Moving to Cairo, Egypt.... What CC to get for rewards.
 

I think this is the best place to post....

I live in the USA but will be moving to Egypt for 2-3 years and need to open a CC to pay for stuff over there and not get charged the 3% foreign transaction fee.... but I also want to get rewards.

I currently have a Delta Amex.
My understanding is that CAI is a larger hub for American then for Delta.....?


Thx

I revisited Cairo as a tourist last spring. I took a Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards Visa. 1.25% cash-back, no annual fee, and no foreign exchange fee.

I spot-checked the exchange rate. It was fair. Here are some transactions. The dates are in 2010:

TRANSACTIONS FOR ScubaDiver
14 14 APR CAIRO MARRIOTT HOTELELZAMALEK CAI
CURRENCY: EGP EXCHANGE RATE: 5.516417910%
$23.45
16 15 APR SEQUOIACAIRO W. -07E
CURRENCY: EGP EXCHANGE RATE: 5.515742847%
$83.53
17 16 APR ELHABI 4 BOAT BAZAARLUXOR -16A
CURRENCY: EGP EXCHANGE RATE: 5.542940761%
$396.36
20 23 APR CAIRO MARRIOTT HOTELELZAMALEK CAI
CURRENCY: EGP EXCHANGE RATE: 5.544074074%
$54.00

I love Egypt and the Egyptians. Folk who live in a place where the graffitti are in classical Greek, tend to the very civilized. Their motto, near as I can transliterate is "mafesh maskalah," "no problem."

Take your kids. They may hate it at first, but will quickly warm to a warm land and a warm people. You will come to miss rain.

Good info, thx.

Whats "better" in general, cash back or $1=1 mile say with Delta or AA... Some one must have calculated it.

Say on spending $30k. 1.25% cash back is $375... for 30k miles you could get a plane ticket worth more than $375 right?

Wonder if there is a eastern hemisphere version of FT....

Going alone as an expat... no wife no kids...

EgyptAir is in the Star Alliance, so United might be a good option for regular mileage earning if you plan to make a lot of regional trips.

As for airline credit cards with no forex fee, only British Airways Chase Visa has no forex fee. Others are hotel cards (Hyatt Chase, Priority Club Chase) -- Priority Club might be a good option if you plan to travel a lot in the region and stay in very nice hotels, since there are InterContinental hotels all over the Middle East. Also Capital One cards, PenFed Amex, and Amex Platinum to consider.

I decided just to keep it simple and use the Capital One VentureOne for everyday overseas purchases (1.25% rewards), and now that PenFed Amex might have done away with the annual fee I might get one of those for airfare (5% back on airfare).

I dont have anything to add about credit cards, but definatley check out Sequoia when in Cairo.

I did in early Dec... was great! Wish it lent itself to be more of a social gathering/meet people. :)

Have you looked into the Fidelity card?

Yes. But unless I'm doing my math wrong or missing something, the VentureOne actually has a slight edge:

Fidelity Amex is 2% cash back less 1% Amex commission on forex, netting 1%.
VentureOne is 1.25% cash back with 0% commission on forex (looks to me like they don't even pass the Visa commission on to you).

If you are absolutely certain you will spend significantly more than $7860 on the card, the Venture 2% card with annual fee becomes a competitor.

Amex Platinum Charge Card will be waiving Forex surcharges towards the end of 1Q2011. If that card's benefits work for you and it is widely accepted in Egypt (I truly have no idea), it may be worth the annual fee.