Best Travel Card for Beginners

[amakol]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I love that the card has no FTF, but I hear that BoA rips you off with exchange rate. I think I'll use my quicksilver where I can when I'm overseas.

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I don't travel as much as I'd like but I was under the assumption that CC conversion rates were determined by VISA and MC, not the bank. BOA and CapOne would only be different if they added their own foreign transaction fee surcharges and in the case of the Travel Rewards card, it should be identical.

This is different from exchanging money at a branch, where the bank can use whatever rate they want for their own conversion.

Anyone here know if this is how it actually works or is it something different?

[longtimelurker]

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@bonehead88 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I love that the card has no FTF, but I hear that BoA rips you off with exchange rate. I think I'll use my quicksilver where I can when I'm overseas.

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I don't travel as much as I'd like but I was under the assumption that CC conversion rates were determined by VISA and MC, not the bank. BOA and CapOne would only be different if they added their own foreign transaction fee surcharges and in the case of the Travel Rewards card, it should be identical.

This is different from exchanging money at a branch, where the bank can use whatever rate they want for their own conversion.

Anyone here know if this is how it actually works or is it something different?

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Yes, they use the CC rate from Visa/MC, generally at time of posting (it's this that leads some to think rates are different, stuff bought the same day with different cards can post at different times, leading to varying rates).

I don't know if this is the case now, but in the past, the Visa (and probably MC) exchange rate included roughly a 1% hidden surcharge (but still cheaper than most alternatives).   Capital One removed this surcharge, so were sometimes listed as a -1% FTF.    I haven't seem them advertise this recently, but if they still do it, Cap One will be cheaper than others.

[longtimelurker]

This suggests that Cap One still absorbs the charge:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/credit-card-foreign-transaction-fee-chart.aspx

[Anonymous]

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@Brax wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@CreditMagic7 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I reccomend AAA member rewards card by BoA

• 3X points = 3% cash back on all travel purchases
• 2X points = 2% cash back on gas, grocery and drug store purchases
• 1 point per $1 = 1% cash back on purchases everywhere else
  
  donwnside to this card is 2% Foreign Transaction Fee
  
  
  

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Your siggy shows the BofA Travel Rewards, is this AAA member rewards somewhat better or less?

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Once you get past the bonus factor (it would take $6,667 travel spend on AAA's 3% to break even with Travel Rewards 1.5% + $100 bonus), I would imagine that the AAA card is better if your travel is mostly domestic. For overseas travel spend you'd be effectively earning 1% once you factor in foreign transaction fee compared to the 1.5% for the BofA Travel Rewards. I think VeganMakePeace was suggesting AAA because OP said he/she had no plans to travel overseas.

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The AAA card gave me a $75 signup bonus last year, although it's not advertised nor mentioned anywhere. I only made $395 in purchases when it credited on first statement, so it is probably a bonus on first purchase rather than some kind of spending requirement.

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That's interesting and completely changes the math. If you're a mostly domestic traveler and an existing AAA member, then it's not even really close. One trip could easily allow you to break even and then suddenly be earning an extra 1.5%. And even if you travel a lot of overseas it's still worth gettingo it into the arsenal if you're a AAA member.

I might have to add this card to my wishlist at some point. I have to get through all the cards with good bonuses first though. 

[Anonymous]

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@bonehead88 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I love that the card has no FTF, but I hear that BoA rips you off with exchange rate. I think I'll use my quicksilver where I can when I'm overseas.

---

I don't travel as much as I'd like but I was under the assumption that CC conversion rates were determined by VISA and MC, not the bank. BOA and CapOne would only be different if they added their own foreign transaction fee surcharges and in the case of the Travel Rewards card, it should be identical.

This is different from exchanging money at a branch, where the bank can use whatever rate they want for their own conversion.

Anyone here know if this is how it actually works or is it something different?

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You're probably right. I was going by word of mouth on the forum here,  though I can't find the thread.

[amakol]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

This suggests that Cap One still absorbs the charge:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/credit-card-foreign-transaction-fee-chart.aspx

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Thanks for the knowledge. It seems to me reading that link that 1% goes to VISA/MC and 2% to the CC issuer for 3% total unless the card is 0% FTF, where the bank will actually eat the VISA/MC conversion fee. This makes sense.

Congrats on your ridiculous scores.