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For years, banks quietly tacked on additional fees when travelers used their credit cards outside their home country. The fees were hidden, incorporated into the exchange rates, so the markup was hard to detect. The courts have spoken. Now, it’s time to get some of that money back.

Thanks to a class action lawsuit, you may be eligible for refunds of foreign credit card transaction fees for purchases and ATM withdrawals made abroad (including online) between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006. If the charge hit your account as a foreign currency, it’s eligible. How much can you expect?

Actual refunds will depend upon final approval by the court, and on the number of valid claims filed. Final approval is scheduled for Nov. 7 in New York. Plaintiff’s attorney Bonny Sweeney of San Diego tells me the refunds could range from 1% to 3% of your total transactions — or possibly more. “It will depend on the number of claims, when you used the card, and which credit card you used because the fees were different at different times,” Sweeney explained by telephone.

To get the refund, you’ll need to visit ccfsettlement.com and enter your information. That means you’ll need to pull out old credit card statements. (How many of us actually keep our credit card statements for ten years?! My wife mocks me for keeping ours for five or six years… I guess this is come-uppance.)

The practice of charging additional fees continues, but banks issuing cards in the United States are currently required to state the additional charge explicitly, as a separate line item on your statement. It’s just out in the open.

Not all cards are the same, so if you travel internationally a bit, try to find a card that minimizes the surcharge. For example, CapitalOne apparently doesn’t tack on extra fees besides the 1% that Visa International imposes. Most credit union-issued cards don’t add their own fees, either. This information is all in the cardholder agreement’s fine print, so be sure to read that carefully when you travel.

A good lay of the land of the foreign currency transaction fee issue can be found here.

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(via David Rowell)

Several great tips rolled in as responses to recent posts on car rentals. Some were posted to comments, but in case you missed them, I’m upgrading them to a post of their own:

Max out your dropoff time
Reader Jason, a former employee of one of the major rental car chains, responding to a post about disappearing grace periods for late returns, offered this advice:

Make sure the rental agent updates your pickup time if you arrive after your scheduled pick up time (i.e. scheduled to pick up at 2pm and you don’t arrive until 3pm). If you arrive early, the computers will likely set your pickup time to the actual time you pickup the car, but if you arrive late it’s up to you and/or the agent to update your pickup time. This little trick has caught a lot of renters who return at the same time they picked up the car, but still get the late fees.

International rentals: Test-drive local booking sites
Reader NPM, author of the Porto City Guide (or Oporto, if you prefer) offers this tip:

Internationally, renting online through local branches can be cheaper than using US major car rental companies’ websites — even for the same company. For instance, in Portugal www.budgetportugal.com tends to be much cheaper than budget.com.

Warehouse discounts for underage renters
Reader Brent offered this tip on saving money if you’re under the age of 25:

Get an Executive membership at Costco. The cost is 100$ but you get the membership right away and it’s worth it. Then rent a car from Budget Car Rentals. The executive Costco membership waives the 21-24 underage driver fee (savings of 25$/day), allows you a free upgrade in car category, so basically if you’re going to get a full size vehicle, you only pay for what a mid-size would cost - and finally they also waive 10% for being a Costco executive member.

After four days, you’ve broken even! And the Costco executive membership is yours to keep…

Know the upsell speech
Finally, over at the Consumerist, they got their hands on Enterprise Rent-a-Car’s script which their associates use to try to convince you to buy their loss/collision coverage. Read it and ignore the temptation to spend your money unnecessarily.

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A reminder: Reader tips are always welcome! Just use the “contact” link at the top right of every page, or leave a comment.

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Related:
- Reader mail: If you’re under 25, how do you rent a car without huge surcharges?
- Reader mail: What happened to car rental late-return grace periods?
- Rental car agent blows smoke up my backside, redux
- Loss of use? Get lost.

