There is definitely a higher chance of a card being declined if you just arrived in a different country. Also, "chip-and-pin" cards may not always work with kiosks or vending machines.

I do think carts should be "free" for international arrivals in the sense that it should be a part of the airfare for international arrivals.

Edit: Looks like the airport used to pay a flat annual fee to the cart company, instead of paying for the actual usage. Because passenger numbers are way down, that no longer made economic sense: https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx...9-CD84A8AA6C5F

It's unfortunate, and I'm not sure why Smarte Carte and the airport couldn't instead agree on a different model.