Rewards Rate
- 1.25X
-
Earn 1.25X miles on every purchase, every day.
At A Glance
- Intro Bonus
- 20,000 miles
- Annual Fee
- $0
- Regular APR
- 13.74% - 23.74% variable
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Traveling is expensive enough. Save money with a credit card that has no foreign transaction fee. Whether you’re sampling local cuisine or shopping online abroad, these are the best cards that give you one less thing to worry about. And for even more travel perks, check out our list of the best travel credit cards from our partners.
Traveling is expensive enough. Save money with a credit card that has no foreign transaction fee. Whether you’re sampling local cuisine or shopping online abroad, these are the best cards that give you one less thing to worry about. And for even more travel perks, check out our list of the best travel credit cards from our partners.
Editorial disclosure: All reviews are prepared by CreditCards.com staff. Opinions expressed therein are solely those of the reviewer and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, presented in the review is accurate as of the date of the review. Check the data at the top of this page and the bank's website for the most current information.
Updated: December 4, 2019
You just got back from a pricey international trip and while reviewing your credit card statement, you noticed the expected airfare, lodging and food charges, but also “foreign transaction fee” charges. What's that all about?
Many credit cards charge a foreign transaction fee, but there are some that don't. In fact, the number of cards with a foreign transaction fee hit 52 out of 100 in 2018, down from 77 three years ago, according to the CreditCards.com card fee survey.
If you are a frequent traveler or shop online with overseas vendors, it might be worth your while to find a card without a foreign transaction fee. Here, we not only explain what you need to know about foreign transaction fees, but also how to plan for your overseas travel financial strategy, and pick the right card to accompany your travels. Take a look below:
The VentureOne's regular APR is one of the lowest among travel credit cards at 13.74%-23.74% variable.
Miles don't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how much you can earn with the VentureOne. You also get Visa Signature benefits, such as extended warranty and complimentary concierge service.
The VentureOne Rewards card has a lukewarm 1.25X miles on all purchases and the sign-up bonus is better with the Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa credit card.
The Quicksilver competes head-on with other flat-rate rewards cards: It gets 1.5% back on all purchases and has a sign-up bonus of $150 for spending $500 in the first 3 months.
Perfect for the cardholder with a moderate balance to pay off, this card offers 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. It's 15.74%-25.74% variable APR after that.
While we give the Quicksilver top marks for rewards flexibility and features, the rewards value is a paltry 1.9 out of 5 stars.
The Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa credit card's 1.5X points on all purchases has the VentureOne Rewards beat, and there's no expiration on points, as long as your account remains open with active charging privileges.
The Travel Rewards' card's sign-up bonus is strong for a card with no annual fee, and you can earn up to 75% bonus as a Preferred Rewards customer.
While there's a special intro APR offer on purchases for 12 billing cycles, (16.49%-24.49% variable APR therefter), no such luck with balance transfers.
The SavorOne is a great choice for travel abroad – its 3% cash back on dining and entertainment can really shine if you take it with you on vacation domestically or overseas.
With its other features so prominent, you could almost miss the fact that the SavorOne comes with no foreign transaction fee, as well as no annual fee. It's 0% intro APR for 15 months with both purchases and balance transfers is also worth a look. It's 15.74%-25.74% variable after that.
While the SavorOne competes nicely in ongoing rewards with other cash back cards, you might do better when compared to a travel card, such as the Venture Rewards, if you are comfortable with an annual fee.
Not only does the Propel feature excellent rewards that can be enjoyed both domestically and abroad, it offers no annual fee to boot.
The Propel's 3X points per dollar spent on travel and dining is a surefire way to rack up rewards on your business trip or vacation. If you know you'll be making a major international trip soon, you'll want to take advantage of its 30,000-point sign-up bonus for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months – that is a $300 cash redemption value.
While there are boosted travel categories galore with this card, other categories such as Amazon.com and home improvement stores are slim.
The Discover it Cash Back is one of the few cards out there that offers 5% back on up to $1,500 in spend each quarter that you activate on rotating categories such as restaurants, wholesale clubs and even Amazon.com.
With Discover's famous Cashback Match, this card's rewards are tough to beat. After activating, you can earn up to $300 for the year if you use the 5% rotating categories to the maximum of $1,500 a quarter (then 1%, then another $300 back the end of your first year due to the Cashback Match.
Discover cards are accepted at fewer international locations than a credit card in the Visa or Mastercard network. If you have upcoming trips to a specific destination in mind, it's a good idea to do some research on how commonly accepted Discover is in that region.
The Venture Rewards' sign-up bonus is straightforward and plentiful – earn 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 within the first 3 months of card membership.
Convenient features of the Venture Rewards include a credit up to $100 for Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check and the ability to transfer miles to a multitude of airline partners.
While the Venture Rewards' ongoing rewards has its advantages over the Sapphire Preferred, the Chase card's sign-up bonus is superior, as are its travel and dining options.
The best no foreign transaction fee credit card is hands down the Sapphire Preferred; it also happens to be the best for travel rewards. The 2X points back on worldwide travel and dining out are some of the best travel rewards out there. And because of the Sapphire Preferred's unique position as a Chase Ultimate Rewards card, you can earn a 25% bonus when redeeming points for travel on the Ultimate Rewards portal.
With some of the best travel and shopping benefits on the market, there's a little-known benefit of the Sapphire Preferred – you can get primary rental car waiver damage, which means this insurance is used even before your personal auto insurance.
