9 years
We also work in a different currency and HW’s exchange rates always seem quite high to us too. Our prices always look more expensive than they really are when they’re converted. Oddly enough, we used to set our prices in Euro, and when HW converted the rates to our currency the prices were also too high. So the exchange rate was bad in both directions.
HW could make a profit on a bad conversion rate by charging the deposit on the inflated price in whichever currency the guest chose to look at and then confirming the remaining balance in the real currency. By doing this the hostel would receive exactly what they expected to get from the guest, but HW could skim a little more from the guests without them realizing it. It would actually be quite a clever way to make a little bonus cash on each transaction.
We have added a note on our microsite advising guests that they will see the most accurate price by viewing our rates in our local currency to avoid confusion.
The rates listed on sites like XE are the official exchange rates between two currencies. That is not going to be the same as the buy or sell rate that you would see in any exchange bureau. Those rates would also be less advantageous than the official ones because they make their money on the difference. It would not surprise me if HW has an exchange license and operates exactly the same way.
Log in to join discussion