Good info for all of us travel junkies

Yes indeed. Fortunately I learned this lesson while traveling on business during my non-ER days.
 
Yes, I'm always very careful about that!

I've gone to a great deal of trouble to be armed with several cards with no foreign transaction fees, so I make sure I'm billed in Euros!

PayPal tries to pull this stunt too - if you're invoiced by a foreign vendor.
 
Last edited:
I always pay in the local currency.

What would be the benefit of paying in a different currency? I can only think of convenience, for which there is a cost.
 
I still remember when we visited China. The exchange rate was fixed by the Chinese Central Bank, published daily, all transactions. Citibank was our primary bank and credit card. After we returned the cc bill arrived with much different exchange rates, around 5% higher. I called, complained, then argued with the rep, then a supervisor, then a manager. Three calls over two days. They were unable to explain why they used an exchange rate different than one published, but the manager finally said that was the rate, period, my tough luck, I had no choice, and Citibank would no longer discuss the issue with me. I followed with "I'm closing my account", his exact response was "I don't give a sh!t" and hung up. True enough, they refused to take any more calls from me on the problem.

I had just FIRE'd and most of our assets were at Smith Barney - part of AmEx. I closed that account too, and when the branch manager came on the phone asking me to reconsider I said I would - once the Citibank manager called me to apologize.
 
Does anyone have a favorite card that does NOT charge currency conversion fees?
 
MichaelB said:
After we returned the cc bill arrived with much different exchange rates, around 5% higher. I called, complained, then argued with the rep, then a supervisor, then a manager. Three calls over two days. They were unable to explain why they used an exchange rate different than one published, but the manager finally said that was the rate, period, my tough luck, I had no choice, and Citibank would no longer discuss the issue with me. I followed with "I'm closing my account", his exact response was "I don't give a sh!t" and hung up.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... Note to self: Do not open any accounts at Citibank!
 
Trooper said:
Does anyone have a favorite card that does NOT charge currency conversion fees?
Click to expand...

We use this one:

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/bankamericard-travel-rewards-credit-card.go

Works as advertised - there are no foreign transaction fees when we use it. No annual fee either. Don't know what the interest rate is, we never carry a balance (OK, I looked it up, 15%-23%, boy I'm glad we never carry a balance!).

It is NOT a chip and pin card, but rather the chip and signature type.
 
This happens to us often in Florida and at, oddly enough, Avis locations in the US. We are Canadian. Some stores ask us if we want to be billed in Canadian dollars. They charge a 3 percent fee on top of a high exchange rate.


Our credit card does not charge any admin fee for foreign transactions so we always insist on being billed in the local currency.

The one exception is airlines. US airlines usually offer exceptionally good exchange rates-especially American Airlines.
 
Never considered trying to get a decent exchange rate except for using a credit card. Here's a thing I made yesterday (less smudges).
 

Attachments

  • CardsSmudge.jgp.JPG
    CardsSmudge.jgp.JPG
    52.2 KB · Views: 32
I just got back from Bangkok. I haven't done much foreign travel these past 10 years. I had to get all my cash from ATM's. What I should have done is brought $1500 in cash and used one of the foreign currency converter places downtown. Oh well . . . the Baht is so cheap it didn't add up to much anyway.
 
martyp said:
I just got back from Bangkok. I haven't done much foreign travel these past 10 years. I had to get all my cash from ATM's. What I should have done is brought $1500 in cash and used one of the foreign currency converter places downtown. Oh well . . . the Baht is so cheap it didn't add up to much anyway.
Click to expand...


When we were in Thailand we used our Schwab debit card. Good rate and all the fees were reimbursed.
 
Trooper said:
Does anyone have a favorite card that does NOT charge currency conversion fees?
Click to expand...

Bank of America Travel Rewards VISA (fav because 1.5% rewards)
PenFed Cash Rewards VISA
United Mileage Plus VISA

Schwab ATM (Debit) VISA
 
Just got back from Mexico. We used Chase United card and Chase British Airways card. Both have annual fees after first year, so we'll be using some other card next year.

I saw a few places that let you pay in dollars or Mexican pesos, especially in Cancun. In fact most places that spoke English quoted prices in USD, and you had to ask "no, in pesos?" to get the good local prices. Almost universally, the rates were horrible if you pay in USD. The only place I saw that had great exchange rates was a tourist knick knack mega mart in Cancun that had better than spot exchange rates for some crazy reason. I unfortunately had to pay using Mexican pesos since we were leaving the country and I needed to blow out the pesos before departure.
 
