How To Avoid Uber’s “Preferred Currency” Scam Price Increase
The travel industry, like so many other industries, is great at coming up with amorphous titles for changes that might sound like they benefit customers. Sadly, those changes rarely do. Uber adds an interesting entry to the mix with their announcement on new “Preferred Currency Pricing”. They even updated the name from the previous “Home Currency Pricing”.
That’s right, no more surprises. Just a 1.5% increase in your fare if you choose to pay in your “preferred” currency. What does this mean? Let’s just say you’re in Paris and take an Uber ride. If you choose to pay in US dollars and have Uber convert the amount to Euros, you’ll pay Uber a fee of 1.5% for this privilege. If, however, you choose to pay in Euro, you’ll pay no fee.
Many of you have heard me talk about credit cards that charge no foreign currency conversion fee. Anyone who is considering a trip outside of the US should carry a card that waives foreign currency conversion fees. Heck, you may want one just for retail purchases for merchants outside of the US.
As long as you’re paying for your Uber rides with a card that has no foreign currency conversion fee, it seems you can avoid Uber’s new fee by changing your Preferred Currency in the Uber app. Here are the easy steps:
From the main screen in the Uber app, click on “Account” in the bottom right-hand corner.
From there, click on “Wallet” near the top of the page.
The Final Two Pennies
Those are the quick steps to avoid Uber’s efforts to increase what you pay for Uber rides overseas while adding zero value to your experience. Just remember to always pay for Uber rides (and anything else) overseas with a credit card that doesn’t charge you a foreign currency conversion fee.
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