Agoda Payments.

[5408854088]

some of agoda's partner hotel very one kind, insist on not giving refund. the partner hotel only allow credit which must use with them within one year. any recourse for this? will the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act come in?

 

[sansanjikikut]

Anyone incurred a separate ccy conversion fee charge for agoda pay now transaction for Sg hotel?

Charged in Sgd but incurred extra 1% of charged amount in a separate transaction

Using Citibank credit card , MasterCard

 

[andy1982]

I never had a currency issue with them. did u accidentally selected a different currency? or when on an overseas Agoda website?

at the moment, kinda pissed off with them....

cancelled by booking without me knowing, and the next time i check the price increase by more then 30%

 

[oceanicmanta]

Be careful with Agoda Hotel bookings

It's been a while since I used them, and there have been changes to the User Interface.

I have always chosen the "Pay Now" option in the past

The above booking page seemed to indicate that the SGD 41 option is the "Pay Now" option ?? (ie NOT the Pay At Hotel)

(By applying the Pay at Hotel filters, the SGD 41 option is NOT available)

The stated "Pay At Hotel" option is SGD 46

As I click through SGD 41 "Book Now", the next page shows some small print that says "Pay SGD 41.47 at the Property and $X cashback to your card afterwards"

There is also a RM value (RM 130.5) below SGD 41.47 amount ...

Unknowingly, after clicking "Book Now" the confirmation says "You will be charged MYR 130.50 by the property in accordance with the cancellation policy." !! (TOO LATE !!)

It turns out that BOTH options are "Pay At Hotel" !!

Just be careful, whenever Local Currency value displayed, then start questioning if it is really Pay Now or Pay At Hotel

For this particular hotel, the above situation happens only for the STANDARD Rooms

The Deluxe Rooms DO NOT offer "Pay At Hotel". It is either "Pay Now" or "Pay Later", both in SGD

 

[luckygal]

Wah Agoda so confusing. I have booked with Klook and Booking.com. Both seem ok.

 

[oceanicmanta]

Wah Agoda so confusing. I have booked with Klook and Booking.com. Both seem ok.

i cannot recall whether other Online TAs offer similar PayNow, Pay Later etc options ... it could happen elsewhere too

think it depends on the arrangement between the Partner Hotels and OTA

and sometimes the rooms offered could be sourced from anoother OTA

eg) for this particular Hotel, Booking.com offers only the Standard Rooms, whereas Agoda offered both Standard & Deluxe Rooms

 

[luckygal]

Be careful with Agoda Hotel bookings

It's been a while since I used them, and there have been changes to the User Interface.

I have always chosen the "Pay Now" option in the past

The above booking page seemed to indicate that the SGD 41 option is the "Pay Now" option ?? (ie NOT the Pay At Hotel)

(By applying the Pay at Hotel filters, the SGD 41 option is NOT available)

The stated "Pay At Hotel" option is SGD 46

As I click through SGD 41 "Book Now", the next page shows some small print that says "Pay SGD 41.47 at the Property and $X cashback to your card afterwards"

There is also a RM value (RM 130.5) below SGD 41.47 amount ...

Unknowingly, after clicking "Book Now" the confirmation says "You will be charged MYR 130.50 by the property in accordance with the cancellation policy." !! (TOO LATE !!)

It turns out that BOTH options are "Pay At Hotel" !!

Just be careful, whenever Local Currency value displayed, then start questioning if it is really Pay Now or Pay At Hotel

For this particular hotel, the above situation happens only for the STANDARD Rooms

The Deluxe Rooms DO NOT offer "Pay At Hotel". It is either "Pay Now" or "Pay Later", both in SGD

So it’s better to display in sgd n pay in sgd right.

 

[oceanicmanta]

So it’s better to display in sgd n pay in sgd right.

the display will always be in SGD if you have set the currency to SGD

I always prefer to pay now in SGD to be certain of the amount

and also check that the Foreign Local Currency (eg MYR in my case) is not displayed anywhere, in tiny prints, just prior to booking .... that could be a sign it is NOT Pay Now

 

[dilphinus]

Unknowingly, after clicking "Book Now" the confirmation says "You will be charged MYR 130.50 by the property in accordance with the cancellation policy." !! (TOO LATE !!)

No. You are charged immediately in SGD (the equivalent of MYR 130.40) by the hotel. It is not 'pay at the hotel'. It's non-refundable.

How is it non-refundable if you have not paid (ie, pay when you are at the hotel)?

Are you by the way confused by charged by the property and charged at the property?

