Foreign Transaction Fees:

[creditwherecreditisdue]

I have:

     PenFed

     BofA Amex

     Discover (DFS)

     Citi - DP

     Chase - Platinum (I think.)

     Macy's Visa

     Direct Merchants Bank (HSBC)

I am leaving on a cruise Saturday and need to know which of these cards have the lowest foreign transaction fees. I can call a few but not all for answers so I am looking for ideas. No time!!

[Watchmann]

Not sure on the individual cards, but if the onboard ship charges bill in USD there will be no fee on those charges.  I have one Visa card issued by my CU and unless I contact them in advance they won't approve any foreign transactions. 

[Anonymous]

This might help, although I don't know how up to date it is.

http://www.moneybluebook.com/list-of-credit-card-foreign-currency-transaction-fees/ 

[Anonymous]

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@Watchmann wrote:
Not sure on the individual cards, but if the onboard ship charges bill in USD there will be no fee on those charges.   

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This may no longer be true. I recently read (can't recall where, unfortunately) that Visa & MasterCard now charge FX fees if the merchant's bank is non-US, even if the transaction in question was USD-denominated. Take this for what it's worth, since I can't provide a source right now. 

[creditwherecreditisdue]

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Watchmann wrote:
Not sure on the individual cards, but if the onboard ship charges bill in USD there will be no fee on those charges.  I have one Visa card issued by my CU and unless I contact them in advance they won't approve any foreign transactions. 

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I know how it works on board - this is my 10th cruise! Just want to be prepared ashore should I find that bargain I can't resist. (So unlikely!) But I could get trashed in Carlos' and Charlie's and wanna slide 'em a card. God I miss my Diner's Club of yore - never used to worry about any of this crap! FT fee - what an excuse to make a buck.

[creditwherecreditisdue]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Watchmann wrote:
Not sure on the individual cards, but if the onboard ship charges bill in USD there will be no fee on those charges.   

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This may no longer be true. I recently read (can't recall where, unfortunately) that Visa & MasterCard now charge FX fees if the merchant's bank is non-US, even if the transaction in question was USD-denominated. Take this for what it's worth, since I can't provide a source right now. 

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That's why it is called a foreign transaction fee and not a foreign exchange fee. The fee is applied to all transactions originating outside the US without regard to the currency. Still, each issuer sets their own fee. My understanding is that Cap1 still does not charge an FT fee, but they are not on my list.

The shipboard charges are transmitted shoreside to the US and cleared here so those charges are not "foreign".

Message Edited by creditwherecreditisdue on 10-29-2009 11:33 PM

[creditwherecreditisdue]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This might help, although I don't know how up to date it is.

http://www.moneybluebook.com/list-of-credit-card-foreign-currency-transaction-fees/ 

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Sifting through the above led to a real treasure trove:

     http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange

According to what I am reading there the winner is PenFed. Their fee is still 1%. I knew the recent CIT included changing this fee to 2% but couldn't remember when the change kicked in. The answer is 30NOV2009:

     https://www.penfed.org/productsAndRates/creditcards/PenFedNotice.pdf

Thanks, JimB!

P,S, Macy's Visa also = 1%, Go figure! CWCID

Message Edited by creditwherecreditisdue on 10-30-2009 12:20 AM

[Anonymous]

Have fun on your Cruise. Whenever we travel out of country, be it a cruise, etc, (or even if we are traveling out of state) I always call the CC companies beforehand and have them make a note on the acct we are traveling.

That way if a strange charge shows up from a distant place, they know it is us. Can help ease problems as sometimes communications in foreign lands is difficult at best.

Also, thats why of our four credit cards, 3 are joint plus we each have an Individual acct. Thus if my wallet or my wifes purse is stolen and  we have to cancel the cards, we will always have my a valid card to use until replacements arrive. Usually we each take just 1 joint card and our individual cards, as I have no need to carry extra cards we dont need.

[Anonymous]

I now primarily use my Schwab 2% card which has NO FTF. However, in reality, I find that I charge very little off ship when I go on these cruises. I pay for any tours on-board in $$$ but use my cards off-shore for a few meals, t-shirt purchases, etc. Unless you're planning to purchase diamonds or a Rolex, I wouldn't sweat the FTF.

Have a safe trip........

[score_building]

here's one instance when a cap1 card could be a winner...

with pen fed looks like you're getting in right under the wire b4 the CIT to 2% on FT fees.  Happy trails!