topic Re: In the market for a MC in Credit Cards

In the market for a MC

iced — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 13:18:44 GMT

Are there any cards out there today which meet the following criteria:

- No foreign transaction fee

- No AF

- Must be MasterCard

- Not Capital One

I just downgraded my Citi Premier because I only use it for gas and gas purchases have become a once-every-other-month thing for me. I would have spent more on the AF than I would have on gas purchases for the next year. I looked around a bit, but I didn't see one that jumped out immediately. Don't care about any rewards or perks it has aside from the above as it would only be used on the rare occasion that Visa isn't accepted or my two main cards both fail for some reason (which has only ever happened internationally).

If there's no good options, I'll keep the Preferred in my wallet and just eat the FTF the one time every 5 years I happen to need it. If there are options, I'll shelve the Citi, though that means I then have to figure out what to do with TY points...but that's another thread for another day.

Re: In the market for a MC

K-in-Boston — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 13:41:05 GMT

Bank of America Travel Rewards ticks all of those boxes.

You can request BOA to issue a MasterCard or Visa product.

Re: In the market for a MC

TiggerDat — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 14:09:06 GMT

Barclay Ring

Re: In the market for a MC

fltireguy — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 14:22:53 GMT

NFCU if you are eligible
Their products can be issued as MC or Visa

Re: In the market for a MC

MrDisco99 — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 15:23:35 GMT

Citi DC

EDIT: Nevermind, DC has FTF

Kind of a narrow search there.

Re: In the market for a MC

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 16:53:42 GMT

@fltireguy wrote:
NFCU if you are eligible
Their products can be issued as MC or Visa

cashRewards cannot be Mastercard. I tried twice otherwise I would have been all over that.

Re: In the market for a MC

Kforce — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 16:57:42 GMT

If you live or work in Los Angeles County

Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union (NGFCU),

https://www.ngfcu.us/home/

1.5% cash-back

Nice looking card choices (My Opinion)

No AF, No FTF, Mastercard

Re: In the market for a MC

iced — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 17:46:36 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
Bank of America Travel Rewards ticks all of those boxes.
You can request BOA to issue a MasterCard or Visa product.

When looking online, it seems the MC version is a business card. Is it possible to request the MC version prior to approval? I don't want to apply for the card, get sent a Visa, request the MC, and have them refuse for some reason - I want to know I can/will get the MC if approved prior to applying.

Would I need to apply over the phone to do this and has anyone had experience doing something like this?

Re: In the market for a MC

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 18:38:55 GMT

First Tech Credit Union has cards that meet your criteria.

Re: In the market for a MC

SouthJamaica — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:03:43 GMT

@iced wrote:
Are there any cards out there today which meet the following criteria:

- No foreign transaction fee
- No AF
- Must be MasterCard
- Not Capital One

I just downgraded my Citi Premier because I only use it for gas and gas purchases have become a once-every-other-month thing for me. I would have spent more on the AF than I would have on gas purchases for the next year. I looked around a bit, but I didn't see one that jumped out immediately. Don't care about any rewards or perks it has aside from the above as it would only be used on the rare occasion that Visa isn't accepted or my two main cards both fail for some reason (which has only ever happened internationally).

If there's no good options, I'll keep the Preferred in my wallet and just eat the FTF the one time every 5 years I happen to need it. If there are options, I'll shelve the Citi, though that means I then have to figure out what to do with TY points...but that's another thread for another day.

Probably plenty but:

-Barclays Ring

-Barclays JetBlue

I don't think I've ever encountered a place where Visa isn't accepted but Mastercard is.

Re: In the market for a MC

MrDisco99 — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:27:36 GMT

Why does it have to be a MasterCard? Just curious.

Re: In the market for a MC

kdm31091 — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:33:42 GMT

Personally I wouldn't worry about network. Visa and MasterCard are interchangeable 99.9 percent of the time.

Re: In the market for a MC

iced — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:42:00 GMT

@MrDisco99 wrote:
Why does it have to be a MasterCard? Just curious.

Three reasons:

1. The purpose of this card is to be an emergency backup in the case that Visa fails, so it can't be a Visa.

2. In my travels, I have found Discover to be accepted far less widely internationally than within the US, so Discover isn't a good idea for this.

3. American Express isn't as widely accepted as Visa/MC, but I would consider them if no MC options exist. However, I don't think any of their offerings that also waive FTF also have no AF. I could be wrong, though.

This led me to the conclusion that MC (or possibly AmEx) are my only two options here.

Edit: I just looked at AmEx's page again and confirmed that nothing they're offering to me for no AF has no FTF. If there a card, I'm not aware of one. That leaves just MC.

Re: In the market for a MC

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:49:17 GMT

@iced wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
Bank of America Travel Rewards ticks all of those boxes.
You can request BOA to issue a MasterCard or Visa product.
When looking online, it seems the MC version is a business card. Is it possible to request the MC version prior to approval? I don't want to apply for the card, get sent a Visa, request the MC, and have them refuse for some reason - I want to know I can/will get the MC if approved prior to applying.

