Thursday, February 9, 2012

Avoiding International Credit Card Fees

Disclaimer - The Discover offers are no longer valid.

Before you travel outside of the US, you should know which credit card is the one you should use.  If you don't plan ahead of time, you could end up paying some significant fees for international use.

You can always find out this information by checking the "terms and conditions" found on the website where you apply for the card.  Just search (control [command for macs] + f) for "foreign" and it will tell you how much they charge

The Winner:  Fidelity American Express Credit Card.  They charge you 1% but you get 2% back on every purchase so it is the equivalent of getting 1% back.

2nd bestDiscover it™- no foreign transaction fee.

3rd Best - Chase Sapphire Preferred - no transaction fee but there is an annual fee.

Watch out for the Chase Freedom and Bank of America Cash rewards, you will pay a whopping 3% foreign transaction fee.  American Express Blue and Blue Preferred aren't much better at 2.7%

I am only discussing cards that I recommend in general, here is a more comprehensive list of some other cards

http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credit-cards/no-foreign-transaction-fee-credit-card/

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