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How To Avoid Extra Credit Card Fees During International Travel

joeheg
two trains in a station

Going on an international trip is very exciting but it can also be very expensive. Using a credit card to pay for purchases when traveling internationally is often the best way to get a good exchange rate and the rate your bank gets will be better than the one you’ll get on your own if you exchange cash. Using a card also means that you don’t have to carry around a bunch of cash with you. However, many cards will add on a “foreign transaction fee” to any transactions made with anything except your home currency. Here’s an easy way to keep from paying that extra 2-3 percent on all of your purchases while away.

One thing to note is these charges will apply to any charges in a different currency, even if you’re still in your home country. Are you buying train tickets online to take the Eurostar train between London and Paris, or are you getting tickets to do Bridge Climb in Sydney during your trip to Australia?  If you are buying from a company outside the United States, that purchase will include a foreign transaction fee, EVEN if the price quoted to you is in dollars. The rule of thumb is if it’ll happen outside of your home country, use a card that avoids these fees.

If you go to Sydney, Australia, don’t miss out on Bridge Climb….. but make sure to use a card that doesn’t charge extra fees to pay for it.

Personal cards that don’t charge fees

I’ll try to break this list into categories to make it easier to look through and I’ll note the ones with no annual fees. This list is only for personal cards, not business cards. I’d also like to mention that while American Express and Discover have several cards on this list, their acceptance outside the US is limited. I’d suggest having a backup Visa or MasterCard just in case. This list is also not exhaustive as new cards are adding this benefit all the time.

Cards that earn transferable points:

Cards that earn airline miles:

Cards that earn hotel points:

Cards that earn points that can be used for travel expenses:

This is a hybrid category because these cards essentially earn cash but you can only spend the cash on travel expenses

Cards that earn cashback

This list is by no means complete and cards can change their policies at any time. I’m not going to be able to come back and update this every time they do so I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know if you discover any changes, or if there’s a card I left out.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There is no shortage of cards on this list, including several that have no annual fee, so it’s much easier to avoid these fees when traveling internationally. I personally use either the Citi Prestige or Chase Sapphire when I’m out of town, especially in another country. Both of these cards are accepted in most places and have international customer service if you have a problem. They’ll even overnight your card to you wherever you are if it’s lost or stolen.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

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