How can I avoid Airbnb's sneaky 3% foreign currency fee?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 30 Jul, 2023
- |
Yes always pay in local currency!
I made the mistake of booking an apartment in Spain using USD, my credit card currency. My host told me he would charge me 150€/ night. Airbnb charged me US$184/ night which was much higher than any rate I found on the internet. When I took it up with them, the “specialist” kept saying they showed me the prices in USD and they didn’t do any currency conversion, which was of course a blatant lie. After a protracted conversation he finally admitted that the “ automatic currency converter” they used was OANDA.
According to OANDA, 150€ came out to be US$178. I chatted and spoke with 3 Airbnb representatives on this. No one was willing or able to explain the 3% discrepancy between this and $184, which was actually a hidden fee Airbnb would not admit to.
Airbnb also calculated their service charge based on the jacked-up USD room prices. In other words, I was overcharged twice. Luckily my host agreed to give me a full refund when I cancelled, and I was able to pay in Euros.
Lesson: always pay Airbnb in the local currency. You can go to your Profile to make the choice.
I’m not sure when exactly it happened, but as of September 2018 Airbnb stopped charging any foreign exchange fees. Now I see the exact same price when I use my GBP card as I do when I use my CZK card. Their FAQ confirms my findings:
We will display the prices on Airbnb in the currency you select. If you choose to change the currency at any point while booking, we will display a new price in the new currency you select.
Bookings will be completed with the displayed price and currency as selected by you.
If you choose to make or receive payments in a currency different from the designated currency of your payment method, your credit or bank card issuer may apply a currency conversion rate or fees to your payment. Please contact your provider to learn more about what fees may apply. Airbnb is not responsible for these fees.
Kudos to Airbnb for fixing the issue!
One option might be to use sites like Homeaway (if they have properties where you want to go). The bookings we’ve made through that service charge in the native currency of the property owner, in our cases $US and UKP. Then you can pay using whatever method you want.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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