Best bank account to have for international traveling?

[lothar]

PenFed platinum rewards credit card. 5% cash back on gas and airline tickets (during the summer only) , no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees. It's an actual cash back card, not the points scamming nonsense.

 

[Exterous]

Problem with Chase Sapphire Preferred is the $95 annual fee. That's the instant deal killer for me. No thanks. I'll stick with my free Costco Amex for travel and dining bookings and Capital One Visa for use during international travel.

As for points vs cash, my preference is always cash. Cash never expires and it can be used for anything. Points have restrictions, good and bad.

IMO the automatic trip cancellation coverage and extended warranty more than make up for the fee but thats a preference that will varry by person. The lost bagge coverage and accident coverage were also higher on the preferred back when I had that and the Capital One card. Trip coverage from Amex is extra I believe.

If you want cash back the Chase card also offers that option (They are generally pretty willing to waive the fee but YMMV)

Out of curiosity - what was your experience like when informing Capital One of your overseas travel plans?

It's an actual cash back card, not the points scamming nonsense.

Nonsense? If you pay attention and do your homework your points can be worth much more than cash for travel. It looks like I will be able to use the 'points nonsense' to save over $3000 on our upcoming trip

 

[Rumpltzer]

I like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card as well. Got in on the $500 sign-up bonus last year with the first year being fee-free. My $95 renewal just came due, and I decided to keep the card as it is and actually pay the fee.

It seems that other have tried getting the fee waived without success, but the option to downgrade to non-Preferred is offered. It has no fee, but all of the reasons for wanting the card (international travel) also go out the window.


I can confirm that Capital One credit cards are fee-free overseas. I think that my former Charles Schwab Visa which went extinct and converted to some type of BofA card is also still fee-free overseas.


If I was going to leave the country on Monday, I'd just suck it up and take the foreign ATM fee. It's still less expensive than most money-exchange places. Whatever you do, don't use a money-exchange place in a U.S. airport. You're better off taking it in Asia... but even better off taking it from a foreign ATM.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

BoA has a bunch of sister banks around the world. I can withdraw for free from BNP in France and Italy.

 

[randomrogue]

I'm going to be doing a lot of international traveling this year and I'm wondering if there's a certain bank that's just good for travelers. I want to be able to withdrawn from any ATM in any country, preferably with decently low fees.

Anyone?

Credit Unions generally charge ZERO fees and the only think you pay is the Visa transaction fee which is a couple percent for the currency exchange. If there's a fee on top of that which can be the case with Visa you will often get that fee back.

Get a debit card with a visa logo on it. It'll work everywhere unless the power is out.

 

[randomrogue]

God dammit. I'm leaving for China on Monday >< So I'm screwed?

But it should be the best bank hands down for anyone, huh?

China? I opened a bank account there. Was way easier that way. Get someone Chinese to help you. They'll charge you like 2 rmb a month for the account and a 1% withdrawal fee.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Why did you hate your experience with Charles Schwab?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32505098&postcount=22