Thanks to a tip from the forum here, I've used the Schwab Investor Checking debit card for the past year, and I love it. I only use it to get local cash from ATMs, and the rate is always excellent. The big bonus is that all ATM charges are reimbursed and there is no foreign transaction fee.
 
braumeister said:
Thanks to a tip from the forum here, I've used the Schwab Investor Checking debit card for the past year, and I love it. I only use it to get local cash from ATMs, and the rate is always excellent. The big bonus is that all ATM charges are reimbursed and there is no foreign transaction fee.
Click to expand...

I am delighted to say, I think that was me! I think Audrey then signed up too!
After all the great info I have received here, it feels good to know I may have actually contributed some knowledge as well!:)
 
brett said:
This happens to us often in Florida and at, oddly enough, Avis locations in the US. We are Canadian. Some stores ask us if we want to be billed in Canadian dollars. They charge a 3 percent fee on top of a high exchange rate.
Click to expand...

We have many Canadian friends in our Florida community, who are seriously rethinking their 6 and 6 snowbird plans. Looking at the exchange rates, as recently as 2013, the Canadian dollar was worth more than a U.S. dollar.
As of now, it costs $1.31+ to buy a US dollar.

Putting it into perspective... the 6 months in Florida which might have had a plus cost $10,000 a few years back, will now cost $13,000. The longer term effect of this disparity cannot help but affect the housing and economic stability of Florida business. The age factor... (more senior citizens) poses an even more serious problem, as most are looking at a shorter timeline compared to younger people.

In our Florida community, Canadians represent about 25% of the snowbirds.
 
Travelwanted said:
I am delighted to say, I think that was me! I think Audrey then signed up too!
After all the great info I have received here, it feels good to know I may have actually contributed some knowledge as well!:)
Click to expand...

Yes I did! It was worth the trouble - figuring out I didn't have to fund the attached brokerage helped decide me. And I used it heavily in this last Europe trip. I ran into no problems with ATM machines, and the rate always matched the published VISA for the same date.
 
audreyh1 said:
Yes I did! It was worth the trouble - figuring out I didn't have to fund the attached brokerage helped decide me. And I used it heavily in this last Europe trip. I ran into no problems with ATM machines, and the rate always matched the published VISA for the same date.
Click to expand...

Question for the Schwab ATM card holders - do you have to pay a 1% foreign currency transaction fee when withdrawing?

I'm at Fidelity and saw they have a similar product as Schwab's ATM card (no fees, reimburse all fees), but after calling Fidelity, they said you still have to pay the 1% foreign currency transaction fee. So you get the spot rates on forex conversion, but pay a 1% fee for the privilege.

That's the same deal I get with my credit union ATM card except I also pay $0.75 international transaction fee. Not a bad deal since all of the money changing places I saw on our visit to Mexico in June and July charged at least a 2-3% fee vs spot prices (ie buy at 15.90 pesos to the dollar when the spot is at $16.30).
 
FUEGO said:
Question for the Schwab ATM card holders - do you have to pay a 1% foreign currency transaction fee when withdrawing?
Click to expand...

No. No foreign transaction fee. Nada. Zip.

That's really the only difference between the Schwab ATM and Fidelity ATM. Fidelity passes that fee along, Schwab doesn't.
 
audreyh1 said:
No. No foreign transaction fee. Nada. Zip.

That's really the only difference between the Schwab ATM and Fidelity ATM. Fidelity passes that fee along, Schwab doesn't.
Click to expand...

And you still get the spot forex rates? Ie they don't wrap the 1% fee into the amount withdrawn so you're actually getting 1% less than spot? If so, sweet!

It's almost worth it to get a Schwab card for this, though we only withdrew ~$1100 in cash while in Mexico for 7 weeks (=$11 in forex fees). I imagine more expensive countries tend to take credit cards at more vendors.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Real Estate in 2024?
Replies
9
Views
691
DrRoy
DrRoy
R
Old and Started in a Big Hole
2
Replies
29
Views
5K
RetirementOrDieTrying
R
K
2022 Personal Financial Report Card
Replies
14
Views
1K
Dtail
D
Romer
My Lessons Learned and why everyone should build a custom model with Excel
2 3 4
Replies
95
Views
14K
Ronstar
Ronstar
jollystomper
Three years of retirement after the "Glide Path"
2
Replies
27
Views
5K
Out-to-Lunch
Out-to-Lunch

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom