topic Re: Best card for using abroad in Credit Cards

Best card for using abroad

Jnbmom — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 16:43:41 GMT

My daughter will be studying abroad in May. I am wanting to know what card would be the best for her to take and use? She currently just has discover and navy cash rewards. Not sure if she should get a new card for this or could I add her to one of mine ?

Just wondering what card will be able to use while she is there. I have zero experience wit this lol.

Thanks

Re: Best card for using abroad

Gmood1 — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 16:58:14 GMT

She should be fine with what she has. There are quite a few CCs accepted overseas. Just depends where you are overseas. lol
Discover isn't one of the popular ones IME.
MasterCard and Visa are the best bet.
Just make sure the card comes with no FTFs.

I've used the BB&T travel card in Thailand and Korea recently. Worked without issue.
Also used the USAA Limitless in Guatemala last year.

Capital One worked without issue as well in Europe.

Re: Best card for using abroad

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 16:58:29 GMT

cashRewards should be good but I would get an Old Reliable AKA Capital One too.

Re: Best card for using abroad

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 17:51:58 GMT

One Visa and one MasterCard. Unlike the US where if a place accepts Visa it pretty much means they accept MasterCard too. Overseas I have run into too many situations where a merchant only takes one or the other.

Re: Best card for using abroad

iced — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 18:08:57 GMT

Agree that a Visa or Mastercard (or both to be safe) with no FTF is sufficient. Discover is a poor choice because it's not accepted at very many places, so unless you don't mind carrying cash all the time, I'd not lean on it to get you through.

Re: Best card for using abroad

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 18:11:23 GMT

The NFCU cash rewards will be a good card to have, not FTF and no cash advance fee. So if needbe you could use at an ATM and only be charged the same basic APR as Purchases. Which might also be a good way to get local currency? As I'm sure it will be need in some instances.

Re: Best card for using abroad

coldfusion — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 18:24:49 GMT

If you have a Paypal Cashback card you can add her as an AU so she has a reasonable backup that is a Mastercard, or she can get one on her own. Her Cash Rewards card would be fine as her primary.

Re: Best card for using abroad

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:11:09 GMT

@Gmood1 wrote:
She should be fine with what she has. There are quite a few CCs accepted overseas. Just depends where you are overseas. lol

Right, overseas is big! Depending where, a credit card might be almost useless (cash only) or just like here, or a place more advanced.

So in places like the UK, it would be good to have a contactless card, or use a mobile wallet (or true chip&pin), as a lot of people have had no experience about a card that needs a signature, and get confused and don't have a pen when the machine spits out a slip requiring a sig!

Re: Best card for using abroad

MidnightKnight — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:23:53 GMT

While this isn't a specific card, a local bank account is also a good option if the Student Visa provided allows for one. Also a debit card that can withdraw cash for free is always a good back up for those times you need cash if cards aren't working or aren't accepted. The Charles Schwab Checking account has a debit card with no FTF and reimbursed ATM fees.

Re: Best card for using abroad

M_Smart007 — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:53:56 GMT

I guess Credit1 Amex is out

Re: Best card for using abroad

mkhan1093 — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 20:09:55 GMT

All good choices so far. Just going to add the BoA Travel Rewards card and Barclaycard Arrival/Arrival+ as options too. Both are FTF-free and zero annual fee (except the Arrival+ but it's got a good SUB so worth your consideration for one year). And they are relatively easy to use when it comes to using miles to erase travel-related. My guess is your daughter will have a lot of traveling especially if she goes back and forth to the US when visiting the family.

Re: Best card for using abroad

I_Love_Cards — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 20:14:00 GMT

Make sure she has a chip & pin card if she’s going to be in UK/Europe/Canada/anywhere else that chip & pin is the standard. She may not be able to make a purchase at a kiosk location (like a bus/train ticket machine) if she doesn’t have a card with chip & pin.

I believe NFCU has this (or can). I’m not 100% positive, but I don’t think Chase or Capital one do.

Re: Best card for using abroad

FlaDude — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 20:26:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
One Visa and one MasterCard. Unlike the US where if a place accepts Visa it pretty much means they accept MasterCard too. Overseas I have run into too many situations where a merchant only takes one or the other.