As great as the Chase Ultimate Rewards program is, this card only gives boosted rewards for travel and dining, while other travel cards, such as the Venture Rewards, reward at a higher rate for other types of spending.
With 3X points on international travel after your $300 travel credit and 3X points on international dining, the Sapphire Reserve rewards mightily for these types of international spending, as well as domestically.
There are 2 features with this card that make it worthy of your attention – the $300 annual travel credit and the boosted rewards when you redeem your points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
The annual fee can be a bit of a shocker. Also, the sign-up bonus (50,000 points) is actually lower than the Sapphire Preferred (60,000 points), even with the same parameters of a $4,000 spend within the first 3 months, although it's true that the Reserve's Ultimate Rewards boost is higher than that of the Preferred.
It's hard to find a better card than The Platinum Card for international travel when you are searching for lounge access. Enjoy access to the Global Lounge Collection, which Amex says is the only credit card airport lounge access program that includes proprietary lounge locations around the world.
This high-end card offers flexibility while traveling, with 5X points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel and on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com. The introductory bonus of 60,000 points after a $5,000 spend within the first 3 months is also worth a second look.
The Platinum Card from American Express' annual fee is a pricey $550, enough to give any cardholder pause.
Credit Card | Best For: | Annual Fee |
---|---|---|
Capital One® VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card | Low interest | $0 |
Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card | Flat-rate cash back | $0 |
Bank of America® Travel Rewards Visa® credit card | Flat rewards rate | $0 |
Capital One® SavorOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card | Dining | $0 |
Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card | No annual fee | $0 |
Discover it® Cash Back | Rotating bonus categories | $0 |
Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card | Sign-up bonus | $95, $0 for first year |
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Travel rewards | $95 |
Chase Sapphire Reserve® | International travelers | $450 |
The Platinum Card® from American Express | Lounge access | $550 |
No foreign transaction fee credit cards analyzed: 938
Criteria used: Rates and fees, rewards rates, rewards categories, sign-up bonuses, point values, redemption options, redemption flexibility, credit needed, travel benefits, transfer partners, international customer service, security, ease of application
Foreign transaction fees are charges – usually around 3% of the total amount – that many credit card issuers and payment networks place on purchases made in a foreign currency or on purchases that involve a foreign bank.
A foreign transaction can be a purchase processed through a foreign bank (such as when you buy something from a non-U.S. retailer website), or when you travel overseas, including when you use an ATM. Note that there can actually be multiple fees at a foreign ATM, including a flat-rate international ATM surcharge as well as an ATM access fee.
The bottom line is that, like baggage and passports, foreign transaction fees have been a standard part of international travel for years. Fortunately, the average consumer has gotten more and more savvy to these hidden costs, and credit card companies are dropping their fees in response. Today, many of the travel credit cards and airline credit cards come with no foreign transaction fees.
Often, the foreign transaction fees have two parts: one charged by the payment network, such as Visa and Mastercard, and one charged by the card issuer, which can be anything from a bank like Chase to a brand like Hilton.
Networks Visa and Mastercard typically charge a 1 percent fee for each foreign transaction. Issuers might tack on an additional 1 to 2 percent. American Express, which doesn't use Visa or Mastercard's payment system, often tacks on a foreign transaction fee of 2.7 percent onto its cards.
Below are the standard foreign transaction fees for top issuers. Some issuers, like Capital One and Discover, elect not to charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their credit cards. Of course, even different cards from the same brand can vary in their fees.
Card Issuer | Foreign Transaction Fee |
---|---|
American Express | 2.7% |
Barclays | 3% |
Bank of America | 3% |
Capital One | 0% |
Chase | 3% |
Citi | 3% |
Discover | 0% |
HSBC | 0% |
USAA | 0% |
U.S. Bank | 3%; 2% for U.S. dollar transactions |
Wells Fargo | 3% |
Though most card issuers have a standard foreign transaction fee, many also offer cards that are exceptions to their fee:
While Visa is number one in most parts of the world, Mastercard is usually second, according to The Nilson Report's 2018 data, which was reported throughout 2019. The big exceptions to the Visa/Mastercard dominance are Asia, where UnionPay makes up about 80% of all card spending, and Canada, where Interac comes in second with 30% of the market there.
The general rule is to have two types of cards in your wallet, just in case your favorite card isn't accepted. That means different issuers and different card networks.
“My biggest tip for spending overseas is to diversify; always carry both cash and credit,” says Lyn Alden, world traveler and founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy. “Credit cards are safer, more convenient and give better rewards, so I use them as my primary spending method. But when you're outside of your country, it's critical to have backups, and to have alternate ways to spend.”
Generally, you will find that major hotels, restaurants and other locations that tourists frequent are accustomed to accepting credit cards. It gets tricky when you go off the beaten path. That's why it's a good idea to have cash on hand if you plan to "experience like the locals."
Once you narrow your choice down to a few products, you can find product-specific reviews for travel cards, hotel cards and airline cards. Use these reviews to help make your final application decisions!
Robin Ratcliff is the managing editor for reviews on CreditCards.com. Before CreditCards.com, she worked as a analyst and editor, and still brings that same analytical rigor to her card recommendations today. You can reach Robin at robin.ratcliff@creditcards.com.
Tracy Brackman is a credit card news editor at CreditCards.com, writing breaking news stories on card updates and new card launches. You can reach Tracy at editors@creditcards.com.
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