This is probably old news to some but it came as a surprise to me. As I have done so for many years, I booked a flight online with a foreign carrier with offices in the US and made a credit card payment in US Dollars. About a month later I got slapped with an unexplained foreign transaction fee. After some inquiry I was told that my credit card was charged in an overseas location, probably the airline's headquarters in their native country, and per new rules I had to pay this fee even though the amount charged was in US Dollars.
Credit card companies have gotten real sneaky with their fees these days. In today's global economy when you make a purchase using a credit card, you can't be sure where, geographically speaking, your card may be charged. In my case, the order was probably routed to the carrier's datacenter in their native country. In past this was of no consequence as long as the amount was in US Dollars. But now the greedy credit card companies have decided to tack on additional fees for these cases.
Something to be careful about the next time you make a purchase. The price you pay may not be the final price. What's next? Charging fees if you use your card outside your hometown? Seems silly, but nothing is beyond these shady companies when it comes to helping themselves to your hard-earned money. So much for the consumer protection laws.
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