Foreign Transaction Fee for USD charge outside of USA
 

If I make a transaction in a country that uses the USD like Panama with a Freedom Flex, do I get charged the 3% transaction fee? I called customer support and they said no, but they didn't really sound sure of the answer.

I found some old Reddit threads which suggested the answer is no for Chase but yes for other banks, wondering if there's any newer DPs. Thanks in advance!

Several years ago I had a charge in Israel in USD that hit me with the FX fee. Didnt expect it since it was in USD so why would I be hit with an FX fee.

Ever since it just isnt worth the risk for me. I am not doing large enough purchases internationally to make it worth the risk to me. I will stick with a card that earns slightly less in order to not have to worry

YES-
https://sites.chase.com/services/cre.../LGC56022.html

There are two different fees that are often confused - foreign currency fees and foreign transaction fees. The first applies to transactions in a non-USD currency, the other to transactions anywhere outside the US, even if they use the USD. I've even heard of some card issuers charging a foreign transaction fee for transactions in Puerto Rico.

It's always best to double-check before traveling. Chase Sapphire doesn't charge the fees.

Wow, Puerto Rico is crazy…

I do have a CSR, just wanted to maximize the Q2 bonus for the Freedom Flex. Sounds like it’s not worth the risk. Thanks!

This is a particularly lucrative quarter for the CFF. Two of the three 5% categories - hotels and restaurants - happen to duplicate two of the CFFs permanent multiplier categories.

To get the Q2 elevated 9% multiplier on hotels [normal 5% + stackable 4% for CFF quarterly categories] you have to book and pay through the Chase portal. So even though you will get charged a 3% FOREX fee, you're still getting a net 6%.

For restaurants, you get the CFF permanent 3% multiplier stacked with the quarterly 4% bonus, for a total of 7%. So with a 3% FOREX fee on restaurants, you're still netting 4%.

Did you get charged the foreign transaction fee in Panama?

Yes. Fee goes for any foreign transaction (outside of the US) OR any charge billed in foreign currency (I think even within the US, though not sure how many places you could find billing within the US in foreign currency). You also have to watch out for this for online purchases that are billed outside of the country. For example, Airolo, to get local eSIMs when traveling are headquartered and billed outside of Singapore, even though you can choose to be charged in USD. Others are airlines, like Air Canada, where if you book a itinerary starting in the US, I beleive it’s considered a local US transaction, but booking out of Canada (or maybe everywhere outside of US) is likely billed out of their Canadian account and subject to fees.

Yeah I didn’t deem it to be worth the risk and just used a normal card with no FTF

I have plenty of no-FTF cards, but the Chase Freedom Flex for 7x dining currently seemed worth using even with a 3% fee. However I think the policy varies between banks as indeed I was not charged a fee in Panama.

Your own card issuer (Chase) wont charge you, but the credit card processing company overseas will mark up significantly if you select "USD" during swipe, its a cash grab.

Always select the local currency when you swipe and I am assuming even in Panama where they prefer USD, something is converting it over. What you see on the screen is what you get on the statement, but its also already marked up.

Also known as DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion), and always a rip-off.

Panama's only separate local currency, the balboa (PAB), is maintained 1:1 with USD. In any case I did not get hit with DCC or a conversion of any type. My card was charged in USD at prices displayed-- if those prices were in PAB it still hit my card at 1:1. I used my Chase Freedom Flex, BoA PR Elite, WF Autograph Journey and Amex Platinum cards there and all posted equally. Uber Cash also worked nicely there.

I can confirm that my Freedom Flex did not get charged any sort of foreign transaction fee for purchases in Puerto Rico

You do not have to be able physically outside the country to incur foreign transaction fee. I purchased from a ,com website and the merchant was Europe based wit US offices. I transaction was classified as foreign. The US website was later updated with a US based merchant account.