Many Americans who use ride share apps like Uber at home also like using them abroad. I’ve used Uber in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia without a hitch. However, sometime last year, I started noticing that my rides were costing more than I expected. After a little digging, I found out why.
In 2025, without some users noticing, Uber started changing how it charges for rides abroad. In the past, Uber automatically charged passengers in the local currency. When I used Uber at home in the United States, Uber charged me in U.S. dollars. In Egypt, the app automatically charged me in Egyptian pounds.
Suddenly, I was being charged in U.S. dollars no matter where in the world I found myself.
Once Uber started charging me in U.S. dollars worldwide, I no longer had to convert the cost in my head while booking a ride. Seeing prices in U.S. dollars was a convenience, but one I never asked for or needed. It came at a cost I wasn’t willing to pay. Fortunately, I found a way to opt out and save money when using Uber abroad.
Here’s how Uber’s Preferred Currency Pricing works, why paying in local currency is always a better bet, and how to change your Uber settings to make your rides abroad more affordable.
What is Uber’s Preferred Currency Pricing?
According to Uber’s website, “Uber may assign your home currency as your preferred currency by default. Preferred Currency Pricing allows riders to see pricing in their familiar home currency — avoiding the hassle of doing currency conversion math in their head when requesting a ride.”
Uber noted that the cost of avoiding doing this equation is an added 1.5% fee. However, in reality, paying in your home currency may cost you more because Uber may not offer the best exchange rate.
“People don’t realize how much they lose to conversion until after it’s too late,” says Eric Croak, a certified financial planner and accredited wealth management adviser who helps clients navigate foreign purchases. Combined, these fees and less favorable exchange rates add up over time.
Croak said this is unfortunate because “it’s avoidable most of the time.”
Uber’s conversion fee is not unreasonably high, but it’s unnecessary for most passengers.
Many credit cards and merchants charge a fee for paying in U.S. dollars abroad, which you ultimately see on your credit card statement.
For example, if you are traveling in London, your credit card may automatically add 3% to the cost of every purchase. A $100 charge abroad may actually cost you $103.
Uber’s website correctly points out that its 1.5% conversion fee is lower than the 2-3% conversion fee many credit and debit cards charge when you pay in local currencies.
Croak agreed that Uber’s fee isn’t unreasonable, describing it as “high enough to matter but low enough that most people won’t balk.”
However, paying a 1.5% fee to Uber doesn’t guarantee your credit card won’t charge you for making charges abroad as well. Depending on your credit card terms, your issuer may still charge an additional fee because Uber is processing the transaction abroad. As a result, you may end up paying fees twice.
Oscar Wong via Getty Images
While Uber’s Preferred Currency Pricing isn’t unreasonable, experts say it could add up over time.
Even if you aren’t bothered by Uber’s fee, it’s still a bad idea to pay for a ride in your home currency.
Even if you aren’t concerned about the 1.5% fee Uber charges to use your home currency, you should still be concerned. “That 1.5% fee is just the start. The bulk of the damage is being done [by] the inflated rate that is already built into the conversion process,” Croak explained.
Paying in local currency is always better because it gives you control and usually results in a more favorable exchange rate. According to Croak, when you use a credit card to pay in the local currency, your credit card issuer handles the conversion. The rates used by major credit card companies “are nearly always going to be right on the market,” he said.
By allowing your credit card to convert prices for you, you will likely get a more favorable exchange rate, similar to the one you would use if you exchanged cash at a bank.
“When you allow apps like Uber to convert for you, you’re giving them your wallet and allowing them to pick the exchange rate,” Croak said, adding: “Uber does not use bank rates.”
Instead, Uber uses a proprietary “benchmark” to determine currency conversion rates that is not publicly available, according to Croak. The difference may cost users a lot of money.
“For example, on a $100 ride overseas, that can translate to a silent fee of $3 to $4,” above what you would pay in the local currency if you rely on Uber to make the conversion for you, he said. That’s on top of the 1.5% fee Uber charges for the so-called convenience of using your home currency, which would add another $4.50 to the same $100 ride. Those extra costs add up quickly.
Does it ever make sense to pay Uber in your home currency abroad?
According to Croak, Uber users paying in their home currency are paying a premium for convenience. It’s “kind of like the airport kiosk for cash. It’s not that it won’t work, but it’s never the right play,” he said. “When companies both control the rate and the fee, they win twice.”
Multiplied over a week or two of travel, “you’re giving the equivalent of a fancy meal to an app for no reason,” Croak said.
Plus, because Uber users don’t know the conversion fee Uber charges in advance, they aren’t aware of how much paying in their home currency actually costs them. Making matters even more confusing is that Uber adds its 1.5% conversion fee to the final trip fare rather than listing it as a separate line item on your receipt. This merging of costs makes it nearly impossible to figure out how your Uber charges break down. “That’s the problem at its core. It’s sneakier than a resort fee,” Croak said.
Opting out of Uber’s Preferred Currency Pricing is easy.
For those who don’t mind doing a little math in their heads to potentially save some money, Uber provides a way for most passengers to opt out of preferred currency pricing.
If you don’t do anything, Uber will set your in-app preference so that you are charged in your home currency anywhere Uber offers the Preferred Currency Pricing option. For Americans, that’s U.S. dollars, but it could be Euros for European Union residents, or British pounds for residents of Great Britain.
Opting out only takes a few clicks. I was able to easily change my settings while standing on the airport curb before ordering an Uber on a recent trip to Argentina. However, it’s better to make the change before you travel.
First, open your Uber app and log in to your account by tapping the person icon in the lower right-hand corner. Next, open your Uber wallet in the upper right-hand corner. Then, scroll down to “preferred currency” next to the globe icon. Choose “Always pay in local currency” and hit “confirm.” Once that’s done, your preferred currency will show as “No preferred currency,” and you’ll be charged in the local currency when you travel.
You don’t need to worry about switching your preferences when you return home. Once you land in your home country, Uber will charge you in your home currency.
However, not everyone can opt out of preferred currency pricing at all times in all places. According to Uber’s website, “The availability of preferred currency pricing payment types is at Uber’s discretion.”
Uber also does not allow those using a business profile to opt out of home currency pricing. Passengers ordering Ubers through a business profile must use their home currency and pay the associated fees.
Additionally, Uber specifies that users cannot choose to pay in their preferred currency when using Uber Cash, Uber One credits or vouchers. It also specifies on its website that “Rentals, Reserve, Scheduled Rides, those with 3rd-party partners, and Uber Eats or Delivery orders are not eligible.”
Opening a travel credit card is another way to avoid paying more for Uber abroad.
Because many travel credit cards don’t charge any foreign transaction fees and offer favorable exchange rates, using one is a great way to get the best price on Uber rides and other purchases abroad, said Ori Brian, a travel adviser and founder of Archive Travel. These benefits apply to other purchases abroad, too.
Many of these are premium travel cards with hefty annual fees, but a few have annual fees under $100, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Most of these cards offer other travel benefits, such as travel insurance, which can help travelers save money in other ways, too.
Traveling can be expensive. Taking a few seconds to opt out of Uber’s preferred currency pricing and using the right credit card can help you stretch your budget and enjoy your trip more.
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