know that mastercard and visa charge a flat 1% to convert your money while making purchases abroad. Are there any credit cards that do not chagne anything on top of that? I can not believe these card companies are charging me an extra 2-3% for nothing!!!

(I do not want to use amex as it is not accepted as much)



Charge card issuer/ Foreign currency transaction fee Does fee apply when foreign purchase made in U.S. dollars?
J.P. Morgan Chase 3% /No
Citi Cards 3%/ No
MBNA America 1% Visa/MasterCard fee now, rising to 3%{+1} / Yes
American Express 2%/ No
Bank of America 3% /No
Capital One 1%{+2}/ Yes
HSBC 1%{+2} / Yes
Providian 1%{+2} /Yes
Wells Fargo 3%/ No
Diners Club 2%-3% /No



1- Additional 2% MBNA fee takes effect in May
2- Visa/MasterCard fees, applied if purchase is made in a foreign currency. Until Oct. 1, MasterCard does not charge a fee if foreign purchases are made in U.S. dollars

I'm not sure what you mean by foreign purchases in USD, but for all my CC purchases in Europe, my Capital One card doesn't charge me a conversion fee when I purchase in Euros or pounds. It's a platinum "No Hassle Miles" card -- some vary but most people I know use capital one when travelling abroad to avoid the 1-3% conversion fees.

Does fee apply when foreign purchase made in U.S. dollars?

This is called dynamic currency conversion and is generally a bad deal because a poor exchange rate could be used at the point of sale and some card issuers charge additional fees for DCC transactions.

Here's the FlyerTalk Wiki card comparison:
http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange

Won't be of much use to the OP but in the UK the Nationwide Flex Account gives you debit & credit cards on which there are no foreign exchange charges or foreign use charges - in short no charges at all (apart from using CC to get cash) & you get the bank rate on foreign currency

I love my Nationwide cards for travel!