jaesun

I am wondering if I should get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees? I do not travel all that often (when I do, it is usually to Korea, where I do not use my credit card as I use my family's CC when I am there), so in all likelihood, this will be the only trip where I will use my CC for awhile.

Is it worth it just for the one trip? I have 2 CC's now, a Chase Visa, and an American Express Costco card. Both have foreign fees of 2.9%-3%. I read using a CC even with fees usually still save you money vs exchanging cash ... and in the end still offer you protection for your purchases.

If I do get a CC, mainly looking for a card that is Visa/MC (I am not sure AmEx or Discover are as widely accepted), no annual fee, and has some form of rewards (prefer, cash back).

I am looking at a Capital One Cash CC. But the site I was looking at says I need either good or excellent credit. But the CapitalOne website says I need excellent. Has anyone who got this had any problems getting this with less than perfect credit? My issue is that my house is currently going through the short sale process (divorce), and that started 4 months ago. So my credit has dinged because of that. Outside of that, my credit would have been perfect and even now, the house is the only "past due" bill, everything else is still paid (surprisingly, my credit limit hasn't been decreased whatsoever despite my ex's having had hers cut drastically).

Or should I just eat the foreign transaction fees since it is only 1 trip?

Edit: Visiting Philippines and Singapore

ddowj

If you do get one, I would recommend the chase British airways. The amex seems to charge a higher exchange rate vs a visa or mastercard even with no foreign transaction fee. You can then book award space with their oneworld parters to avoid the ba fuel surcharge.

ddowj

Ps your credit may be in poor condition as you already have a ongoing account with Chase anyways so they are more likely to give you a card.

infamousdx

If it were me, I'd focus on the more important things in life like dealing with your house and your credit before opening more, especially if it's only 1 trip.

Mabuk dan gila

All Capital One cards have no foreign exchange fee. They have a variety of cards all the way down to subprime cards for "less than perfect credit". If they turn you down for the card you want, call and ask them to consider you for a "lessor" Cap One card. I'm not a fan of Cap One but they will give cards to people with less than perfect credit.

sdsearch

You haven't explained where it is you're going on this one trip. That could make a difference in terms of even what cards are accepted how much in that country!

It would be silly to go through all the effort to get a card for a paarticular trip only to find out it doesn't work for you much there.

More important than having a 0% on a foreign trip IMHO is having multiple cards for backup. (Sometimes, despite all attempts to "alert to upcoming travel", credit card companies can shut down your card because they deem your overseas use "suspicious". If all you have is one Visa/MC, or only cards from one bank, then you may all of a sudden not have any cards until that's straightened out.)

But depending on which country you go to, Amex may or may not be widely accepted there (and so may or may not be much of a backup).

Meanwhile, I don't understand the exchange rate point. If you get cash out of an ATM using your US bank's ATM or debit card, it comes straight out of your account presumably with no fees except a flat "foreign ATM" fee from most banks. (But it depends again on which exact bank you use!) For example, with Wells Fargo I get a flat $5 whether I withdraw the equivalent of $20 or of $300. But relative to the amount I withdraw, $5 is much less relateive to $300 than relative to $20. So using a CC to save money can backfire it means you withdraw smaller amounts from the ATM.

But, OTOH, in some countries in some establishments they don't accept foreign CCs no matter what, and so you'll have to pay cash (even as locals around you successfully pay iwth their local CCs). Then in lots of countries in increasing locations they only take chip cards. So it can very tricky figuring out how much local cash to get ahead of time in a country you haven't been to previously (recently enough).

jaesun

The 2 main places I am going will be the Philippines (Boracay, and some Manila), and Singapore. I know I have to pay for some flights with foreign LCC's (Cebu Pacific, and Tiger Airways) to get to Boracay, and also from Manila > SIN. So I will have that to pay in foreign currency + whatever I spend while I am there.

From what I read, it seems Philippines mainly accepts VISA/MC.

The exchange rate point. I read somewhere that often times, the rate of exchange into cash vs exchange rate the CC's give you, that you will save money. Like, the CC will give a better exchange rate, so save some money even with a fee. Like for example, if you need to pay $50 in SGD (Singapore Dollar), and if you exchange it from cash, it costs you $60 USD from the exchange rate. But maybe the CC has a better exchange rate, and it only costs $55 USD + fee which is like $57, so you are still better off.

My cards come from different banks. I bank with Schwab, CC with AmEx and Chase. I also have a WF CC, but I'd have to go find the card. If I got a new card, the chase would be my backup and then AmEx.

