Best credit card with no foreign transaction fees?

Hi! Spent four months in London and learned the hard way how much those little transaction fees add up. My goal is a credit card with no foreign transaction fees, preferably no annual fee, and really good points/benefits. Suggestions? Thanks!

London (United Kingdom)

4 Answers

answered by

Claudia from New York City

Hi Laurie,
Check out the following cards that have no foreign transaction fees but some have annual fees:

Capital One Quicksilver card - no annual fee
Hyatt visa card - there's an annual fee
Chase Sapphire Preferred - there's an annual fee of $95, but the first year is free
Capital One Venture One - no annual fee
Capital One Venture - no fee for the first year, $95 per year after the first year

Comments (0)

answered by

amy from New York City

I strickly use my Capital One credit cards when traveling anywhere overseas. No foreign transaction fees, and only a US$10 fee for cash advances, no matter the amount you withdraw. Just know your cash advance limits per billing period, as they can be quite low depending on which card you have.

Comments (1)

amy
My card does have an annual fee, but its only $24 (billed at $2 per month). Well worth it for what you get in return though !

comments (1)

answered by

Mary from Leicester

I think expecting no fees and points/benefits in the current economic climate really is stretching things too far.

In the UK (not just 'England'!) there are one or two UK credit cards which carry no foreign transaction fees but they are associated with specific banks/ bank accounts and thus only available to UK residents. I'm not aware of any which carry points/benefits as well.

There are also quite a few 'cash passport'/currency cards (e.g. Caxton, FairfX, Post Office) available in the UK and they are very useful indeed. Such cards are either Visa or Mastercard. You pre-load them with foreign currency via your bank account (topping-up online as/if required) and there are no annual fees or fees for foreign transactions (including ATMs). But they are debit cards, not credit cards, obviously don't have points or benefits as well....and I'm pretty sure they're only available for UK residents.

Assuming you are not a UK resident it might be worth investigating whether similar 'cash passport'/currency cards are available in the US.

Comments (0)

answered first by

RosalieAnn

I have no answer to this question. In England, they have cards which would meet your criteria, but of course we are not in England.

Credit cards that I have had which had no annual fee and no percentage cost for currency exchanges on trips taken 8 years ago have changed their rules and now are debit cards and have fees for currency exchange.

I don't use ATMs to get money- if I did, I would use a debit card. I also feel that points/benefits will inflate the cost of the card to cover them (you can't get something for nothing).