Reply To: Debit cards in Chile

[JDB]

masaccio wrote:

I think you are being a bit unfair @JDB in calling my friend’s report erroneous. Whether the 19% is an explicit fee or missing out on an IVA rebate, the outcome is still the same: pay one rate with a credit card, or pay massively more with a debit card. In their case, they had no credit card so had to suck up what they say as a fee.

@masaccio it’s simply wrong to call it a ‘fee’ as that implies a charge by the merchant. There was probably a misunderstanding or language barrier, but no additional fee was charged – your friend paid the same price as a Chilean resident.

The government has a very generous scheme in place which requires the tourist to pay either with foreign currency or a foreign credit card. That scheme (and the terms) has been in place for more than ten years and most hotels make it very clear how it operates at the time of booking.