Read this before using Agoda Pay Later

[dibromoethene]

Beware of Agoda Book Now Pay Later

If you "book now and pay later", be prepared for bill shock! There is an additional 5% added into the exchange rate for using this "feature".

5% is not much for a $200 vacation, but imagine paying ADDITIONAL 5% over a $2000 booking! And that's before any currency fluctuations.
Please help to spread the awareness!



https://www.agoda.com/info/termsofuse.html:

Indicated Rate – Bloomberg Generic Composite Rate mid-rate on the current day.

Daily Adjusted Rate – Bloomberg Generic Composite Rate on the day payment is processed plus 5%.


Pay Now bookings
If you change the Charge Currency , we will update your total price to show the amount we will process to your payment account. We can do this because we know the exchange rate at that time. If you choose a Charge Currency that is different from the Display Currency, Agoda will use the Daily Adjusted Rate to convert the amount. For all other Pay Now transactions, we will use our Indicated Rate to convert currencies.

This means that if you pay in SGD now, they will use the indicated rate which is shown on the website. It is quite attractive.

Book Now Pay Later bookings
If your Charge Currency is different from the Property Currency or Display Currency, Agoda will use our Daily Adjusted Rate on your payment date to convert the Property Currency price to your Charge Currency. If you change your Charge Currency , we will show you the price in the Property Currency that will be used to determine the total charge on your payment date and the estimated converted price that you will be charged based on the current Daily Adjusted Rate. We do this because we do not know what the actual exchange rate will be on your payment date.

This means that if you pay in SGD later, they will charge bloomberg+5%. Based on what I experienced, the attractive rate I saw at the point of booking does not include the 5%.

 

[Sausage]

Ok just found this post and now I know.

the 5% additional can really add up.

"If your payment currency is different from either the property’s currency or your display currency, Agoda will automatically convert the currencies using our Indicated Rate, which is the Bloomberg Generic Composite Rate, or the Daily Adjusted Rate, which is the Bloomberg Generic Composite Rate plus 5%"

So in summary, to avoid the 5% if paying later, your payment currency must be same as property currency and display currency. How do we set out payment currency in the Agoda website?

 

[chehjin]

Thanks for the share. I was wondering why the final price jumped so much when the rates are stable. No more pay later next time.

 

[Sausage]

yah
I paid in ringgit thinking the rate I'd get is good but with the additional charge the total cost jumped by s$30. I was misled by their receipt stating we'd be charged the equivalent of xxx myr - the additional 5%on top of that is only mentioned in fine print.


Read HWZ Forum Rules!

 

[oceanicmanta]

think it is misleading for Agoda to show the converted SGD price at current rate ... it would be clearer to just show only the MYR and say the SGD will depend on Bloomberg Rate + 5%

i almost fell for this recently myself, but I canceled and re-booked to use Pay Now instead

 

[martin]

yah
I paid in ringgit thinking the rate I'd get is good but with the additional charge the total cost jumped by s$30. I was misled by their receipt stating we'd be charged the equivalent of xxx myr - the additional 5%on top of that is only mentioned in fine print.


Read HWZ Forum Rules!

How does the 5% apply? To the room costs, so if room is $100 become $105? Or exchange rate is higher by 5%, so if 1sdg=3myr, then it becomes 1.05sgd=3myr?

what about other agents like expedia, booking.com, etc. no such issues?

 

[Wanderer123]

I am thinking, if I have myr in my Wise card, maybe can avoid agoda conversion plus 5 %, what do you all think?