Reader Kristin writes:

My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Alaska this summer and realized we’d save a lot of money in our travels by renting a car once we get there (the Alaska railroad is *expensive*). The only problem is that we will both be under the age of 25 when we’re there (he’ll be 24, I’ll be 23) and every rental car agency I can find would charge us a huge daily fee. We both have impeccable driving records (not even so much as a parking ticket between us), good car insurance, and AAA. Is there anything we could do to get around this fee, or any company out there that trusts us under 25s?

This is a tough one. For the most part, rental car companies aren’t very flexible with the surcharges for under-25 renters, unless you’re renting your car as a government employee. You can be the greatest driver in the world, but that’s not going to matter here. Your age means higher rates. Sorry.

There are some minor exceptions, so it’s important to shop around. But don’t get your hopes up.

Check the local rules. Most national chains, perhaps with a whiff of irony, will charge $25 per day for an under-25 renter. But those policies are national guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. Many local outlets of major chains will charge less than the maximum. Others, such as those in New York, will charge more. For example, a quick search shows me that National Car Rental charges only $10 per day surcharge at its Anchorage Airport location. It’s still a fee, but it’s less than they could charge, and less than their peers are charging.

Try mom-and-pop shops. Another option is to call (instead of surfing the web) to contact smaller, local providers. Find them in the yellow pages (or an online directory) and then work the phones. These shops might not rent the newest or nicest vehicles — ten years ago, I rented a crappy little Ford Fiesta for a few days from a no-name local rental company on Kodiak Island. But these local companies may be more forgiving with the under-25 requirement. This may take some legwork, but it could save you a bundle. Mentioning your clean driving record might have more influence on a family-owned one-shop rental joint than on a global corporation’s local representative or franchisee.

Work your memberships. Finally, if you’re a member of any organization that has a group discount code with a car rental company, see if you can use that affiliation to waive the surcharge. It depends on the terms of the umbrella agreement that the association negotiated. Again, you might need to use the phone to get the straight story. I get little cards for car rental discounts from my insurance company (USAA), my credit union, my alumni association, professional associations, and even my gas bill. Check your member benefits, and see if something works. You may need to show a member card when you show up at the rental counter.

If you reserve via the web, print copies of everything, including the general rental policies. Many rental chains won’t give you the under-25 surcharge up front, but will bury it in their FAQs. Look carefully, and print a record of it.

Also, print a copy of your personal auto insurance policy and take it with you when you travel. Having proof of insurance could assuage a nervous rental agent.

Bottom line: When it comes to car rentals, being under 25 stinks. You’ll need to work harder to get a deal, if you get one at all. But if it’s any consolation, you still have your youth.

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Mileage and point addicts, rejoice! There’s a great new site to add to your toolbox.

PointMaven launched recently, designed to help travelers find the best point-earning offers for hotel stays. It’s the sister site of MileMaven, which has a similar mission for airline frequent flyer miles.

(I’ve mentioned MileMaven before in passing, and I’ve had it in my Useful Tools pulldown menu at right for some time, but I just realized I had not ever given it the attention it deserves.)

Both sites effectively start their search with a similar question: Where are you going?

The service providers who get you there or take care of you at your destination are, perhaps ironically, of secondary importance in the phrasing of your search.

If you’re not handcuffed to a specific brand, either by corporate contract or a preponderance of loyalty points, and if you’re a member of multiple loyalty programs, then these sites are for you.

For PointMaven, enter a city or airport code, and a “map” of the different hotel chains’ point offers appears. Hovering over each box will bring up information about specific properties, promos, etc. Clicking through gives you details of the bonuses, and lets you book your room accordingly. (Some bonus offers require registration, or are targeted but a subset of the chain’s clientele.)

For MileMaven, enter the cities you are traveling between. A grid of airlines and their point offers appears. You may need to register for some offers, and some offers are targeted.

What the sites don’t do is give you the rates or fares up front. But that’s okay. It’s not their mission. Points first, prices later.

Two readers wrote in regarding late returns and grace periods when renting a car. Reader Francine writes:

When I rented a car from National recently, there was no grace period for late returns. None! Is this the latest way they get you?

