The Sunday travel sections of the paper are rarely of interest to me, mostly covering B&Bs in Wisconsin or Caribbean cruises. But, to my surprise, last week’s Chicago Tribune ran an interesting article that might just save frequent travelers like myself some money.
The article, titled Foreign fee refunds may take a while, was the first I’d heard of a class action lawsuit settlement concerning the rate and disclosure of foreign ATM, debit and credit card fees.
From CFSettlement.com:
The lawsuit is about the price cardholders of Visa-, MasterCard-, or Diners Club-branded payment cards were charged to make transactions in a foreign currency, or with a foreign merchant, between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006. Plaintiffs challenge how the prices of credit and debit/ATM card foreign transactions were set and disclosed…
Although many consumers were sent information about the settlement, many were not. Despite the fact that I’ve used Mastercard and Visa ATM and credit cards all around the world I had heard nothing of the settlement. Before you start spending your refund keep in mind that the money is not guaranteed and will take some time to get to consumers. If any of my American readers spent time outside the U.S. I suggest they take a look at the settlement on the official websiteto see if they qualify. Personally, I spent 997 days using my cards outside the U.S. during the covered time period and it doesn’t even cover the second half of my last trip!
2 responses to “Reclaim Your 1%”
My Mom got a letter in the mail a couple of months ago about this. I was surprised that I didn’t get a letter because I’ve done more international traveling than she. All well, I’m all signed up with my small 60 days! Your days put me to shame!
I’ve finally got my blog/website up and running. And I’m counting down the days until April 7th!
http://wheredstacygo.wordpress.com
I think that people with accounts at banks specifically named in the suit sent out letters. My mom got one too and agreed to the $25. If it does go through she probably could have gotten more if she had chosen one of the other options.
My total sounds like a lot but if you figure in one and a half of my RTW trips, trips to Canada, Peru, Turkey/Greece and living in England it adds up. Too bad I can’t claim that time off of my US taxes!