Mountain Trader, sorry if I wasn't clear: First USA does have both a British and a United card, and I have the British. But I assume that if they are screwing one set of card members, they might be screwing us all.

The problem is that I cannot seem to get an authoritative answer on whether or not my foreign purchases are charged at one per cent or three per cent. (Following Sweet Willie's advice, I have written them a letter.) I have been told many times, in email and by phone, and as recently as yesterday, that the BA card is exempt from the additional charge. But I have also been told recently by several people in authority at First USA that they DO incur the padded fee. One person told me terns had "recently" been changed for a number of First USA Visa, including BA.

I agree with you that this card isn't one I want under those terms. But since I am having such difficulty getting hard information on the BA card, I wonder if you can give me some info on the United card: are you relying on verbal assurances from customer service about these charges, or do you have a current cardmember agreement that spells out the one per cent fee? If not, would you mind asking them to send you one and reporting back?