Uber Adds a 1.5% Fee Abroad: How to Avoid It in 2025

Uber recently announced the automatic activation of the “preferred currency pricing” option (formerly “home currency pricing”) for all its users. This feature will automatically display prices in your home currency when traveling abroad.

While seemingly convenient, this service comes with a conversion fee of 1.5% on each trip.

For the moment, the option is only available in Canada, the United States and Europe. So if you use Uber in a country outside these zones, you won’t have access to this new feature; your Uber ride will be billed in local currency.

In other words, if I’m in Peru and use Uber, for example, my Uber ride will automatically be billed in the local currency, i.e. Peruvian sol. If I don’t use a credit card without conversion fees for payment, a fee of around 2.5% will be included in the total amount.

To avoid these extra charges in the areas mentioned, follow these simple steps:

1. Open the Uber application
2. Access your wallet
3. Scroll to “Preferred currency”.
4. Select “No preferred currency”.

The best tip we can give you with these new Uber fees is to use a no-conversion-fee credit card like the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card. In addition to saving 2.5% on foreign currency transactions, you’ll earn 3 points per dollar spent on transportation, including your Uber ride.

So, instead of having to pay between 1.5% and 2.5% in fees (depending on whether you decide to keep the option offered by Uber or not), you accumulate the equivalent of 3% in Scene+ points, which you can then use to your best advantage to pay off your trip or buy groceries.

If you don’t have a credit card with no conversion fees, it may be more advantageous to continue with Uber’s new preferred currency option, since the 1.5% fee is probably lower than your current credit card’s foreign currency fee. Still, it’s not the most advantageous option in the long run.