And reader Peter offers this story, and advice, from his recent rental with Budget Rent-a-Car in Montreal:

I was late getting out of Vermont and late getting the car back to the airport. When I arrived I discovered that I had signed a contract that stipulated $33.xx CAD/hour for being late on a $55/day rental. Further, since I was 2hrs 15 minutes late they claimed I was 3 hours late (the grace period disappeared) and they charged me for another DAY, stating it would cost me less than 3 hours of the late charge.

I haven’t had any luck getting Budget to discuss this with me. If you rent from anyone be clear at pickup 1) what constitutes late and 2) what it costs when you are.

Indeed, grace periods are no longer a given when it comes to late returns. Hertz cut their grace period in half a year ago, and others soon followed suit. Nowadays, you really need to know what you’re signing (and initialing).

In Peter’s case, I see only one possible “violation” here on the part of the company: The forfeit of the grace period. But even then, if he returned the car two hours late (instead of three), he’s better off paying a full day extra, rather than two hours’ overtime. It sucks, but those are the terms.

With contracts like this, if you signed for it, you’re on the hook. These hourly rates are one of the items you’re often asked to initial.

Not all companies are the same, though: Late-return policies vary by chain, with some chains offering no grace periods whatsoever.

Perhaps even more importantly, some companies reserve the right to retroactively change your rate to a higher level — for the duration of the entire rental — if you return the car late. If anything, Peter was lucky they didn’t change his rate for the earlier days as well!

The policies of each major U.S. chain, with key points highlighted, after the jump:
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CondeNast Traveler consumer news editor Wendy Perrin asked for advice a couple weeks ago, to help a friend of hers get Delta SkyMiles properly credited. The friend’s husband had unfortunately passed away, and according to Delta’s rules, the deceased’s miles could be transferred to the spouse. Over a year passed, but Delta didn’t budge.

My advice to Wendy was to go nuclear: Don’t just write or call customer service. Don’t just ask to speak to the manager. Write to the executive in charge of SkyMiles itself.

I’m happy to say it worked. The miles were credited within days.

The nuclear option isn’t for every instance of customer service gone wrong. It’s for those times when you’ve exhausted all options, and you’re not getting the results you know you deserve.

Doing this involves a tiny amount of research, a little guesswork, and a short but pointed letter. You need to:

• Determine whom to contact. Go to the company website and click on the “About” page. Browse the executive biographies. Try to find the executive in charge of the division you’re having trouble with.

• Find or guess their e-mail address. Google their names first, to see if they have an address available. Most executives won’t publicize their e-mails, but corporate systems are amazingly standardized, making it easy to guess. First.Last@company.com is a good bet. Maybe make it @corp.company.com. If it fails, call the company and ask. If that fails, write a snail-mail letter instead.

• Make your case, briefly. If you need other documentation, attach copies of earlier e-mails. Wendy appropriately advises that the letter to the executive be short. Five sentences is the goal, and this is your template:

1. I apologize for interrupting your day, but I’ve received unacceptable treatment by your airline and so far your customer service department has been unable to resolve the problem.
2. Here is what your airline promised me.
3. Here is what your airline delivered instead.
4. Here is what I believe I am owed as compensation.
5. Thank you for your help.

The template works for companies other than airlines, too.

• Again: Don’t abuse this. This is not for small inquiries. This is for resolving major gaffes.

I’ve only gone nuclear once, with United. I stupidly wrote way more than 5 sentences, alas, but I got a phone call response within 24 hours. The “executive services” agent I spoke to was the most helpful person I’ve ever spoken to. She researched and answered my question, made the fix that I had requested, and offered me generous compensation — which I had not requested. I even turned down the compensation, but she literally insisted.

It’s sad that it’s necessary to resort to the nuclear option, but it’s good to know it’s there. Just use it sparingly, or it won’t be an option much longer.

This past weekend, I was a guest on Peter Greenberg’s radio show, talking about Spirit Airlines and their new luggage fees. (Shameless self-promotion alert!)

