Credit Cards with no charges for foreign transacstions

[swilshire]

I haven't been out of the country in two years. I need to figure out which of my credit cards has no surcharge for foreign transactions and need to do it quickly, so I can make a deposit on a rental on PEI.

If I remember correctly, my Capitol One card fit the bill on my last trip. I guess I need to make sure it's still active (been in the drawer since that trip) and that they haven't added fees.

I have a couple of AMEX cards (Hilton and Delta), LL Bean, Disney, and probably a couple of others if I looked around.

I think I just used an ATM to get cash from our credit union, but I'm foggy on the details.

Sheila

 

[bumbershoot]

Good question. We have a credit union card that has very *low* foreign transaction fees, but it isn't free. DH uses it for his work trips when he can't pay cash or use his corporate card, and it's nice that the fees are so low. But I'll be watching b/c NO fees would be lovely too.

 

[SnowWtch]

I used to use my Capital One and never got a transaction fee but that was several years ago.

 

[ekmom]

Capitol One. We used it last year in France.

 

[lizerbug]

Capitol One, we went to Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize in February.

 

[Maddle]

Capitol One is listed as no fee in this chart -

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/foreign-exchange-fees-going-up-1267.php#foreignfeecharts

Notice it is the only one...but I wouldn't hesitate to call them to verify.

Now my tangent question - do you think it is worth getting another card just for this reason? We are going overseas twice in the next few months - DH and I keep going around and around about this.

Maddle

 

[cheriemek]

I just had this problem this month. DH went to Canada for work, and he came back with Foreign Transaction fees on our Disney Visa. I contacted them and they said they have always charged this, but due to the new Credit Card legislation, they have to be recorded as a Foreign transaction fee. I didn't believe them, and went and found a charge bill from a year ago where we spent time in Canada. Sure enough, there was the charge, but hidden - there was the charge for the purchase, and under that an explanation that about what part was the currency rate charge, and what part was the fee. So, maybe the other cards do all have this charge, but no one ever really saw it before.

 

[swilshire]

Now my tangent question - do you think it is worth getting another card just for this reason? We are going overseas twice in the next few months - DH and I keep going around and around about this.

As long as you have good credit or won't be making a large credit purchase soon (like a house or car), I'd say go for it as long as there is no annual fee. I didn't use mine before for the three years between two other foreign trips. Hopefully they didn't cancel it as credit tightened up over the last year. I'll dig it out and find out.

Thanis for the responses.

Sheila

 

[dd50]

Try to use your cards at least once every 3 months. I have been doing that just to keep them open.