Best cards for oversea vacation

[slg]

Myself and my hubby are going to be taking a trip overseas to Paris and surrounding areas in the summer. I have been looking into cards witha chip and pin that have no foreign transaction fees and I need some suggestions. Cards that have overseas perks as bonus or airline bonuses would be great too but only if they are air France or air Canada. Anyone have any insight or reccomendations?

[Open123]

Chase Hyatt - 2 free nights each at any Hyatt with $100 statement credit sign up bonus, if you app through your Hyatt rewards site.  No forex fee with chip.

[zeusta20]

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you get 2x the points on AIRTRAVEL when you book through Ultimate Rewards through Chase. No foreign Transaction fees, HOWEVER, there is an annual fee, But its worth it. Also, if you spend 3k within the 3 months of opening, you get a bonus of 40k points which is equivalent to 500.00 when you book flights through chase.

[zeusta20]

I'm sorry...they are not air france or air canada though....

[gpfirestone]

air canada is amex platinum.  i would do that with a signup bonus.  use the $200 travel credit and lounges while you travel too.  save your pts and when aeroplan does a bonus transfer them.

[Open123]

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@gpfirestone wrote:

air canada is amex platinum.  i would do that with a signup bonus.  use the $200 travel credit and lounges while you travel too.  save your pts and when aeroplan does a bonus transfer them.

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Right, with the MB Platinum, there's a 50K bonus, no forex, emv chip, and $200 airline credit per calendar year, etc...

Combine that with Chase Hyatt's free rooms, and you've got quite a vacation!

[zeusta20]

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@Open123 wrote:

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@gpfirestone wrote:

air canada is amex platinum.  i would do that with a signup bonus.  use the $200 travel credit and lounges while you travel too.  save your pts and when aeroplan does a bonus transfer them.

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Right, with the MB Platinum, there's a 50K bonus, no forex, emv chip, and $200 airline credit per calendar year, etc...

Combine that with Chase Hyatt's free rooms, and you've got quite a vacation!

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hmmm, never thought of that. I like the way you think! lol

[Cdnewmanpac]

1. Why chip and pin? Chip and signature should be fine for Paris.

2. For reasons I still cannot fathom, CSP is still chipless. That being said, you would get 40k UR points at signup and 2pts/dollar on tickets and all travel/restaurant spend. No forex fees. You could then convert to Korean Air points, which can be used on SkyTeam flights, including AirFrance. I agree the Amex Plat would be a straighter shot, but some may struggle with the AF, even with lounge, redemption for airline expenses, global entry, etc.

3. Maybe Citi Hilton Reserve? Depends on hotel plans, but does earn points for hilton stays and 5pts/dollar on travel (if you value hhonors at 0.5cpp, thats still 2.5pts/dollar equiv).

[CreditScholar]

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@Cdnewmanpac wrote:

1. Why chip and pin? Chip and signature should be fine for Paris.

2. For reasons I still cannot fathom, CSP is still chipless. That being said, you would get 40k UR points at signup and 2pts/dollar on tickets and all travel/restaurant spend. No forex fees. You could then convert to Korean Air points, which can be used on SkyTeam flights, including AirFrance. I agree the Amex Plat would be a straighter shot, but some may struggle with the AF, even with lounge, redemption for airline expenses, global entry, etc.

3. Maybe Citi Hilton Reserve? Depends on hotel plans, but does earn points for hilton stays and 5pts/dollar on travel (if you value hhonors at 0.5cpp, thats still 2.5pts/dollar equiv).

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I'd suspect that the CSP isn't "high-end enough" to justify the costs of adding a chip. In saying that, I mean that the majority of people who have the card don't absolutely need it. By design it's a card that was intended for high earning/spending travellers, but in practice it's become a more everyday card for many people. I doubt the vast majority of CSP cardholders travel to places that require a chip even once a year.

Besides the cards already mentioned, the US Bank Club Carlson card is one to consider. While I'm normally not a fan of their properties, they do have some nice ones in Paris. It offers a decent signup bonus, gold status, and the last night free on point redemptions.

[TiggerDat]

Maybe one of the reasons for not having a card with a chip is that it is easy to steal the information from it.  I have heard stories about how there are some people who hang around airports with chip readers and simply steal the card information and then either use or sell it.  I have a friend that it happened to, so be careful maybe keep them in a steel wallet.