No Foreign Transaction Fee Cards and Exchange Rates

[Anonymous]

I see that Citi Costco visa now has no FTF. I have the Barclay Uber, Citi Costco, and C1 QS all with no FTF. Will exchange rates be the same across the board as they are all visa cards or does it depend on the bank? When I used my C1 QS (before I had the other cards) they always charged me at the current rate of exchange and not marked up higher. Does anyone know this for sure, I would like to know before using the cards abroad. Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

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I see that Citi Costco visa now has no FTF. I have the Barclay Uber, Citi Costco, and C1 QS all with no FTF. Will exchange rates be the same across the board as they are all visa cards or does it depend on the bank? When I used my C1 QS (before I had the other cards) they always charged me at the current rate of exchange and not marked up higher. Does anyone know this for sure, I would like to know before using the cards abroad. Thank you!!

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I used my AMEX Delta Gold and Barclays Uber aborad before and I was charged the current rate of exchange both the times. I'm not sure about Citi Costco though. Im my opinion, it depends on the bank, but I'm guessing most of them use current exchange rates. 

[Anonymous]

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I see that Citi Costco visa now has no FTF. I have the Barclay Uber, Citi Costco, and C1 QS all with no FTF. Will exchange rates be the same across the board as they are all visa cards or does it depend on the bank? When I used my C1 QS (before I had the other cards) they always charged me at the current rate of exchange and not marked up higher. Does anyone know this for sure, I would like to know before using the cards abroad. Thank you!!

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I used my AMEX Delta Gold and Barclays Uber aborad before and I was charged the current rate of exchange both the times. I'm not sure about Citi Costco though. Im my opinion, it depends on the bank, but I'm guessing most of them use current exchange rates. 

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Thanks I was reading other threads and there seemed to be conflicting info. I think popular opinion is that the issuer (visa, amex, mastercard) handles the exchange rate and not the bank. I just wanted to be sure though haha. By the way, seeing that you have the Uber card do you know if the 3% is for all Travel related purchases or are there restrictions? 

[Shadowfactor]

I travel to the caribbean alot for work.

Mainly Barbados which is supposed to have a fixed rate of 1US:1.98BBD

Ive used different cards for purchases, and even on the same day

Amex :exchange rate changes every day(even in Barbados with fixed rate) and is normally the worst.

Discover: is the best. They gave me 1US:2BBD in Barbados and are consistently the highest anywhere ive used them.

US Bank: Changes every day except in Barbados where I get the offical 1.98BBD to 1 US

BoA : Changes every day. Barbados is fixed 1.97BBD:1US. Lower then Offical rate

Capital One: Its been several months since I used a Cap 1 card since I closed mine. I want to say it was 1.98BBD:1US

I've used my US bank and BoA cards on the same day and gotten different rates. They are both Visa Signature.

[Anonymous]

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I travel to the caribbean alot for work.

Mainly Barbados which is supposed to have a fixed rate of 1US:1.98BBD

Ive used different cards for purchases, and even on the same day

Amex :exchange rate changes every day(even in Barbados with fixed rate) and is normally the worst.

Discover: is the best. They gave me 1US:2BBD in Barbados and are consistently the highest anywhere ive used them.

US Bank: Changes every day except in Barbados where I get the offical 1.98BBD to 1 US

BoA : Changes every day. Barbados is fixed 1.97BBD:1US. Lower then Offical rate

Capital One: Its been several months since I used a Cap 1 card since I closed mine. I want to say it was 1.98BBD:1US

I've used my US bank and BoA cards on the same day and gotten different rates. They are both Visa Signature.

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Wow haha I'm the same in respect to working a lot in the Caribbean but mainly in Trinidad & Tobago. I did visit Barbados for the first time last year around the hurrican season which was a bit crazy. So this makes me believe that it's dependent on both the issuer and bank. I will try to experiment next time I visit. 

[Anonymous]

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Thanks I was reading other threads and there seemed to be conflicting info. I think popular opinion is that the issuer (visa, amex, mastercard) handles the exchange rate and not the bank. I just wanted to be sure though haha. By the way, seeing that you have the Uber card do you know if the 3% is for all Travel related purchases or are there restrictions? 

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I've only used it for airfare and hotels so far and I got 3% back on both the categories (which is expected). This is what Barclays say about the 3% category.

You earn 3% back or 3 points for every $1.00 spent on net purchases on airfare, hotels, and travel agencies, as defined by merchant category codes, which includes home share exchanges like Airbnb. Net purchases are total purchases minus credits, returns, and adjustments.

So they clarify this includes Airbnb as well but not sure about car rentals though (assuming this is what you are interested in knowing going by your other thread). 

[longtimelurker]

My understanding is that the network sets the rate (this is said in many articles on the web), and, if there is a FTF, the bank adds that on.   Hence articles showing the MC is often better than Visa in some regions.

So why do people report different rates on different Visa cards on the same day?  My guess is that it depends when the transaction conversion is done, on the posting date rather than purchase date.

[MrDisco99]

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wrote:

I see that Citi Costco visa now has no FTF. I have the Barclay Uber, Citi Costco, and C1 QS all with no FTF. Will exchange rates be the same across the board as they are all visa cards or does it depend on the bank? When I used my C1 QS (before I had the other cards) they always charged me at the current rate of exchange and not marked up higher. Does anyone know this for sure, I would like to know before using the cards abroad. Thank you!!

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I used my AMEX Delta Gold and Barclays Uber aborad before and I was charged the current rate of exchange both the times. I'm not sure about Citi Costco though. Im my opinion, it depends on the bank, but I'm guessing most of them use current exchange rates. 

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Thanks I was reading other threads and there seemed to be conflicting info. I think popular opinion is that the issuer (visa, amex, mastercard) handles the exchange rate and not the bank. I just wanted to be sure though haha. By the way, seeing that you have the Uber card do you know if the 3% is for all Travel related purchases or are there restrictions? 

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The Uber 3% category is not for travel.  It is specifically for airfare and hotels.  Other travel expenses like car rentals, train tickets, highway tolls, etc. are not included.

[Anonymous]

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I see that Citi Costco visa now has no FTF. I have the Barclay Uber, Citi Costco, and C1 QS all with no FTF. Will exchange rates be the same across the board as they are all visa cards or does it depend on the bank? When I used my C1 QS (before I had the other cards) they always charged me at the current rate of exchange and not marked up higher. Does anyone know this for sure, I would like to know before using the cards abroad. Thank you!!

---

I used my AMEX Delta Gold and Barclays Uber aborad before and I was charged the current rate of exchange both the times. I'm not sure about Citi Costco though. Im my opinion, it depends on the bank, but I'm guessing most of them use current exchange rates. 

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Thanks I was reading other threads and there seemed to be conflicting info. I think popular opinion is that the issuer (visa, amex, mastercard) handles the exchange rate and not the bank. I just wanted to be sure though haha. By the way, seeing that you have the Uber card do you know if the 3% is for all Travel related purchases or are there restrictions? 

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The Uber 3% category is not for travel.  It is specifically for airfare and hotels.  Other travel expenses like car rentals, train tickets, highway tolls, etc. are not included.

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Thanks for specifying. Do you know if it would work on an orbitz.com purchase? Does that count as Travel Agency?

[Anonymous]

From my experience, the exchange rate seems to be the same for Chase sapphire card, chase amazon, Barclay UBER, and Citi Costco. I used all of them abroad in Europe and the Middle East and noticed the same exchange rate. I also noticed Schwab debit card uses the same exchange rate.  https://www.hotpersonalfinance.com/best-credit-cards-checking-account-international-travelers/