Credit Card Recommendations

[briansd1]

[quote=VCJIM]I applied for a CapitalOne No Hassle…hopefully it won’t be a hassle. That’s good info GoUSC on the international currency fee! I’ve found AMEX to be fair on their exchange rate.[/quote]

True. Capital One doesn’t charge a currency conversion fee.

I hear that most credit card companies increased their currency conversion fee to 3%. Some may still charge 1%. If you need cash, Citibank doesn’t charge when you use their ATM overseas. Of course, you’ll need a checking/savings account with them. They only have ATMs in some countries so check their website.

Depends on where you travel in Europe, bring cash. The conversion commissions can be very high. For example Netherlands doesn’t charge commissions but France is a rip-off.

Even if you book train tickets online, arrive at the station early. It’s not possible to retrieve train tickets at many ticket kiosks because our credit cards don’t have smart chips. You need to line-up at a counter with a human attendant.

If you buy a local cell phone pay-as-you-go smart chip, top-off your account before you cross the border because you can’t recharge the account outside the home country.

[MadeInTaiwan]

As far as I know all credit cards charge a 1%-3% conversion fee except for Capital One. We got one for our European vacation last Oct, then canceled it upon return. In general, credit cards give you the best conversion rate.

I’d buy a little Euro (no more than one or two hundred from your local bank) to tie you over for the first few days. Once you check that your bank ATM works in Europe, then just take cash out of ATM as you do here. As with credit cards, you get the best exchange rate. If you take the max out ($500 USD for my credit union), your transaction fees will amount to 1% or so. The airport exchange is the most expensive way to go.

I belong to California Coast Credit Union and I had no problems finding ATMs in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels,

My two cents

[MadeInTaiwan]

As far as I know all credit cards charge a 1%-3% conversion fee except for Capital One. We got one for our European vacation last Oct, then canceled it upon return. In general, credit cards give you the best conversion rate.

I’d buy a little Euro (no more than one or two hundred from your local bank) to tie you over for the first few days. Once you check that your bank ATM works in Europe, then just take cash out of ATM as you do here. As with credit cards, you get the best exchange rate. If you take the max out ($500 USD for my credit union), your transaction fees will amount to 1% or so. The airport exchange is the most expensive way to go.

I belong to California Coast Credit Union and I had no problems finding ATMs in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels,

My two cents

[MadeInTaiwan]

As far as I know all credit cards charge a 1%-3% conversion fee except for Capital One. We got one for our European vacation last Oct, then canceled it upon return. In general, credit cards give you the best conversion rate.

I’d buy a little Euro (no more than one or two hundred from your local bank) to tie you over for the first few days. Once you check that your bank ATM works in Europe, then just take cash out of ATM as you do here. As with credit cards, you get the best exchange rate. If you take the max out ($500 USD for my credit union), your transaction fees will amount to 1% or so. The airport exchange is the most expensive way to go.

I belong to California Coast Credit Union and I had no problems finding ATMs in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels,

My two cents

[MadeInTaiwan]

As far as I know all credit cards charge a 1%-3% conversion fee except for Capital One. We got one for our European vacation last Oct, then canceled it upon return. In general, credit cards give you the best conversion rate.

I’d buy a little Euro (no more than one or two hundred from your local bank) to tie you over for the first few days. Once you check that your bank ATM works in Europe, then just take cash out of ATM as you do here. As with credit cards, you get the best exchange rate. If you take the max out ($500 USD for my credit union), your transaction fees will amount to 1% or so. The airport exchange is the most expensive way to go.

I belong to California Coast Credit Union and I had no problems finding ATMs in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels,

My two cents

[MadeInTaiwan]

As far as I know all credit cards charge a 1%-3% conversion fee except for Capital One. We got one for our European vacation last Oct, then canceled it upon return. In general, credit cards give you the best conversion rate.

I’d buy a little Euro (no more than one or two hundred from your local bank) to tie you over for the first few days. Once you check that your bank ATM works in Europe, then just take cash out of ATM as you do here. As with credit cards, you get the best exchange rate. If you take the max out ($500 USD for my credit union), your transaction fees will amount to 1% or so. The airport exchange is the most expensive way to go.

I belong to California Coast Credit Union and I had no problems finding ATMs in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels,

My two cents

[Anonymous]

I agree with the comments on currency exchanges. The cheapest way is through an ATM if you need cash, or use your CC. If you’ve never traveled before it’s a good idea to call your CC company to tell them where you’ll be. Otherwise they may freeze your account, which can take a day or two to get unfrozen. With WaMu (now Chase) the finance charges + exchange rate are a far better deal than a currency changer. It also seems to work in whatever country I travel to.

My current card is the Alaska Airlines Visa. The biggest draw is a $50 companion fare on any Alaska Air flight (including Hawaii). Since I always have to travel for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, this saves the wife and I a lot of money. I also get the airline miles with purchases, but the companion fare alone saves more money than anything else. If you have to fly during holidays up and down the west coast, then this card is great.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the comments on currency exchanges. The cheapest way is through an ATM if you need cash, or use your CC. If you’ve never traveled before it’s a good idea to call your CC company to tell them where you’ll be. Otherwise they may freeze your account, which can take a day or two to get unfrozen. With WaMu (now Chase) the finance charges + exchange rate are a far better deal than a currency changer. It also seems to work in whatever country I travel to.

