When making a payment with PP into a different currency (like when I pay for my Wolfman), I never use PP funds in conjunction with the PP currency exchange rate, but instead use a CC that's linked to my PP account. Choose a CC that doesn't charge an international transaction fee makes it even better. Whenever I have done this, the CC has always provided me with a more favorable and honest exchange rate. It appears that PP always adds something or simply uses the highest conversion rate.
"Simple: not to be confused with easy."