Did you know that you can pay different amounts for the same hotel room?
That's me at the JW Marriott Surabaya
Here's something a lot of people skip over.
When I arrive at the hotel I'm looking at the beautiful decorations in the lobby like this.
I'm thinking about dumping the luggage, checking out the room, exploring the amenities, sampling the yummy food, hitting the gym, and in this specific case saving some money. Kind of funny right? Surrounded by opulence and I'm thinking about spending as little as possible. However, a little tip...saving on the things that don't matter allows me to spend more on the things that do!
In this case the amount I was going to pay has already been fixed.
1,896,675 Indonesian Rupiah
How can I possibly save money if the amount is fixed? Well, I'm Canadian so I'm going to have to figure a way to get Rupiah from my Canadian dollars. I have a few credit cards and I'm also carrying cash. While I could talk about all the different credit cards I will limit it to three options.
#1) Use the Rupiah in my wallet. Exchanged with a local money changer.
#2) Use my Marriot Bonvoy AMEX card. Great for earning points on my hotel stays
#3) Use my Crypto.com VISA card. Great for CRO cashback
But does it actually make a difference? Stick around and find out.
I asked the hotel if they would split the bill into two equal parts. They looked a little confused and say "I can sir, but why? You can just put it all on the American Express card". I politely told them I was writing a blog about different credit cards. If you look at the image above you will see she did two different bills. They are virtually identical. Same date, same amount, same hotel, same time. (Yes, the AMEX is 2 minutes earlier and 1 Rupiah less but still...)
Of course most people will think it will be the same amount on the credit card statement but...
Take a look at this;
Credit cards have a currency transaction fee
If you read the fine print for the credit card you will usually see that the card is happy to exchange money for you but there is a 2% currency transaction fee. Or perhaps it is better to say that you get the current spot rate +2% which will be calculated at the time of purchase (usually).
American Express (Marriott Bonvoy version)
Looking at the details you can see the line "Exchange rate" and of course you can see that I paid $79.27 for half of the bill. Looks good, right?
Crypto.com VISA is going to be the same rate, right?
Crypto.com VISA
This one states the rate a little differently. Instead of saying how much One Rupiah is worth (which is ridiculously small) it says how many Rupiah I get for one Canadian dollar. The bigger thing to note is the amount paid. $77.43.
Same bill, Different Price!
Would you rather pay : $79.27 or $77.43 -- for exactly the same at thing!
The currency transaction rate absolutely makes a difference in how much is paid. The reaction a person might have is simple:
- Pay in cash and avoid the currency transaction fee.
That idea is a trap though. Just for fun I went to the Money Changer in the Tunjungan mall just before I left for the JW Marriott. It is only 8 minutes away walking so it was no big deal. The currency exchange rate was 1 Canadian = 11,800 Rupiah. Side note: Using an ATM doesn't help. You pay a currency transaction fee AND a foreign transaction fee. Double fees. Yuck.
At that rate I give them $80.37 and they give me 948,338 Rupiah.
Without the math.
| Payment Method | Cost | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| * Pay Cash | $80.37 | 4% |
| * Pay Amex | $79.27 | 2.5% |
| * Pay Crypto.com Visa | $77.43 | None |
Yes, VISA and AMEX use different data for spot prices so if you do the math it isn't exact for the fee percentage but it is very close
Why pay more for exactly the same product?
But there is more!
Credit cards have perks! Cash doesn't. That's why a lot of people like their credit cards. In this case lets look at the cashback to make it a fair fight!
| Method | Rebate |
|---|---|
| * Using Cash? | No rebate. |
| * Using AMEX? | Get 5 Marriot points per dollar vs the standard 2 point rate. Value or is it? |
| * Using Crypto.com VISA? | 3.5% cashback (in CRO points paid immediately |
How much are Marriott points worth? According to the points guy website and reddit discussion assume 5 Marriot points = 3.5 cents which is 3.5% discount on future stay.
Which is better value? 3.5% cash off anything or 3.5% off your next Marriott hotel stay?
Take the cash and run but... lets look at how much you are paying for the room :)
Without the math (with credit card cashback factored in)
| Payment method | Cost |
|---|---|
| Cash | $80.37 |
| Marriott AMEX | $76.50 |
| Crypto VISA | $74.72 |
And one final thought
I'm not saying that you should rush out to get a credit card. If I was Nigerian I've looked into many local cards and the fees and interest are high, currency conversion fees are high, and there are very few perks. I'd run. Always read the fine print. If you are Muslim credit cards can be considered haram. If you don't pay it off in full ON TIME EVERY MONTH the interest on credit cards is CRAZY!
However, if you pay on time, diligently. If you get good perks from the card. It can be worthwhile looking into what is in your wallet.
For an extended stay in an unfamiliar country I would probably use the AMEX card. I would pay the slightly higher rate because the card has hotel burglary insurance! Cool feature that can be very beneficial. The Crypto.com VISA offers no protection at all. For one night in a luxury hotel in Surabaya .. I feel safe enough that I don't need the insurance.
Yes the difference between them is small, but I've been here for almost two months. IF I had been staying at this hotel how many HIVE would I save by paying with Crypto.com VS Cash? I won't bore you with more math (unless you ask in the comments) but here is the thing.
4000 HIVE
That is how much of a difference choosing one card VS cash payment is. Don't believe me? I'm documenting everything weekly on 
As a fun aside.
- Considering that its Ramadan here in Indonesia
- Considering that credit cards as not preferred payment choice as interest is Haram by Sharia law
The Crypto.com VISA is an interesting choice. It is not actually a credit card but rather a prepaid card. I can only spend what I add in as either FIAT or CRYPTO. I can only spend my own money and there is no interest. Might make it an interesting choice :)
Thanks for reading, hope you found it interesting.