Would I need to apply over the phone to do this and has anyone had experience doing something like this?

I have had both my Visa'a switched to MC in the past with no problems. It takes a couple weeks, but it can be done.

Re: In the market for a MC

iced — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:49:28 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@iced wrote:
Are there any cards out there today which meet the following criteria:

- No foreign transaction fee
- No AF
- Must be MasterCard
- Not Capital One

I just downgraded my Citi Premier because I only use it for gas and gas purchases have become a once-every-other-month thing for me. I would have spent more on the AF than I would have on gas purchases for the next year. I looked around a bit, but I didn't see one that jumped out immediately. Don't care about any rewards or perks it has aside from the above as it would only be used on the rare occasion that Visa isn't accepted or my two main cards both fail for some reason (which has only ever happened internationally).

If there's no good options, I'll keep the Preferred in my wallet and just eat the FTF the one time every 5 years I happen to need it. If there are options, I'll shelve the Citi, though that means I then have to figure out what to do with TY points...but that's another thread for another day.
Probably plenty but:
-Barclays Ring
-Barclays JetBlue

I don't think I've ever encountered a place where Visa isn't accepted but Mastercard is.

The Barclays offerings may be interesting. JetBlue runs a hub out of my local airport, though I never fly them so that one's out, but something simple like the Ring is a possibility.

I *have* run into a merchant that accepted MC but not Visa, in Canada.

Re: In the market for a MC

iced — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:57:41 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
Personally I wouldn't worry about network. Visa and MasterCard are interchangeable 99.9 percent of the time.

While I have encountered this problem before, I'm also now thinking that it happens infrequently enough my backup card could also be cash. It's not going to be a problem at major expense merchants (hotels), so I can keep enough cash on hand to deal with any restaurant that doesn't accept Visa.

If I go that way, the only CCs I'm carrying are Chase-backed, which means a failure in their system would force a reliance on cash. Hasn't happened, but that could be ugly.

Re: In the market for a MC

MrDisco99 — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 20:29:50 GMT

@iced wrote:
@MrDisco99 wrote:
Why does it have to be a MasterCard? Just curious.

Three reasons:

1. The purpose of this card is to be an emergency backup in the case that Visa fails, so it can't be a Visa.
2. In my travels, I have found Discover to be accepted far less widely internationally than within the US, so Discover isn't a good idea for this.
3. American Express isn't as widely accepted as Visa/MC, but I would consider them if no MC options exist. However, I don't think any of their offerings that also waive FTF also have no AF. I could be wrong, though.

This led me to the conclusion that MC (or possibly AmEx) are my only two options here.

Edit: I just looked at AmEx's page again and confirmed that nothing they're offering to me for no AF has no FTF. If there a card, I'm not aware of one. That leaves just MC.

Interesting. I get your reasoning for not getting a Discover since acceptance for that is definitely a problem, particularly outside the US.

However, to echo what some others have said, any merchant that doesn't take Visa, probably doesn't take MC either. I'd even venture to say that any merchant that doesn't take Visa, probably doesn't take credit cards. I've traveled all over Europe, China, and South America and never had a problem with acceptance of Visa or MC at places that take credit cards. Amex and (especially) Discover, on the other hand, can be more difficult to use overseas. Amex used to have exclusivity with some smaller merchants as a mark of high status, but they've stopped trying to market that way.

Also, some third party banks issue their own cards on the Amex network now. The FNBO TravElite Amex card is a very attractive product that looks like it would meet all your other criteria.

Re: In the market for a MC

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 20:27:56 GMT

Huntington Bank Voice card is a pretty good one. Seems to meet your objectives and offers you 3% on a category of your choice.

Re: In the market for a MC

MrDisco99 — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 20:41:40 GMT

@iced wrote:
@MrDisco99 wrote:
Why does it have to be a MasterCard? Just curious.

Three reasons:

1. The purpose of this card is to be an emergency backup in the case that Visa fails, so it can't be a Visa.
2. In my travels, I have found Discover to be accepted far less widely internationally than within the US, so Discover isn't a good idea for this.
3. American Express isn't as widely accepted as Visa/MC, but I would consider them if no MC options exist. However, I don't think any of their offerings that also waive FTF also have no AF. I could be wrong, though.

This led me to the conclusion that MC (or possibly AmEx) are my only two options here.

Edit: I just looked at AmEx's page again and confirmed that nothing they're offering to me for no AF has no FTF. If there a card, I'm not aware of one. That leaves just MC.

Interesting. I get your reasoning for not getting a Discover since acceptance for that is definitely a problem, particularly outside the US.

Also, some third party banks issue their own cards on the Amex network now. The FNBO TravElite Amex card is a very attractive product that looks like it would meet all your other criteria.

Re: In the market for a MC

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 21:25:02 GMT

I would look at Barclay's Arrival+ and PC after the first year to avoid the annual fee if you're dead set on avoiding that. Great card for travel as it has true Chip+PIN capabilities.