Even if there is a foreign currency, it can be a PAY NOW option. Most platforms are middlemen. No money transaction thru the platforms/agents. The hotels will charge the clients direct. The hotels will make the credit card charge immediately (or when they perform their transactions at the end of the day or whenever it is). This is a PAY NOW option.

There is a section at the lower right that states this

About payment​

Payment for this booking will be charged by the property, not Agoda. We will be sharing your credit card details with our supplier and with the property to secure your booking and complete the transaction. See booking conditions.

This means the charges are in the local currency of the hotel.

 

[oceanicmanta]

I can confirm that I was not charged immediately and still not been charged

OK, I admit I did not see the "About Payment" section & the conditions there

I realise the condition says "You may be charged at any time for the full value of this booking"

The whole process could be more transparent ...

By NOT choosing the "Pay At Hotel" option from the onset, I was under impression I would be charged immediately in SGD ... never expected it to end up with this arrangement

Have never encountered this particular "Charge at anytime" thing before with Agoda in the past

 

[dilphinus]

I can confirm that I was not charged immediately and still not been charged

OK, I admit I did not see the "About Payment" section & the conditions there

I realise the condition says "You may be charged at any time for the full value of this booking"

The whole process could be more transparent ...

By NOT choosing the "Pay At Hotel" option from the onset, I was under impression I would be charged immediately in SGD ... never expected it to end up with this arrangement

Have never encountered this particular "Charge at anytime" thing before with Agoda in the past

There is a process. The platform has to feed the info to the hotel before the hotel has the details/info to charge the credit card.

 

[oceanicmanta]

So it seems there r 4 types of Payment arrangements for Agoda ?

1) Pay Now (ie in SGD, CC is charged immediately, may or may not b refundable)

2) Pay Later (in SGD, usually the date which the CC will be charged is stated & comes with free cancellation til pay date)

3) Pay At Hotel (in local currency)

4) "Payment charged by the property, not Agoda." ie "You may be charged at any time for the full value of this booking"
- to be charged in local currency by Hotel to CC
- probably the least preferred as it would incur CC FX fees (up to 3.5%) and timing is uncertain for purpose of CC spend & tracking

 

[mamboeidos]

just deal with Agoda on making changes to the card use to make payment.

my booking is only going to be charged tomorrow but when the CSO help me to make changes to my card details used, he kept asking me if i want to pay today and in a very strong attempt.

Then when he send me the email, it was a fail payment and the amount stated in the email and then the link which i had been directed to is totally diff.

Told me is the bank exchange rate. Issue is my card was not to be charge till tomorrow . So why was i charged by the bank of the card that i am changing?

Example i used citibank during booking and tomorrow my card will then be charged. But today i decided to switch to use DBS instead. But then the CSO told me price diff because of Citibank exchange rate.

If my card were to be charged only tomorrow, y do i have to deal with citi bank? There was also no hold charge to my citibank card

 

[swordspirit]

Pay later typically get charged at local currency. dont bother. not guarantee pay sgd is processed in SG. maybe only pay sg using website.

 

[TsukiSG]

For payment handled by Agoda, exchange rate works like this:

1. If you select SGD as display currency
   1. If you choose pay now: What you see is what you pay [1].
   2. If you choose pay later: You will pay using payment date Agoda exchange rate [2] plus 5% DCC fee [3].
2. If you select foreign currency as display currency
   1. If you choose pay now
      1. After key-in your card number, if you select pay in SGD: You will pay using current Agoda exchange rate [2] plus 5% DCC fee [3].
      2. After key-in your card number, if you select pay in foreign currency: What you see is what you pay [1].
   2. If you choose pay later
      1. After key-in your card number, if you select pay in SGD: You will pay using payment date Agoda exchange rate [2] plus 5% DCC fee [3].
      2. After key-in your card number, if you select pay in foreign currency: What you see is what you pay [1].

[1] Exculding fees charged by bank. Credit cards issued by Singapore banks usually have 2.5%-3.5% foreign currency transaction fee or 1% oversea SGD transaction fee, but some cards can get this fee waived.
[2] Agoda exchange rate is the rate used when toggle between currencies on Agoda website. It is usally better than bank rate.
[3] Agoda does mentioned this fee in a very secret place: https://www.agoda.com/info/termsofuse.html.


In conclusion:

1. If you want to pay now in SGD: Display the price in SGD and choose pay now.
2. If you want to pay now or pay later in foreign currency: Display the price in foreign currency and choose pay now or pay later, and select pay in foreign currency after key-in your card number.
3. If you want to pay later in SGD: Display the price in SGD and choose pay later. In this case you must pay 5% more to Agoda.