I would suggest travelling with at least two cards in any case. If one gets fraud blocked or has problems for any reason, she should have a backup. This is true for any travelling, not just international. Many years ago when I first started travelling heavily for work, I flew to a city far away on a Sunday evening to spend the week at a customer. When I landed Amex put a stop on my card because I was "spending outside my normal pattern", which is true because I went from an occasional trip to travelling almost every week. The Amex rep said I'd have to wait until working hours for the "credit department" to review my case before they could unblock the card. They did allow me to charge the rental car, but I came very close to sleeping in it that night.

Re: Best card for using abroad

KJinNC — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 20:40:09 GMT

It varies slightly by location, but in general, I would say Visa > MC > Amex > Discover outside the U.S. There is a big dropoff from MC to Amex and another big dropoff from Amex to Discover. Actually, I would not count on Discover working at all unless you know in advance that it will. If the store card you mentioned is a Visa or MC, it should work most places. I agree with the advice to have two cards, with the caveat that those two cards should be one Visa and one MC for this purpose, unless you have a particular reason to use something else (for example, if you are staying in Hiltons, you might want to use a Hilton Amex).

Re: Best card for using abroad

Jnbmom — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 20:43:18 GMT

Thanks for all the info and advice. She will be in Europe for 6 weeks and taking class credit for her speech pathology .

Re: Best card for using abroad

KJinNC — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 21:12:04 GMT

That should be a wonderful experience she will remember for the rest of her life. What country?

I was in Europe in September, and places that catered to Americans sometimes took Amex, but I don't remember being anywhere that took Discover. Maybe my hotels took it (American chain), but I don't remember seeing a Discover logo at any restaurants or stores. I love Discover, but not for international travel. One thing to look for is foreign transaction fees. Of course, it's better not to have them

Good luck!

Re: Best card for using abroad

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 22:23:56 GMT

Discover has high acceptance in the US but outside of the US it’s 50/50. It’s for this very reason I opted to get a few visas with good limits and decent rewards hence the Pnc and chase.

I’d recommend either a visa or MasterCard as they are accepted virtually everywhere. preferably one without a FTF though my FTF aren’t that bad.

Congrats on her studying abroad. That’s so wonderful.

Re: Best card for using abroad

coldfusion — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 01:21:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Discover has high acceptance in the US but outside of the US it’s 50/50. It’s for this very reason I opted to get a few visas with good limits and decent rewards hence the Pnc and chase.

I’d recommend either a visa or MasterCard as they are accepted virtually everywhere. preferably one without a FTF though my FTF aren’t that bad.

Congrats on her studying abroad. That’s so wonderful.

Discover isn't even 50/50. One would find some acceptance if visiting a tourist trap filled with American tourists but outside of immediate proximity of those areas the number of vendors that accept it is miniscule.

AMEX is somewhat better but outside of hotels aligned with US chains (Grand Hyatt, Hilton) and places that cater to Americans traveling on business acceptance is also hot-or-miss.

Much of the philosophy behind traveling with both a Visa and an M/C comes not only from being covered if a vendor only accepts one or the other, but one still has an option if a particular network is offline. Some of you may recall around 1-2 years ago when Visa had an issue for several hours which compromised their ability to process transactions in Europe - Mastercard users were unaffected.

Re: Best card for using abroad

CramEiko — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 02:05:03 GMT

For anyone also interested for abroad the other way... I had a hard time using any MC/Visa/Amex in most places in China. Though I would see Dual Pay Logo for payment, I heard American versions also don't work in China. I traveled to several different provinces and no one accepted my cards except (rumored to be scared of non-payment from a foreigners card): Bigger International Hotels, Starbucks and big museum places like the Terracotta Warriors in XI'an. Mostly cash for everything everything else. If you had a work Visa or if possible Student Visa you could get a bank account and pretty much do "EVERYTHING" on WeChat with your China Bank Card. ]

Good Luck!

Re: Best card for using abroad

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 02:56:00 GMT

For Cash Withdrawal, Charles Schwab account is the best, unlimited ATM refund and no mark up.

For Credit Card purchase, to avoid some hassles, go with Capital One VISA and PayPal MC. None of which charge foreign transaction fee and/or any mark up and flat rate return