I was told that Boracay uses alot of cash so I was going to bring cash. But I know I have to buy airline tickets in foreign money, and probably be using the CC in Singapore. I would use the CC in Boracay whenever I can though, especially if I can get a card with some rewards system.

Mabuk dan gila

The Philippines and Singapore are two places you will have no trouble finding moneychangers who will give you an exchange rate for US Dollars that is very close to the interbank rate. Cash is fine in both of those places as far as exchange is concerned anyway.

If you bank with Schwab why not just use their debit card for cash at ATM's and for purchases when necessary? That's about the cheapest way to change money there is. If you have credit problems I don't think you will get a card with great rewards AND no foreign transaction fees.

jaesun

I like CC's for the rewards, to at least get some cash back. And my credit isn't trashed, yet (har har) (checked my credit, and my score has dropped, but hasn't dropped to rock bottom and I am still in the good range). I just wondering if you need pristine credit to get the Capital One Cash CC or if I can get by with good credit. And main reason I am avoiding debit cards is the short sale. Banks has been wanting my bank statements, so I put any discretionary spending on my credit card so they don't see what I am spending (and I already have been using CC anyways for the rewards).

I guess I should figure out how much I have to put on the CC (hotels, airfare) and see if the fee is worth it and go from there. Then for the rest in cash, I can just find a good moneychanger.

sdsearch

That's wonderful in theory. But cashback cards that are free tend to be about 1% at best (on most categories). Meanwhile, an airline miles card that you use to redeem for expensive flights might be equivalent to about 5%. So if you already have an airlines card (but I don't know if you do, because you didn't explain which Chase Visa you have), then 5% - 3% on that = 2%, which is more than 1% (on a 0% forex card).

But if you don't redeem airline miles for expensive flights (typically meaning business class or first class long-hual international), then you aren't getting more than about 2% probably from even an airline card.

At any rate, this seems like a whole of worrying for just 1% (typical cashback on a no-fee card) for just one trip. Do some math on how much the forex you have on your current cards will cost you on the maximum you expect to spend on this trip. Do some math on the cashback you expect to earn on a cashback card. These things are too hard to figure out in abstract, you need to run your own numbers to figure out how much of a difference it is, and then make your own judgement about how much extra hassle it is to save that amount.

jaesun

oh, i thought it was roughly the same rewards back (roughly 1-2%) even if redeeming for first class (it looked like it costs more points, so i assumed the ratio was the same in terms of cost regardless of which class you redeemed for), so I always opted for cash back. sorry for my ignorance!

The cards I have are all cash back, Chase Freedom and the AmEx Costco card (gives 2% back on travel related). So yea, in light of what you said, probably not the best of card choices. I guess once I get my credit back up, I can look into switching to Miles related cards.

Thanks for all the help!

cbn42

I would say don't bother. You have a Schwab debit card, which is a very cheap way of getting cash from foreign ATMs. That will cover most of your small purchases. You might need the credit card for a few things, but you probably won't be spending enough money on the credit card to justify getting a new card just to avoid the foreign transaction fees.

sdsearch

There's a different between "real miles" (as offered directly by airlines) and points (sometimes even misleadingly called "miles" as in the case of Capital One) which are independent of the airline.

Credit card points which are independent of the airline, even if redeemed for travel, are redeemed through some third-party booking site, and indeed are proportional to the price.

However, with "real" miles, business class longhaul costs only 2x what economy class longhaul costs in miles, but may cost 5x or mroe what economy class longhaul costs in money.

(The only exception to what I just said about "points" is charge card or hote card points that you can transfer to real miles. In those cases, if you do the transfer, you're ending up with real miles, and you can look at them as such, bearing in mind wahtever the transfer ratio is.)

It's this "only twice as costly as economy, but only when using real miles" factor that makes real miles more valuable for longhual business or "true" first ("true" first is 2.5x to 3x what coach is in miles, but maybe 10x in money).

(By "true" first I mean first class on three-class planes. The highest class on two-class planes is called first class within the US, but is called business class most everywhere else, including the moment US-based airlines fly internationally.)


... By the way, the same thing exists with hotel points. Hotel points can sometimes be valued much higher than 1x or 2x, if you find hotel redemptions that are a particularly good value. But unforutnately the programs that have the best value in redemptions have the worst value in accumulating hotel points from credit cards.

rumpus

I am helping look for a card for someone with 'good' but not quite excellent credit. (a few late payments, high util, but always pay in full and no other apps in a few years). The only thing needed is zero foreign transaction fees for an upcoming trip abroad. Not too interested in miles. It seems tough to find much info in general on credit requirements. Are there any cards the come to mind?

philemer

Here's a huge list: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...tion-fees.html Many have the annual fee waived the first year.