A class action lawsuit re credit card foreign transaction fees, Visa, MC, several U.S. Banks

In case you haven't been notified, or heard of this, it is real (even if you have not been charged foreign transaction fees), but you must file by 30 May:

https://www.ccfsettlement.com/

By sloopskipper on Apr 19, 2008, 18:43 in Friendly Talkzone.

Atrevido says on Apr 23, 2008, 07:22:

Good heads up sloop. Only transactions up to Oct 2006 are covered by this.

sloopskipper says on Apr 23, 2008, 08:21:

Yes, but all the way back to 1995, I think. I misread as 2005, although I originally filed on-line, and now I must snail-mail a correction.

You can take the easy way out (option #1) which, supposedly, will get you $25.

rjstuff says on Apr 23, 2008, 08:29:

I too have filed my claim - not the $25 but more. However, all these credit and debit card companies are still charging 1% fee to this day - I don't understand why they don't stop it already? And if this means there will be another lawsuit for fees charged after Oct 06?

ColombianoGringo says on Apr 23, 2008, 08:52:

I chose the option to have them calculate it based on the number of international travel days. I had a lot of travel days when I added them up, so maybe I'll get a decent chunk of change. I'll be happy as long as it exceeds $25.

megs622 says on Apr 23, 2008, 09:02:

I'm backing visiting in the states and got something in the mail from my bank about a 1% fee! I'm going to check this out...

tomtom33 says on Apr 23, 2008, 10:55:

RJ, I believe that the problem was that they were not properly disclosing the 1 to 3% transaction fees. Since Oct. of 06, they have been making proper disclosures and are free to charge whatever they want. Like bank fees, only competition will bring down or eliminate these fees.

CapitalOne Visa cards charge no transaction fees and give frequent flier miles. The frequent flier redemption plan is not as good as the AA Citibank Mastercard. However the AA card charges 3% for international transactions. So I only use the AA card in the US.

ColombianoGringo says on Apr 23, 2008, 10:58:

Tom.

I was actually wondering about CapitalOne rewards program. How many points would it take to get a ticket to Colombia? Continental is 35,000 and AA is 30,000 to 35,000. Do you know if they have a debit card with rewards?

tomtom33 says on Apr 23, 2008, 11:06:

You need 60K miles for a ticket worth US$350.01 to $600 and the ticket price X 100 for tickets worth over US$600.

My debit card has no rewards. I don't think that any of their debit cards do.

ColombianoGringo says on Apr 23, 2008, 11:13:

Ouch!!!!

Is it $1 - 1 mile? If so, they can keep that BS.

tomtom33 says on Apr 23, 2008, 11:31:

Looks like 100 miles for $1. I got the card for the zero transaction fee. Sooner or later, I can get some kind of plane ticket as well.

I just got an RT MDE-MSN for 30K miles on AA. They misunderstood at first that I wanted to use miles and quoted over US$1000 for that ticket.

ColombianoGringo says on Apr 23, 2008, 11:46:

Sorry. I meant to ask if you get one mile for every dollar you spend on the CapitalOne card.

sloopskipper says on Apr 24, 2008, 01:02:

CG, they offered me a "No Hassels" card with 2 miles per $, no international transaction fees and $39 annual.

tomtom33 says on Apr 24, 2008, 04:35:

Yes, they have other deals. With the relatively poor redemption schedule, I chose not to pay an annual fee for more miles.

ColombianoGringo says on Apr 24, 2008, 07:36:

I use Chase because of their Continental debit card. I also have their credit card, but I only got it for the signup mileage bonus as I avoid using credit cards. I wish CitiBank had some branches around here since their debit card gives you AA miles. It seems a lot easier to get miles tickets to Colombia on AA versus Continental.

sloopskipper says on Apr 24, 2008, 11:04:

I also use the AAdvantage card which, up to now, has not shown any foreign transactions fees for the dollars I charge here in Panamá.

I had been using my KLM/NWA Visa, almost exclusively to accrue Skyteam miles which I can use on Copa. Last month they began charging 3%, even for "no exchange", dollar, transactions. I think that they are history, as I charge anything I can, to get the miles.

My American Express Blue has not shown any fees since I began using it, again, a couple weeks ago. I can transfer reward points from that card to miles on Continental.