Use of Debit & Credit card abroard

This probably goes without saying for the experienced travelers but just thought I'd mention this topic.
Well before you take off check the market for the best deals you can get because clearly you'll not be taking a bag of cash and at some point you will be using ATMs.

If you are traveling for months on end this is an area of expenditure which can really mount up with the percentage you are charged for withdrawing that hard earned cash.

I can only speak for the UK but Nationwide debit now charge 2% + £1 per cash transaction.
Check out Nationwide credit card for usage abroad there is fee free based on usage in the UK or 2% on purchases.

For the over 50s Saga credit card allows cash withdrawals which cost 2% and as long as the full amount is paid at the end of the month there is no interest charged.

Saga credit card for the over 50s is 0% for purchases worldwide.

If you are taking currency this is another area you can shop around in, usually if you are buying large amounts you can get a better deal.

Jean

I don't think my main debit card charges any extra fees at all, not including the foriegn atm fee.

I try not to use credit cards for any transaction besides a straight purchase, because then it becomes a rather expensive cash advance of about 18%, if the bill isn't paid perfectly on time. I don't know of any card that doesn't charge extra fees for overseas transactions, though it is far more convenient and safer than carrying wads of cash around.

HSBC is supposed to be a good bank to use, but be warned: I got an HSBC account in the USA, but was informed that because I had a domestic account, I still would pay atm fees.

When I am in one place for more than a few months, I like to have a bank account there, IF they let me have one. Its pretty hard in some parts of Europe.

I do this because if I ever get robbed, and lose all my cards and money, I can show some ID and take cash out that the people haven't gotten.

Reminds me I ought to tank up on my savings account now, and get a new debit card as my second emergency backup plan.

Here is a warning: if you use your domestic cards at all overseas, and DO NOT warn them you are going overseas, they often freeze your account, usually in the most inconvenient way. Also, somehow, when I was in Spain, someone Phished my card number and I ended up with a 2000 dollar bill for a computer bought in Brazil, and not by me. I explained to them I was in Spain, and could not possibly have bought such a thing. They believed me, so sometimes, the promises of not being responsible for fraud do work out.

We travelled for ten months in se asia,austrailia,nz,uk/europe,iceland...and did not have one single problem with our cards. We'd hit a new county and get funds at the first atm. Before leaving home, i called the bank and gave very vauge list of countries (including but not limited to) that we intended to travel in. It probably helped that our cc was always current. No late payments.

Oh. And no atm fees as we upgraded our account to a full service chequing acct. $35/m. Totally worth it. No carrying large amounts of cash, unless in a out of way area.

This may only be for US based travelers, but Capital One does NOT charge any fees for international usage. I highly suggest opening one and taking this with you on any international trip. Obviously you want to make sure that you pay it off each month, but that can be easily done online from anywhere.

As far as ATM's, banks change their fees and rules so often now that you just have to stay on top of it. Start shopping around a few months before your trip and find the best deals. You want to look for ATM fees and international fees. They all add up, and any card with a Visa logo on it, debit or credit, will charge at the very least a 1% foreign transaction fee. Many banks charge more on top of this, so ask.

As far as not calling your banks/credit cards before leaving like someone else suggested, I simply disagree. They are much more likely to put a freeze on your account if all these foreign transaction fees start showing up without notice than if you do tell them. Sure, you may still have problems, but you're much more likely to have issues if you don't inform them.

A note to Canadian Capital One cardholders, they claim not to be affiliated with US Capital One & refuse to continue to let you have a card without a Canadian address or switch you to a US account.

An unhappy former Capital One Canada customer!

Regarding whether to call your credit/debit card or not to inform them where you will be traveling, I was told by a customer service person once if you are going on a long trip, they can only input your travel plans into their system for up to 1 month (or 2, I can't remember), but that if you kept traveling on after that, you'll probably not need to call them again because they'll see your usage patterns and will be able to tell that you are just moving from country to country.

So I would definitely call them before you leave and tell them your plans for the 1st couple of months.

Before our trip I opened a checking account with Schwab, which doesn't charge any of its own ATM fees and reimburses you for any fees a particular ATM may charge. For example, if I was pulling out EUR 200 from an ATM in Barcelona, Schwab wouldn't charge me a cent. If the particular ATM charged a EUR 2.00 feel for the transaction, Schwab reimburses it at the end of the month. It's worked like a charm our entire trip. It was a little pain moving all my money from BofA to Schwab, but it was a long time coming as I was sick of all BofA's fees. There's a little kicker in that you have to open a Schwab brokerage account as well, but you don't need a minimum balance. Mine's been at $0 since I opened it a couple years ago.

For a credit card I opened a Capital One No Hassle card that has worked pretty well and has no foreign transaction fees. Although I alerted them about my trip, on a couple occasions they blocked some airfare purchases and I had to call them to verify it was me. A little pain, but better than being charged for every swipe. Hope that helps.

greenbored wrote:Before our trip I opened a checking account with Schwab, which doesn't charge any of its own ATM fees and reimburses you for any fees a particular ATM may charge. For example, if I was pulling out EUR 200 from an ATM in Barcelona, Schwab wouldn't charge me a cent. If the particular ATM charged a EUR 2.00 feel for the transaction, Schwab reimburses it at the end of the month. It's worked like a charm our entire trip. It was a little pain moving all my money from BofA to Schwab, but it was a long time coming as I was sick of all BofA's fees. There's a little kicker in that you have to open a Schwab brokerage account as well, but you don't need a minimum balance. Mine's been at $0 since I opened it a couple years ago.

For a credit card I opened a Capital One No Hassle card that has worked pretty well and has no foreign transaction fees. Although I alerted them about my trip, on a couple occasions they blocked some airfare purchases and I had to call them to verify it was me. A little pain, but better than being charged for every swipe. Hope that helps.

Good advise but only applicable to US residents.