Category Archives: Foreign Transaction Fees

Which Credit Cards Do NOT Charge a Foreign Transaction Fee?

Posted on January 10, 2013 by | 55 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I get a referral for all cards in the post except for the Southwest Premier, Chase Priority Club, Chase Fairmont, Chase United Club, Citi Thank You Premier (better than my affiliate link), Citi American Airlines Executive, and the American Express Mercedes-Benz Platinum]

No Foreign Transaction Fee CArds

Readers often ask which credit cards do not charge the 1% to 3% foreign transaction fee for using the card for transactions in foreign currency.  Most credit cards will charge you a fee for purchases in a foreign currency.

So I’ve made a new page on the Travel Credit Cards tab for No Foreign Transaction Fee cards!

No-Foreign-Transaction-Fee-Cards

No Foreign Transaction Fee Tab!

The cards listed on that page do NOT charge a foreign transaction fee if you use them for transactions in foreign currencies.

My favorite no-foreign transaction fee card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred which offers double points for travel (airfare, hotel, car rental, parking etc.) and dining.  And you almost certainly are spending most of your money on travel and dining when you’re on vacation! Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, American Express, British Airways, Business Credit Cards, Chase, Citibank, Credit Cards, Delta Skymiles, Foreign Transaction Fees, Foreign Transaction Fees, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Ritz-Carlton, Southwest, Uncategorized, United Airlines

Don’t Pay 27% More to Convert Dollars to Euros at the Airport!

Posted on January 2, 2013 by | 61 Comments

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I’ve always known that changing money at airports is a terrible deal.  But I was curious to see just how much I would be ripped off, so I converted $100.50 into 60 euros at the Travelex Currency Services in Newark airport.

This was a terrible deal, because I would have received 16 more euros, for a total of 76 euros, if I had converted $100.50 at the official inter-bank rate.

I paid ~27% more (16 extra euros/60 euros) because of the fees involved at the Travelex store!

Don’t expect Travelex to tell you just how much extra you’re paying.  In my experience, the representatives are either themselves clueless about the fees or intentionally understate the fees to make a sale.  My receipt labels the representative as a “Sales Consultant” so I suspect a significant portion of the representatives’ salary is based on the volume of foreign currency sales.

This means that there is a significant incentive for the representative to generate sales and divert attention from the high fees charged by Travelex.  I specifically asked about fees, and was told that no fees were charged.  Which is technically correct because the receipt labels them as “Service Charges.”

Currency Conversion Airport-1

A $9.95 Service Charge is a Fee to Me!

The colorful marketing chart at the Travelex booth has the audacity to state “Discounted Exchange Rate on Today’s Transaction” when the foreign currency fee is 14% MORE, for converting US dollars to euros, than the inter-bank rate!

No Value For You!

And the “savings” mentioned are fictitious savings likely generated by comparing to inflated base rates.

Foreign Currency Conversion Fees

You pay two fees when you change currency at an airport.  This is in spite of the sales consultant (& the Travelex receipt) telling you that there are no fees.  That’s because there is a “Service Charge” so Travelex can honestly say that you weren’t charged a “fee” when in-fact the service charge has the same effect as a fee! Continue reading →

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Posted in British Airways, Chase, Credit Cards, Foreign Transaction Fees, Foreign Transaction Fees, Hyatt, Save Money

Reader Request: Why You Should Always Pay for Foreign Purchases in the Local Currency & Not in US Dollars

Posted on August 2, 2012 by | 26 Comments

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Million Mile Secrets reader Jonathan writes in:

One thing I can’t figure out – is it better to pay for things in local currency and let Visa/ MasterCard convert back to US [currency]?  All the places I go to buy something offer to convert to dollars.   I don’t pay a foreign transaction fee on my card. 

When Emily and I were in Paris, we were often asked if we wanted to pay our bill via credit card in euros or in US dollars.  For example, if we were at a cafe and spent 30 euros, we’d get the option of seeing the bill of 30 euros converted to US dollars.

We always paid our bill in euros because if we paid our bill in US dollars, we’d be charged a separate currency conversion fee, despite using the Chase British Airways card which had no foreign transaction fee! Continue reading →

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Posted in Credit Cards, Foreign Transaction Fees