Going to Paris/Oktoberfest - looking for advice

[Color]

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm a mid-twenties professional in the Philly area and looking to expand my card portfolio. I've been an authorized user of my parent's Mastercard for a number of years which shows up in my Equifax report on myFICO but I only have one card that is in my name alone, a simple 1% cash back Visa card from my local bank that I got earlier this year in March.

I'm planning a trip to Oktoberfest next year and looking for advice on a card. The plan is two days in Paris and five in Munich. No foreign transaction fee is a must it seems, and would an EMV chip be required? I have been lurking for a little while here and I see a lot of CSP recommendations, but I don't know if I can justify the annual fee. How easy is it to switch down to the non-preferred version of the card if I'm not spending enough? Does that show up as a closed card and a new opening in my reports? I'm fairly confident I would be approved with an Equifax FICO of 780, but Chase hasn't sent me any offers in the mail, unlike AMEX which sent me an RSVP for their Platinum card not too long ago (the offer is expired now).

The other concern I have is that the CSP is another Visa if my research is correct, and my instinct tells me I don't want to be stuck in Germany with just Visa in the case of a critical spend not being accepted. Do I take a rating hit by applying for an AMEX and/or Mastercard with no annual fee like the BCE? What is the deal with AMEX and membership length anyway?

I've been happy in my ignorance of the credit market for a long time; I pay in full every month and I don't have any loans or other debt. My spending has been on pace for 20-25k a year but that includes some big spends like furniture for a new apartment. I'm not much of a diner or traveler, but now international travel has forced me to think. My apologies for typing so many words, but I would appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you.

[Crashem]

Look for card:

1) No FT fees

2) EMV chip for Europe is nice

CSP is good as you get extra points for travel related expenses and the sign up bonus is nice.  Don't worry about AF as I believe it is waived for first year and, even if it isn't, the signup bonus outweighs it.  If you decide to PC to no AF Sapphire, there should be no effect on your credit.  Your card number is the same and it continues to report to credit bureaus the same way.

Make sure you get CSP with EMV chip which was recently released.

As FYI, you might have problems getting CSP however.  What is the limit on the card in your own name?  While your score looks good, your credit file is actually on the weaker side as it is thin and short.  Chase tends to ignore AU cards in their internal calculations unless you happen to share the same address as primary.

[espnjunkie]

Chase will want to see at least one year of credit history and that you have at least one other account of $5,000.00+ credit limit generally. Your FICO scores appear to be good, so you still have a shot. 

Amex is similar, but might be worth a shot. The only amex without forex fees is the platinum, which doesn't suit you. 

Capital One cards kinda suck, but they all have no forex fees 

[Pat94108]

I agree with the other two pieces of advice. However, unlike espnjunkie, I would have recommended Capital One. All their cards come with no forex fees. None of them has a EMV though but I think you should be fine in Germany and France with the swipe (I had no issue with swiping in France but never used my "swipe" cards in Germany though). 

However, I'd still try Chase before giving Capital One the time of day. The CSP comes with no AF the first year so you are able to downgrade to either Chase Freedom, regular Sapphire after a year. In addition, there is a bonus of 40k points if you spend $3000 the first three months. 

[espnjunkie]

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@Pat94108 wrote:

I agree with the other two pieces of advice. However, unlike espnjunkie, I would have recommended Capital One. All their cards come with no forex fees. None of them has a EMV though but I think you should be fine in Germany and France with the swipe (I had no issue with swiping in France but never used my "swipe" cards in Germany though). 

However, I'd still try Chase before giving Capital One the time of day. The CSP comes with no AF the first year so you are able to downgrade to either Chase Freedom, regular Sapphire after a year. In addition, there is a bonus of 40k points if you spend $3000 the first three months. 

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@Pat94108 wrote:

I agree with the other two pieces of advice. However, unlike espnjunkie, I would have recommended Capital One. All their cards come with no forex fees. None of them has a EMV though but I think you should be fine in Germany and France with the swipe (I had no issue with swiping in France but never used my "swipe" cards in Germany though). 

However, I'd still try Chase before giving Capital One the time of day. The CSP comes with no AF the first year so you are able to downgrade to either Chase Freedom, regular Sapphire after a year. In addition, there is a bonus of 40k points if you spend $3000 the first three months. 

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Capital One cards are ok, but very unspectacular. Also their customer services pales in comparison to other lenders. Capital One will cost you 3 hard pulls per application as well. 

Just from experience I'd go elsewhere before Cap One, but it is a possible option 

[Color]

Thank you for the comments. To answer the question about the limit on my card, it is 10k.

Does anyone have experience with Chase being more likely to accept an application if you have a checking account with them as well, or are those two totally different businesses and they don't consider being a customer of other Chase services in a credit card application? I don't have a Chase checking account but wondering if doing so would affect the application in some way.

[espnjunkie]

Not sure if that matters, but even if it did I doubt it would change the decision to approve or decline an applicant

[longtimelurker]

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@Color wrote:

Thank you for the comments. To answer the question about the limit on my card, it is 10k.

Does anyone have experience with Chase being more likely to accept an application if you have a checking account with them as well, or are those two totally different businesses and they don't consider being a customer of other Chase services in a credit card application? I don't have a Chase checking account but wondering if doing so would affect the application in some way.

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Chase insiders (or near insiders) have commented before on this on this forum.   Basically, anyone Chase employee bringing up your account can see your "total" relationship with Chase in their internal systems.  It's been said you need to have at least $10K in banking to have any impact, and the more you have the somewhat more likely you are to be accepted if you were borderline.   But no amount of money makes up for major negatives, you would still get declined.

[JKXX]

I just did a large Europe trip (15 countries). I got a BoA travel rewards card(EMV, No FTF) and had no issues overseas. The EMV was nice to have but not needed as 90%+ of places could swipe it normally. I only had a few issues usign the metro in some countries as they wanted a pin from my card but mine didn't have one. That shouldn't be an issue in Paris but I recall having a little trouble with the Munich metro. If you also open a BOA checking account, you can use their network of ATMs overseas which helps reduce the amount of fees that get piled on when you withdraw cash.

Paris and Germany aren't as bad as other countries but just remember that they are very credit-weary in Europe and some places will decline a CC and ask for cash(Germany and England were the best credit wise out of all the countries I went too). At Oktoberfest, I payed only in cash(not sure if you can use credit) because the waitresses serve whoever they feel like and you want to make it as easy as possible on them to get the best service(Don't forget to tip them!). 

Lastly, don't worry if its a VISA or MC. Every place I went to that took cards accepted both. AMEX was practically non-existant overseas and only saw it 2-3 times(out of a few months). Mine was a VISA.

Lastly, if you get asked to charge it in Euros or USD when using a card, ALWAYS IN EUROS. Some places add an extra fee on top of the USD amount as a type of transaction fee. 

[Color]

So it seems like a good debit card for ATMs is more important than a credit card. I'm with TD Bank and I was told today that foreign ATM fees are reimbursed just as they are in the US, so that's good.

Thanks for the advice so far. Since my AAoA is only 4.3 years on the two accounts in my report, I'm looking at the BankAmericard Travel Rewards as a more easily accesible option.