Thanks Simon. I'm guessing you have a less draconian debit card than me. I've just signed up and been accepted for a Halifax Clarity card. Zero charges. The robbing gits have had their last penny out of me when buying software online.

26 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

That Euro conversion was a rip-off

Say it all!

27 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Halifax Clarity is the one. Zero charges

Thanks to poster for that h/up.

 

8 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I've just signed up and been accepted for a Halifax Clarity card. Zero charges.

Will follow suit

11 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Maybe the credit card option on SimMarket etc. also includes debit cards but isn’t explicitly stated.

Ray, I would suspect that depends on the type of debit card your bank issues. I bank with Chase and my debit card acts as either a "debit" or "credit" card when completing a transaction. It's up to me to make the choice. In either case however the actual funds come directly from my checking account! The only difference between debit/credit usage is that the debit requires my PIN number, the credit option requires my signature.

I actually have a "real" credit card from Chase, but it is entirely separate from my debit card and can only be used as a Visa credit card. I also have a Barclay card (which at the time I applied had a very attractive host of benefits, but has since become an albatross.

Bill,

These things are very different from country to country. My main reason for raising this topic was the extra charge levied by my credit card company when buying software priced in a foreign currency. Everything is priced in dollars or euros so we Brits have a rough time.

3% was being added to every purchase. For airports I could accept 60 pence for an airport but 3 GBP for the PMDG737 was the last straw. It’s bad enough having a poor exchange rate but that extra charge for virtually nothing was taking the mick.

We are fortunate in the U.K. to have a website that champions consumer rights and points us to the best deals. It recommended a credit card that I will be receiving in the next few days which means an end to these charges.

3 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

My main reason for raising this topic was the extra charge levied by my credit card company when buying software priced in a foreign currency. Everything is priced in dollars or euros so we Brits have a rough time.

Hi Ray, I sympathize. As a brit living in the US I have both UK and US credit cards. This saves on fees like yours but boy is it hard getting money back to the UK to pay off the CC! As from Jan 1st this year American Express stopped accepting checks by mail to pay your statement. Just imagine how I'm going to send payment next month! 

When I get start getting mad over over finance charges I take a deep breath and remember they are actually providing a service to make things easier for me. I pay off my cards each month so they don't make a penny in interest but still look after my account and process all those payments to save me mailing money orders and checks everywhere. So I don't feel so bad or paying a fee then. I wish it was a flat fee though cos it costs them the same whatever the amount is. 

At least once you've got those planes up and running you will be enjoying yourself too much to ponder on what they cost! 

Hi Russell,

I assume it's not possible to setup a direct debit to pay off your UK account? If not then I can see how that would make life difficult. You must be a naturalised yank because you're spelling cheques wrong. 😁

I know it's not a huge amount but it's the principle. Money for old rope springs to mind. It remains to be seen what exchange rate my new card gives me but it's got to be a better deal than 3% otherwise it would never get a recommend.

Getting impatient for 64-bit Concorde so I'm biding my time with the PMDG737. But God, it's slow. 🙄

 

13 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Hi Russell,

I assume it's not possible to setup a direct debit to pay off your UK account? If not then I can see how that would make life difficult. You must be a naturalised yank because you're spelling cheques wrong. 😁

I know it's not a huge amount but it's the principle. Money for old rope springs to mind. It remains to be seen what exchange rate my new card gives me but it's got to be a better deal than 3% otherwise it would never get a recommend.

Getting impatient for 64-bit Concorde so I'm biding my time with the PMDG737. But God, it's slow. 🙄

 

Ah I have a UK bank account but never put any money in it since they took a payment out of it for an over due cc back in the day.. I thought that was disgraceful. 

64.bit Concorde?!? That would be the only reason I switch sim 😎

Principles and ideals tend to get in the way of fun. But I'm with you.. You have to have them. 

I've just made my first purchase with my new credit card from Halifax. Prague Airport from SimMarkets was priced at 25.16 Euros.

I was charged 22.09GBP which means the exchange rate used was 1.1389. According to the BBC the current rate is 1.1431. Less than half a cent difference and a lot better than with my alternative credit card tagged "the card from h e l l". 👍

If you want to get a new credit card, you should take a careful look at their foreign currency transaction fees. Many banks may seductively advertise that their credit cards are inexpensive while providing plenty of features until you see a hefty charge for international purchases either in their fine print or on your bill after a transaction is done. A 3% charge is definitely too high. My bank increased the charge from 1% to 1.5% from 2016 to 2017, and that was upsetting enough for me, since I use my CC a lot for purchases abroad or software purchases from international vendors for my P3D. By the way, if you use PayPal, they may not explicitly charge extra fees for foreign purchases, but they add these fees through the backdoor into their exchange rate. For example, if you want to buy something for 100 EUR in USD at an official exchange rate of 1.140, it would normally cost you 114 USD, but PayPal will require something like 116.50 USD, which is equivalent to a 2.5% fee. Therefore, PayPal is not the ultimate solution to your problems.

Currency fluctuations are something that you have no power to do anything against; you have to accept them. If you buy from a vendor, the best way is to use their native currency (e.g. EUR for Simmarket and USD for PC Aviator) and let your credit card company do the conversion. Otherwise, the vendor may use an inflated exchange rate.

Here is one example: If you want to buy ConcordeX from FS Labs, the price in US-Dollars is 79.95 USD:

 

However, if you switch the currency to Euro, the price is 75.20 EUR:

 

The current official exchange rate between EUR and USD is 1.134. If you pay in USD, the EUR equivalent is 70.50, so the vendor charges you almost 5 EUR too much if you select Euro as the currency. Not very honest if you ask me...

Edited February 9, 20197 yr by Afterburner

21 minutes ago, Afterburner said:

If you want to get a new credit card, you should take a careful look at their foreign currency transaction fees. Many banks may seductively advertise that their credit cards are inexpensive while providing plenty of features until you see a hefty charge for international purchases either in their fine print or on your bill after a transaction is done. A 3% charge is definitely too high. My bank increased the charge from 1% to 1.5% from 2016 to 2017, and that was upsetting enough for me, since I use my CC a lot for purchases abroad or software purchases from international vendors for my P3D. By the way, if you use PayPal, they may not explicitly charge extra fees for foreign purchases, but they add these fees through the backdoor into their exchange rate. For example, if you want to buy something for 100 EUR in USD at an official exchange rate of 1.140, it would normally cost you 114 USD, but PayPal will require something like 116.50 USD, which is equivalent to a 2.5% fee. Therefore, PayPal is not the ultimate solution to your problems.

Currency fluctuations are something that you have no power to do anything against; you have to accept them. If you buy from a vendor, the best way is to use their native currency (e.g. EUR for Simmarket and USD for PC Aviator) and let your credit card company do the conversion. Otherwise, the vendor may use an inflated exchange rate.

The card I chose was recommended by a UK consumer expert as the best for purchases in a foreign currency as there are no charges. The exchange rate was also very good.

I wouldn’t touch PayPal even if you paid me. They’re as bad as my original credit card.

My argument isn’t with the exchange rates. I accept they are what they are. But I’ll be damned if I’m handing over money for very little.

If you’re based in the U.K. look at the Halifax Clarity card.

29 minutes ago, Afterburner said:

The current official exchange rate between EUR and USD is 1.134. If you pay in USD, the EUR equivalent is 70.50, so the vendor charges you almost 5 EUR too much if you select Euro as the currency. Not very honest if you ask me...

I am sure you are aiming that at eSellerate rather than FSL, but it is worth noting that FSL have always advised customers to pay in USD to avoid the eSellerate conversion fees!