Using the cards in Europe

[JonathanC]

Hello all

Soon I’m going to northern Sweden, and I’ll be renting a car, and I’ll have the option to be able to cross the border into Norway for a fee.

That’s not a problem, I’m looking to see if anyone knows if you can use the VS cards for FX free transactions in Norwegian Krone at all ?

It says on the website that eligible currencies are the Euro, Swedish Krona (👍🏼), and Romanian Leu. Although it has been mentioned here on HfP that other currencies used in Europe also don’t get hit by the standard FX fee.
(we can safely assume that the Belarusian Ruble and Russian Ruble definitely aren’t included, that is even if transactions in either of those currencies would work in the first place)

Anyone who’s used their VS credit cards in Norway could you please confirm whether or not FX fees were stung or not

Thank you

Jonathan

[MF176]

Can’t comment on Norway sorry, but there was definitely no transaction fee recently on Danish Krone, even though that’s not explicitly on the list. So my assumption would be Norway ok as also EEA.

[JonathanC]

Any help is better than none, thank you for sharing your experience 🙂

[Harrier25]

All European countries are FX free with the Virgin Atlantic credit cards whether they use the Euro or not. This calculator confirms that. https://www.mastercard.co.uk/en-gb/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html

[Harrier25]

Sorry, I added link to wrong currency calculator above. Here’s the correct one…https://uk.virginmoney.com/service/currency-converter

[JonathanC]

Thanks for the link, it just about confirms all currencies that don’t get hit by FX fees. Although non EU / EEA aren’t included like Moldovan Leu and in the starting comment, the Belarusian and Russian Ruble currencies, just to name a couple

[Harrier25]

I don’t think I’ll be visiting Russia or Belarus anytime soon.

[Rui N.]

It’s not all of Europe, it’s just the EEA.
People here have reported getting FX transaction charged in Euros for countries outside the EEA (I remember Andorra being mentioned, I believe).

https://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/service/credit-card/messages/using-your-card-abroad.jsp

[JonathanC]

I wonder why you don’t want to visit either of the two countries (please note the sarcasm).

I went to Saint Petersburg and Moscow in 2017, and all was good and well, lots of great things to see. Unfortunately things have gone down heavily down hill since then

[JonathanC]

If people have been hit by the FX fee for spending in Euros the they should be complaining until the charges get squashed. Virgin Money do t help themselves at times…

[davefl]

JonathanC wrote:

I wonder why you don’t want to visit either of the two countries (please note the sarcasm).

I went to Saint Petersburg and Moscow in 2017, and all was good and well, lots of great things to see. Unfortunately things have gone down heavily down hill since then

Agreed, I went to both in 2019, epic trip. Great cities and lovely people

[Rui N.]

@JonathanC, what would be the basis for the complaint exactly? It’s pretty clear on the conditions of the card that it’s only FX free on the EEA.

[JonathanC]

If you got hit by an FX fee for a transaction in Euros (assuming it was made by presenting a card to the cashier or person operating the credit card machine), as it clearly states that these transactions are exempt from FX fees. Although many have reported not being hit by transactions made in the internet, where an in person transaction cannot be done, say buying something from Amazon, where you’ll never see one of their credit card machines in a shop, if you can find one of their fresh stores, not many of those around here in the UK to say the very least, I can’t vouch for other European countries.

[LD27]

I’m sure I got caught out in Monaco. Paying in Euro never thought about it not being in the EU or EEA.

[Guernsey Globetrotter]

LD27 wrote:

I’m sure I got caught out in Monaco. Paying in Euro never thought about it not being in the EU or EEA.

Yep – you remember correctly – this has happened to me also.

[HertsSam]

As I was interested in this topic, I did some googling.
According to the UK government, Sweden is in the EU whereas Norway is in the EEA.

Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City are not in the EEA according to: https://ind.nl/en/member-states-eu-eea
This document also confirms Sweden’s and Norway’s respective statuses.

Having just watched Death in Paradise on iplayer, I don’t know what this means for
Guadaloupe which is an overseas department and region of France
St Barts which is an overseas collectivity of France.
Both these places use the Euro but whether the FX transactions are fee free or not, I have no idea.

[Rui N.]

@JonathanC, Euros is not FX free. It’s payments in the EEA that are FX free.
I already posted the freaking link with the rules *facepalm*

[Rui N.]

@HertsSam, Guadalupe is part of the EU, St Barts is not

[HertsSam]

Thanks @Rui N. Good to know.