To add to the issues, a cross link to a related topic of xrate rorting. An older topic about a practice to be aware of. FWIW our Australian banks have been known to ‘sock it to’ foreign tourists too, so it is not just ‘us’ being ‘there’.
It seems to more recently started on web sites if one is not careful. When given the option to use multiple currencies it is easy to pick $AUD for convenience, but often selecting $USD or € or even sometimes £ gets a smaller charge to the Aussie account because the Visa/Mastercard xrates get used, not the seriously poor one offered by a foreign institution. Also be aware of those pesky 3% foreign currency / offshore fees on most cards.