During the segment, Peter had his producer fire up the Spirit website to see how low their fares went. The answer: $9.

But there was a catch: She found a $9 fare, but only if you joined their “$9 Fare Club.” I had noticed this on their site Friday afternoon, but didn’t think anything of it, really, not realizing at the time that this members-only savings society was anything new. Since then, it has hit the news and blogosphere as something newsworthy.

I’m predictably skeptical. For starters, I’m not a fan of the new Spirit fare structure, so paying a membership fee to maybe — just maybe — have access to limited-availability ultra-low fares doesn’t seem like a good way to spend your cash.

That said, for now the club is relatively cheap to join. A 3-month trial is $9. Thereafter, it’s still pretty cheap, honestly, at $29.95 per year. If (and only if) that really gets you access to ludicrously cheap fares year-round, then it may be worth it. But I have my doubts. Besides, Spirit doesn’t shy away from sales with cutesy names.

I’d wait for the sale.

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Ed Perkins points to the deceitful but unfortunately effective practice of insurance upselling by front-desk employees at car rental agencies.

Agents told [customers] that although their [credit] cards covered damage to the vehicle, they didn’t cover the additional “loss of use” fee the car company would collect for the rental revenue lost while a damaged car was out of service. That statement is a flat-out lie.

Loss of use is included in the CDW (collision damage waiver) provision of credit card coverage. If your card has rental car insurance built in, then you should be fine. (Check your card’s fine print to see if you have the coverage in the first place, of course. If you don’t have the rules governing your card’s benefits, call your bank and have them send it. If you don’t have the coverage, get a card that does.)

This “loss of use” story is a sales pitch I’ve gotten before at the time of rental, most memorably and insistently from a desk agent at Advantage Rent-a-Car at the Phoenix airport. I’ll never forget that guy. He kept telling me over and over again how much Advantage charges for “loss of use,” and how neither my own auto insurance nor my credit card would cover it. It was his aggressive hard-sell, and the snotty attitude he copped after I declined his coverage again and again, which cemented my policy to never rent from Advantage ever again.

Bottom line: Never trust a car rental agent to tell you what your existing insurance covers. Not when they try to tell you about the insurance provided by a credit card, and not when they try to tell you about your own policy.

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Reader Larry H. writes:

I know I’m heading to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in September. How far in advance should I reserve my rental car?

Larry, it’s never too soon to start. Find the lowest rate you can, make a reservation now, and keep checking back for lower rates. I’m assuming you don’t have a preference as to rental car provider.

Unlike buying airline tickets, you’re generally not paying any money up front when you reserve a rental car. And if prices go down, you can always make a new reservation and then cancel the old one. (Note, on some airlines, you can get a refund on your airfare when the price drops, too, but unless you’re buying higher-priced refundable fares, you can’t just cancel your old reservations and make fresh ones willy-nilly without paying fees.)

So you should always revisit your old reservations and try to whittle that price down. As the date creeps closer, you’d also do well to check with Hotwire or Priceline, to try to beat the rate you’ve got reserved. Remember, though, that Hotwire and Priceline reservations are fully prepaid and nonrefundable. They don’t earn any points, either.

Related:
- Hotwire rental cars (affiliate)
- Priceline rental cars (affiliate)

Many frequent travelers swear by ExpertFlyer, which lets you see the availability of each booking class, including some award seat booking classes. It’s a useful tool, but it’s not free.

Enter SeatCounter.

Admittedly, SeatCounter doesn’t have all the features of ExpertFlyer, such as actual fare rule information, but it DOES offer an overview of how many tickets are available for sale in each booking class. You don’t get price information, but you can see how many seats are actually for sale in each fare booking code.

For those looking to grab frequent flyer award seats or check the availability of upgrades, this is a particularly helpful site. You just need to know the letter to look for. That varies by airline, but SeatCounter offers some keys at the bottom of their results pages.