My current card is the Alaska Airlines Visa. The biggest draw is a $50 companion fare on any Alaska Air flight (including Hawaii). Since I always have to travel for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, this saves the wife and I a lot of money. I also get the airline miles with purchases, but the companion fare alone saves more money than anything else. If you have to fly during holidays up and down the west coast, then this card is great.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the comments on currency exchanges. The cheapest way is through an ATM if you need cash, or use your CC. If you’ve never traveled before it’s a good idea to call your CC company to tell them where you’ll be. Otherwise they may freeze your account, which can take a day or two to get unfrozen. With WaMu (now Chase) the finance charges + exchange rate are a far better deal than a currency changer. It also seems to work in whatever country I travel to.

My current card is the Alaska Airlines Visa. The biggest draw is a $50 companion fare on any Alaska Air flight (including Hawaii). Since I always have to travel for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, this saves the wife and I a lot of money. I also get the airline miles with purchases, but the companion fare alone saves more money than anything else. If you have to fly during holidays up and down the west coast, then this card is great.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the comments on currency exchanges. The cheapest way is through an ATM if you need cash, or use your CC. If you’ve never traveled before it’s a good idea to call your CC company to tell them where you’ll be. Otherwise they may freeze your account, which can take a day or two to get unfrozen. With WaMu (now Chase) the finance charges + exchange rate are a far better deal than a currency changer. It also seems to work in whatever country I travel to.

My current card is the Alaska Airlines Visa. The biggest draw is a $50 companion fare on any Alaska Air flight (including Hawaii). Since I always have to travel for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, this saves the wife and I a lot of money. I also get the airline miles with purchases, but the companion fare alone saves more money than anything else. If you have to fly during holidays up and down the west coast, then this card is great.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the comments on currency exchanges. The cheapest way is through an ATM if you need cash, or use your CC. If you’ve never traveled before it’s a good idea to call your CC company to tell them where you’ll be. Otherwise they may freeze your account, which can take a day or two to get unfrozen. With WaMu (now Chase) the finance charges + exchange rate are a far better deal than a currency changer. It also seems to work in whatever country I travel to.

My current card is the Alaska Airlines Visa. The biggest draw is a $50 companion fare on any Alaska Air flight (including Hawaii). Since I always have to travel for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, this saves the wife and I a lot of money. I also get the airline miles with purchases, but the companion fare alone saves more money than anything else. If you have to fly during holidays up and down the west coast, then this card is great.

[UCGal]

I see Capital One has been mentioned. I have a dormant account that I used for an Italy trip. So far they haven’t canceled it on me despite not having used it since we got back from the trip. I can attest to the no fees for currency exchange.

Something to consider with your ATM and credit cards before you travel – call and let them know you will be going to Europe – nothing is worse than the loss department suspecting fraud and putting a hold on your account. If you let them know you’ll be going to Europe, they put a note in the file so it doesn’t set off flags. I did that on my card, but my husband didn’t… Sure enough – his card got flagged. When we got home and got it straightened out, they had flagged it for unusual activity (Italy based transactions).

Better safe than sorry.

[UCGal]

I see Capital One has been mentioned. I have a dormant account that I used for an Italy trip. So far they haven’t canceled it on me despite not having used it since we got back from the trip. I can attest to the no fees for currency exchange.

Something to consider with your ATM and credit cards before you travel – call and let them know you will be going to Europe – nothing is worse than the loss department suspecting fraud and putting a hold on your account. If you let them know you’ll be going to Europe, they put a note in the file so it doesn’t set off flags. I did that on my card, but my husband didn’t… Sure enough – his card got flagged. When we got home and got it straightened out, they had flagged it for unusual activity (Italy based transactions).

Better safe than sorry.

[UCGal]

I see Capital One has been mentioned. I have a dormant account that I used for an Italy trip. So far they haven’t canceled it on me despite not having used it since we got back from the trip. I can attest to the no fees for currency exchange.

Something to consider with your ATM and credit cards before you travel – call and let them know you will be going to Europe – nothing is worse than the loss department suspecting fraud and putting a hold on your account. If you let them know you’ll be going to Europe, they put a note in the file so it doesn’t set off flags. I did that on my card, but my husband didn’t… Sure enough – his card got flagged. When we got home and got it straightened out, they had flagged it for unusual activity (Italy based transactions).

Better safe than sorry.

[UCGal]

I see Capital One has been mentioned. I have a dormant account that I used for an Italy trip. So far they haven’t canceled it on me despite not having used it since we got back from the trip. I can attest to the no fees for currency exchange.

Something to consider with your ATM and credit cards before you travel – call and let them know you will be going to Europe – nothing is worse than the loss department suspecting fraud and putting a hold on your account. If you let them know you’ll be going to Europe, they put a note in the file so it doesn’t set off flags. I did that on my card, but my husband didn’t… Sure enough – his card got flagged. When we got home and got it straightened out, they had flagged it for unusual activity (Italy based transactions).

Better safe than sorry.

[Author]

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