So I have high limit rewards cards through USAA and NFCU. They only charge a 1% Foreign Transaction Fee, which is not alot, but is kind of like an added tax.
I am moving to UK in August and will already be paying UK tax so it just slightly bothers me that I have to also pay some extra amount just because I must live overseas for a few years.
I have a low limit ($750) Capital One card with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. The only problem with this is that customer service tells me that there are no customer-initiated CLIs on this card and that the purchase APR is 22.90% (I don't even use this card at all, but assume that I would occasionally if I had a high limit.)
So I was looking at cards with no foreign transaction fee. The ultimate card of this nature is the PENFED Rewards card. I don't think I have the FICO to be approved for this yet. I might, though, if I wait a year and let the 10 inquires I have for the last year fall off.
Is there any other rewards card I could apply for with no foreign transaction fee? Or should I just use my NFCU and USAA cards for a year (while paying fees) and then try applying for the PENFED?
EX:694 TU:744 EQ:777
Yeah, I don't currently have any cards with an annual fee. I don't want to start either. I want that PENFED. 725 is a stretch, but I think I might get close in a year and not apply for anything.... I am going to be in UK, so I don't think I will need to apply for any US credit. I think PENFED is a good goal.... it sets the bar much higher than the 700 FICO I was trying for in the short-term. </updates FICO goal>
The visa flagship rewards is a good candidate; no ftfs that I'm aware of. You should be able to call and request that your current nfcu card get product changed into a flagship visa. They do this with no hard pull to your credit.
FICO 8: 
Goal: Gardening!
Goal: Gardening!
Discover has no forex fees as well as the CSP. I don't know if they accept Discover over there though or if you want to pay an annual fee (first year waived, however). Definitely take a look at this link.
Starting Score: 648Discover is not global enough for my career. And I am trying to avoid paying an annual fee. And even though I realize that the annual fee on the NFCU flagship is going to cost me less than paying 1% on every transaction with my nRewards card, I am leaning away from a product switch on a card that I use every day. I will think about it some more though. I already have a high limit star card for the purpose of on-base christmas promotions and similar, its just not the chase star card. If I got the chase then I would have 2 star cards? Or can I just do a product switch of my current star card to a chase star card?
@OhioCPA wrote:Why not look for a UK based card? That way you will have chip and pin as well as no FX fees. Amex and BoA are two banks that offer UK based cards. I am not sure how easy it would be to get approval for a US expat in the UK but it probably would only take a few phone calls to find out.
This sounds like a good idea as long as UK reports to the same CRAs as US, but I am not sure that they do and so it is possible that my credit is invalid there.