Tip: If you’re looking for a single airline’s availability, especially if looking for award seats, enter that airline’s two letter code TWICE in the “favorite airlines” boxes.

Reader Steven writes in:

I know that so called y-up fares can be a good way to sit in first class for cheap, but I can’t find them for flights to Europe or Asia. Can you help?

The reason you can’t find them, Steven, is because there are none by that name. International long-haul discount first (and business) class fares go by different names than their domestic equivalents.

Y-UP fares and their ilk are limited to North American flights, and generally refer to an upgrade from coach to first on two-class planes. See here for background on Y-UP fares, and see FareCompare’s Y-UP search tool to find these fares on routes you travel.

For Europe or Asia, you’re generally going to be looking for Z-fares. But there’s no handy-dandy search tool (yet) for Z-fares like there is for Y-UPs. (Neil and Rick, consider this a challenge!…)

Z-fares crop up from time to time, but aren’t available on every route. Traveling in summer or the December holiday season maximizes your chances of finding such a fare.

For international premium class travel, be sure to also consider the startup airlines like Maxjet, Silverjet, Eos Airlines, MiMa, and L’Avion. These offer all-business class flights to London, Milan, or Paris.

Related:
- First class for less than coach?
- More tips on finding discounted first class fares (Y-UP, Q-UP, etc.)
- Update/Correction re: discounted first class fares (Y-UP, Q-UP, etc.)
- Y-UP and Q-UP first class fares apparently not enough: Welcome M-UP and B-UP fares
- More trans-Atlantic flights, but lower prices?

Reader NPM writes in:

A few months ago, my wife and I received two United Airlines paper vouchers for $75 each to make up for an awful flight experience we had, with a delay of several hours for mechanical reasons and a non-working in-flight entertainment system.

Last month I decided to redeem these vouchers to buy two tickets from Chicago to NY City. I went on the United website and found two (ORD-LGA) tickets for $168.61 each. The fare was eligible/covered by the vouchers — I checked the fine print. Since you can’t finalize the reservation online and use the vouchers to pay for part of the tickets, I placed the tickets on hold and called United reservation service.

The representative told me I couldn’t use the vouchers with that fare and proposed instead I buy two tickets for the same flights for $198.61, effectively turning my $75 vouchers into $45 vouchers. Ugly. I complained a bit but since there was nothing she could do, I ended up buying the tickets…

A few days later, I checked my credit card statement and United charged me a $30 “ticket mailing fee” with my order, despite the fact that the tickets are electronic. This decreased the value of each value to $30. To add insult to injury their online system works so poorly that when I tried to enter my wife’s Mileage Plus number on her reservation, it requested a wheelchair for her instead. Thanks, but no thanks! Bye, bye United!

Ahh, the customer service voucher. A gesture of goodwill that turns around and creates more ill will when people try to redeem it. Sorry to hear you had such trouble.

United’s policy is asinine on so many levels. At the time the certificate is issued, it seems like they’re apologizing, and the voucher feels like a good-faith effort to make things right. Then they piss that goodwill away by making the redemption process a chore — and discounting the value of the voucher.

You say that the ticket was eligible for voucher use according to the terms on the back of the certificate. (Some booking codes are ineligible for voucher use, but those letter codes are outlined on the piece of paper.) At that point, you should have asked to speak with a supervisor when the agent denied your request to use the certificate for an eligible itinerary.

The $15/ticket fee they charged for “ticket by mail” is unfortunately simply their phone center charge. But this is a case where the airline is demanding the impossible: They charge you money for using their call center, instead of booking online. But with a voucher, you have no other booking option EXCEPT on the phone, or at an airport, both of which incur a fee. Frankly, the Federal Trade Commission might be interested…

At this point, I’d advise you to write to United’s customer relations. State that you feel that a refund of $90 is due to you — the value that your vouchers went down in value, thanks to the airline’s games. If they take more than two weeks to respond, or if the answer is not to your satisfaction, call or write again. But be warned: They might just send you more vouchers…