  It is extremely common for retailers (or their card processors) to charge you 5-10% more for paying in USD, and I am always adamant that I be charged in the local currency.  I don't use cards with FTFs outside of the US, but from experience this happens quite often in tourist areas worldwide and on any vacation of length I always find myself at least once making a retailer reverse the original charge and charge it again in the local currency.  I'm not paying an extra $15-20 for the $300 in souvenirs for the "convenience of being charged in American dollars."

To answer your question, a card without a FTF will always be better to use unless the value of the rewards received on a FTF card outweighs the FTF.  For example, let's say you went to a restaurant in Rome during a Chase Freedom 5% quarter.  You pay with Freedom and get charged a 3% FTF, but you get 5% back (assuming worst-case in UR returns) more or less still netting 2% back on your purchase.  On the other hand, you also have that CapOne Quicksilver card with no FTFs.  Pay with that, and you net 1.5% back on your purchase.

Of course, the best answer is that you should have given your friend a referral link for either the Amex SPG or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card so that they could earn 6 Starriott-Carlton Ritzpoints per dollar spent and pay no foreign transaction fees. 

[UpperNwGuy]

Buying a beer with both cards will only be a good test of the two cards if you tell the bartender you want both transactions to be processed in pesos or both in dollars.

[bourgogne]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

Buying a beer with both cards will only be a good test of the two cards if you tell the bartender you want both transactions to be processed in pesos or both in dollars.

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my understanding is the hotel only does pesos so it should be an even test.  will report back shortly.  gosh, a beer sounds good about now

[bourgogne]

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@K-in-Boston

 Of course, the best answer is that you should have given your friend a referral link for either the Amex SPG or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card so that they could earn 6 Starriott-Carlton Ritzpoints per dollar spent and pay no foreign transaction fees. 

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hey, yeah I feel you but she has a joint bk7 reporting until 6/19 and burned amex for ~$50K so right now the only amex cards she has is my brg and a bb+.  she has a nfcu cash rewards that she is going to be using unless amex covers the 2.7% in the exchange conversion which is doubtful based on what I am hearing.  if she was not as anal about paying bills as I am  I would never have given her the cards.  I can almost guess your next comment lol

[coldfusion]

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@bourgogne wrote:

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@K-in-Boston

 Of course, the best answer is that you should have given your friend a referral link for either the Amex SPG or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card so that they could earn 6 Starriott-Carlton Ritzpoints per dollar spent and pay no foreign transaction fees. 

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hey, yeah I feel you but she has a joint bk7 reporting until 6/19 and burned amex for ~$50K so right now the only amex cards she has is my brg and a bb+.  she has a nfcu cash rewards that she is going to be using unless amex covers the 2.7% in the exchange conversion which is doubtful based on what I am hearing.  if she was not as anal about paying bills as I am  I would never have given her the cards.  I can almost guess your next comment lol

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That 2.7% charge is independent of and in addition to any exchange conversion charges or inefficiencies.  AMEX assesses and collects that 2.7% and keeps it for themselves.

[bourgogne]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@bourgogne wrote:

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@K-in-Boston

 Of course, the best answer is that you should have given your friend a referral link for either the Amex SPG or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card so that they could earn 6 Starriott-Carlton Ritzpoints per dollar spent and pay no foreign transaction fees. 

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hey, yeah I feel you but she has a joint bk7 reporting until 6/19 and burned amex for ~$50K so right now the only amex cards she has is my brg and a bb+.  she has a nfcu cash rewards that she is going to be using unless amex covers the 2.7% in the exchange conversion which is doubtful based on what I am hearing.  if she was not as anal about paying bills as I am  I would never have given her the cards.  I can almost guess your next comment lol

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That 2.7% charge is independent of and in addition to any exchange conversion charges or inefficiencies.  AMEX assesses and collects that 2.7% and keeps it for themselves.

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I know but if their exchange were to offset this then the card might be viable.  long shot but waiting for a proper beer test

[longtimelurker]

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@bourgogne wrote:

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@bourgogne wrote:

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@K-in-Boston

 Of course, the best answer is that you should have given your friend a referral link for either the Amex SPG or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card so that they could earn 6 Starriott-Carlton Ritzpoints per dollar spent and pay no foreign transaction fees. 

---

hey, yeah I feel you but she has a joint bk7 reporting until 6/19 and burned amex for ~$50K so right now the only amex cards she has is my brg and a bb+.  she has a nfcu cash rewards that she is going to be using unless amex covers the 2.7% in the exchange conversion which is doubtful based on what I am hearing.  if she was not as anal about paying bills as I am  I would never have given her the cards.  I can almost guess your next comment lol

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That 2.7% charge is independent of and in addition to any exchange conversion charges or inefficiencies.  AMEX assesses and collects that 2.7% and keeps it for themselves.

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I know but if their exchange were to offset this then the card might be viable.  long shot but waiting for a proper beer test

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The conversion is done at the time the charge is posted (as compared to the time that it is made) so for the beer test you will need to make sure the charges post the same day, which isn't in their control.   So to be super scientific (that's the excuse), get them to buy two beers (one on each card) EVERY day, so you will have some data points with same day posting!