MSE News: Mastercard vs Visa for using abroad – which wins?

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Specialist overseas credit cards give you the best deal when you're spending abroad, but are they all the same?...
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Mastercard vs Visa for using abroad – which wins?

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Mastercard vs Visa for using abroad – which wins?

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.
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My Lloyds American Express doesn't have a non-sterling transaction fee.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4189433
For those who don't understand the terminology:
Callum - that's a fair point, and we do have the Lloyds Avios cards in the travel credit cards guide as decent cards for spending overseas - though the fee must be taken into account, which is why I didn't include them in the table in the story.
I've adapted the note to reference Amex issued cards only.
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It needs to be taken account in order to fit in the table, but not to be mentioned in the article.
Even ignoring the free upgrade voucher - which is the reason I personally got the card (I already have 3 other fee-free cards) - the Avios earnt on my foreign spending this year will more than cover the fee (at a value of 1p per avios (though in practise I tend to get more value than that) you're ahead once you've spent £1920 abroad). I don't see why you'd deliberately exclude this as an option?
Similarly if Amex abolishes foreign loading fees on its £450/year Platinum Card (as it has done in the US), then I would similarly expect you to disregard the fee in the article, because the hefty fee is for travel insurance, lounge access and other travel benefits.
Another quirky thing I believe I have noticed is that any card which is FOREX fee-free for purchases in Europe only - like Metrobank and some Nationwide cards - is that they are nevertheless good for purchasing FOREX fee-free in ANY currency via Paypal. Paypal is - the last time I checked - still based in Europe and that seems to be the arbiter of whether a FOREX fee is charged or not. Has anyone else noticed this?
One other strand to the Visa/Mastercard comparison is that I've been to at least one country where all the ATMs I could find imposed a fee on my Mastercard cards but not on my Visa cards. I don't think this is common, but I'd be interested to know if anyone else has experienced it.
On a rotating plate, with spikes like Flash Gordon
And you're Peter Duncan; I gave you fair warning
As zagfles points out, at least part of the explanation seems to be that Visa has a much bigger margin between the bid and offer rates (the difference between the rate they use when buying a currency vs selling it). I guess this means that Mastercard would also be cheaper for foreigners coming to the UK.