 

[oceanicmanta]

oh ... just realised Agoda Cash validity is now only 1 month ?!!

since when ??

might as well dont give

 

[Melsolut]

I recently faced this payment issue with Agoda.

I paid for several hotel bookings with a Stanchart Mastercard and they were charged to Agoda HK according to my CC statement. Even though the currency is SGD, I incurred 1% cross border charge and another 1% when I cancelled for refund. So for just 1 booking cancellation, I lost $42 because of the 1%+1% fees

In the same week, I paid for several other hotel bookings with a Stanchart Visa card and they were charged to Agoda SG. These did not incur the 1% charge at all as it is not cross border.

I checked with Stanchart and they said the merchant (Agoda) decides which entity to charge to. So I asked Agoda why some are charged to Agoda HK and others to Agoda SG when I'm in Singapore, my credit cards are issued in Singapore and the currency is in SGD.

Despite several emails, they refused to answer my question and just kept saying that Agoda charged me exactly what was shown in the app and questions about any fees should be directed to bank/CC company.

 

[TsukiSG]

I recently faced this payment issue with Agoda.

I paid for several hotel bookings with a Stanchart Mastercard and they were charged to Agoda HK according to my CC statement. Even though the currency is SGD, I incurred 1% cross border charge and another 1% when I cancelled for refund. So for just 1 booking cancellation, I lost $42 because of the 1%+1% fees

In the same week, I paid for several other hotel bookings with a Stanchart Visa card and they were charged to Agoda SG. These did not incur the 1% charge at all as it is not cross border.

I checked with Stanchart and they said the merchant (Agoda) decides which entity to charge to. So I asked Agoda why some are charged to Agoda HK and others to Agoda SG when I'm in Singapore, my credit cards are issued in Singapore and the currency is in SGD.

Despite several emails, they refused to answer my question and just kept saying that Agoda charged me exactly what was shown in the app and questions about any fees should be directed to bank/CC company.

This is indeed correct, even if you pay in SGD, it does not mean they will process your payment in Singapore.

So far my experience is, if using Visa or UnionPay it will be processed in Singapore, and if using MasterCard it will be processed in Hong Kong.

Below are cards I used before:

Visa: DBS Live Fresh, DBS Visa Debit, SCB Smart
MasterCard: Citi CashBack+, SCB Unlimited, ICBC Global Travel, GrabPay MasterCard Debit
UnionPay: DBS UnionPay Debit

After Dec 2020, most transactions on Agoda will be pre-authrized first and charged 3 days later, so you can call your bank to check where the transaction takes place and cancel the booking (before they charge you) if you are not satisfying with it. But I still do randomly experience some transactions that being charged immediately after placing the booking, and for DBS UnionPay Debit Card, although the pre-authorization is showing in Hong Kong, it will turn to Singapore when posting to account.

Alternatively, you can use some cards with no cross boarder fees (AmEx, ICBC, etc.) or pay in foreign currency using debit cards linked to MCA account (if that currency is supported).

 

[swordspirit]

This is indeed correct, even if you pay in SGD, it does not mean they will process your payment in Singapore.

So far my experience is, if using Visa or UnionPay it will be processed in Singapore, and if using MasterCard it will be processed in Hong Kong.

Below are cards I used before:

Visa: DBS Live Fresh, DBS Visa Debit, SCB Smart
MasterCard: Citi CashBack+, SCB Unlimited, ICBC Global Travel, GrabPay MasterCard Debit
UnionPay: DBS UnionPay Debit

After Dec 2020, most transactions on Agoda will be pre-authrized first and charged 3 days later, so you can call your bank to check where the transaction takes place and cancel the booking (before they charge you) if you are not satisfying with it. But I still do randomly experience some transactions that being charged immediately after placing the booking, and for DBS UnionPay Debit Card, although the pre-authorization is showing in Hong Kong, it will turn to Singapore when posting to account.

Alternatively, you can use some cards with no cross boarder fees (AmEx, ICBC, etc.) or pay in foreign currency using debit cards linked to MCA account (if that currency is supported).

just dont use mastercard

 

[oceanicmanta]

it is getting very annoying using Agoda

i searched and the amount is in SGD throughout

selected "Pay later option" (not pay at property), but after confirmation, the Amount show in USD Equivalent !!

another earlier booking, same property, the Amount was showing JPY Equivalent (a Japanese hotel)

it says my CC will be charged on 23 Oct 22 in USD, at the USD FX rate at that time !

while 1st booking on this property is to be charged in SGD (also Pay Nothing until X date option)

i think it depends on how I was directed/re-directed onto Agoda