topic Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US????? in Credit Cards

Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Ron1 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:19:13 GMT

I'm going to Hong Kong on business. I don't know which one to bring to use it on business. I got USAA MC/Amex, Citi MC, BofA MC/Amex., Amex and a couple of CU MC such as Alliant. Which one is good for traveling to Far East? What do you think?

Ron.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

visorboy1974 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:22:04 GMT

@Ron1 wrote:
I'm going to Hong Kong on business. I don't know which one to bring to use it on business. I got USAA MC/Amex, Citi MC, BofA MC/Amex., Amex and a couple of CU MC such as Alliant. Which one is good for traveling to Far East? What do you think?

Ron.

Do any of them have no foreign transaction fees?

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Ron1 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:33:47 GMT

Thanks for your reply. I haven't checked and I believe most of them have.

Ron.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

visorboy1974 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:38:11 GMT

@Ron1 wrote:
Thanks for your reply. I haven't checked and I believe most of them have.

Ron.

I thought AMEX waived the foreign transaction fees on some of their cards earlier this year. I think Chase and CapOne did the same.

After that, most CUs and USAA are 1%.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Ron1 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:43:57 GMT

I have been thinking to bring my Amex PR Gold and one or two Visa/MC. I don't want them to decline charges during the trip. I ever tried Chase/Cap 1 on business inside the countries. I heard Amex they're very good for traveling. I think I have to call them before I leave the country.

Ron.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:03:50 GMT

I know Cap One has no FTF, that's one of the good things I can say about them. My wife and sister-in-law (AU on my Cap1 card) used theirs on a recent trip to Europe and they had no problems, and other than the obvious Euro to USD conversion rate, they didn't charge anything extra for any charges.

Keep in mind that AMEX could freeze your card for any reason at any given time, so don't purely rely on that. I think MC/Visa is more widely accepted anyway, so I'd bring both.

Above any beyond that, it really comes down to the foreign transaction fees. I think the quickest way to figure that out (unless you want to browse through the websites to check the terms of each of your cards) would be to just call your banks and ask if your cards have a foreign transaction fee, and if so, how much it is. USAA and Citi would be my first two choices. No FTF would be ideal, 1% is tolerable, but I personally wouldn't pay anything higher than that.

And yeah, make sure you notify them first before you travel - the last thing you want is having to call your bank once you're in HK and your card gets frozen as a security precaution after your first transaction.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Ron1 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:28:41 GMT

Andy,

Thanks for your reply. I never used my Cap 1 on business trip inside the trip. I don't high CL on my Cap 1 credit card. They only gave me $4K. I don't think it will be enough for the trip. Last time, I went to LA for vacation. I used my Citi, Diners Club without any problem. I didn't have any Amex back in 04. I agree with you. USAA is also my first choice. I'm not sure about CU credit card. They might decline purchase outside the country. Anyway, I need to call them before I leave to avoid any problem.

Ron.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

tsquad131 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:11:28 GMT

pretty sure amex charges a ftf unless it specifies no ftf on the toc like some of the high end travel cards or the platinum charge

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:19:12 GMT

@tsquad131 wrote:
pretty sure amex charges a ftf unless it specifies no ftf on the toc like some of the high end travel cards or the platinum charge

Plats and Cents are the only cards issued by Amex that are waved.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:21:42 GMT

USAA Amex fee is only 1% which isn't bad.

Most Amex are 2.7%

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

UFGuy2006 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:56:45 GMT

@Ron1 wrote:
I have been thinking to bring my Amex PR Gold and one or two Visa/MC. I don't want them to decline charges during the trip. I ever tried Chase/Cap 1 on business inside the countries. I heard Amex they're very good for traveling. I think I have to call them before I leave the country.

Ron.

You know, why not call and ask them to either waive or comp you in some other way to win your overseas business? Couldn't hurt - and besides if you've been a good customer and have had an account long enough, I'm sure they could swing something. Just my two cents!

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:41:24 GMT

Bring one that has Chip & Pin the striped ones common here in the US are no longer widely accepted abroad..some shops and hotels refuse to take them.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

JRomulus — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:31:47 GMT

I'd be interested in knowing which American card issuers have real chip & pin style cards readily available.

I've been looking at European bank websites lately because outside of 2 US limited cards (Wells Fargo Test Market and Chase Palladium I think), no one else is issuing them yet....

Just checked Bank of Montreal (parent to Harris Bank Corp.) all of theirs have chip & pin, including one that is in US $.

Will talk to my local Harris branch to see what they can do...longshot probably.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:34:08 GMT

We're honestly pretty much behind all the other developed nations in banking technology, pretty sad. I've seen some random cards here and there that have the chip feature, but most of them are the tap-to-pay type devices and I have no idea if those would work with overseas point of sale terminals.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:27:07 GMT

Yep..in the US we like fraud..chip and pin reduce/eliminate fraudolent transactions and skimming. Some terminals take either one. Many turist that visit US are complaining about the fact that here we are behind and do not like to use their cards for fear of fraud..sad indeed.

@Anonymous wrote:
We're honestly pretty much behind all the other developed nations in banking technology, pretty sad. I've seen some random cards here and there that have the chip feature, but most of them are the tap-to-pay type devices and I have no idea if those would work with overseas point of sale terminals.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:28:15 GMT

@JRomulus wrote:
I'd be interested in knowing which American card issuers have real chip & pin style cards readily available.

I've been looking at European bank websites lately because outside of 2 US limited cards (Wells Fargo Test Market and Chase Palladium I think), no one else is issuing them yet....

Just checked Bank of Montreal (parent to Harris Bank Corp.) all of theirs have chip & pin, including one that is in US $.
Will talk to my local Harris branch to see what they can do...longshot probably.

Wells Fargo & Chase are the only one that offer Chip & Pin cards here.

Re: Which credit cards is good for traveling outside US?????

barbaralee — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:37:56 GMT

UFGuy2006 wrote

You know, why not call and ask them to either waive or comp you in some other way to win your overseas business? Couldn't hurt - and besides if you've been a good customer and have had an account long enough, I'm sure they could swing something. Just my two cents!

Hmm, I wouldn't try that with USAA... he'd be pretty hard pressed to find a rep to agree to that.