Best Credit Card to use overseas?

jps1981

I'm off to Dubai for a couple of weeks in April. Would like to get a credit card that will not charge me a fee when paying for goods over there and will not rip me off in terms of exchange rates.

Can anyone recommend one please? Cheers!

dylanuk

Not sure about exchange rates - they are quite variable.

For fee-free use abroad credit card look at the Post Office credit card or Santander Zero - both of these offer 0% foreign transaction fees.

Nationwide are also 0%, but charge 1% outside the EU now.

td_007

jps1981 wrote: »

I'm off to Dubai for a couple of weeks in April. Would like to get a credit card that will not charge me a fee when paying for goods over there and will not rip me off in terms of exchange rates.

Can anyone recommend one please? Cheers!

Cast your eyes to the right of this page and you will find all info you need under Free Tools>Travel Money Maximizer

You are more likely to get help, if it is seen that you have put in some effort yourself

jps1981

Thanks for the help. Relatively new user to the site so had browsed the credit card forums but wasn't aware of the holiday tools. Thanks for pointing it out.

Think ill go for the post office card as I can get cashback with quidco if i take it out.:T

Mr.Mulla

jps1981 wrote: »

I'm off to Dubai for a couple of weeks in April. Would like to get a credit card that will not charge me a fee when paying for goods over there and will not rip me off in terms of exchange rates.

Can anyone recommend one please? Cheers!

When you use a credit card outside the US, your charge will normally be in the currency of the country you're visiting. When that charge goes through the system and reaches your bank, most US banks still track their own surcharges onto the standard 1% charged by the international networks. This is essentially for doing nothing, because the charge is already in US dollars by the time your bank receives it: The bank adds the 2% because it can, out of pure greed.

Fortunately, a few banks do not add a surcharge. Here are current charges for some of the larger card issuers:

American Express: 2.7 percent
Bank of America: 3 percent
Barclaycard/Juniper: 2 to 3 percent
Capital One: 0 percent
Citibank/Diners: 3 percent
Diners Club: 3 percent
HSBC: 3% (most)
JP Morgan Chase: 3% (most)
US Bank: 3 percent
USAA: 1 percent
Wells Fargo: 3 percent

As far as I can tell, no other big card issuer is as generous as Capital One, although USAA comes close. HSBC and Chase offer reduced charges to a small number of "elite" customers; for the most part, their ordinary cards charge 3%.

credits: usatoday

chattychappy

See my experience at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2178549

Mr Mulla's post is really a US point of view.