Recent reports indicate that Kasikorn has begun charging the 150-baht foreign transaction ATM fee as well. UOB ATMs are still fee-free, and someone in the FT Thailand forum reported that they had a couple of fee-free ATM transactions with Bank of Ayudayah.

I'm sorry to bring up this old chestnut, but I've been doing a ton of research and my brain has melted. I'll be travelling through Asia for 6-12 months and want to get the best credit card and ATM card for this purpose.

ATM CARDS

My understanding is that the Schwab High Yield Checking ATM card is the best. They refund ATM fees and charge no foreign exchange fees. Does anyone know if they still charge that extra 1% that Visa/MC tacks on? I called and asked and they did not know.


CREDIT CARDS

For credit cards, my understanding is that Schwab Invest First Visa Credit Card is the best with no foreign exchange transaction fees and 2% cashback. However, I am unclear on this one what FX rates they use.

I also have a Capital One Platinum credit card. My understanding was that they only charged the 1% charged by Visa for foreign exchange. Mine has 1% cash back, so it evens out. However, I've read in places that Capital One actually eats the Visa 1%. Is this true?



I'm sorry for posting something that has been said so many times. I've called Schwab and they were unable to tell me anything. I've read about a million forum posts and am still not clear on the answers. I will love you forever if you could clear this up for me!

If you're going to China, you should get a Discover card in addition to whatever else (the Schwab ones are good choices).
Discover is compatible with China UnionPay, a ubiquitous debit card network in China.

See the wiki: http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php...reign_Exchange

Schwab visa card charges the actual wholesale foreign exchange rate. Pretty much the rate on xe.com is what you pay.

I just had 2 transactions last week using the Schwab visa, one in Euro and one in HKD, and both posts the wholesale rate I see online.

Nobody really knows for sure what rates they are getting. Real-world rates are simply too volatile for our little tests to determine conclusively what we're getting.

That said, I know several folks who have used the Schwab ATM and credit cards overseas extensively, including in real-time "shoot outs" against other cards, and they've never been beaten. There are some other cards that yield the same exchange rates (Schwab and CapOne credit, for example, most of the time, and Schwab and TD Bank ATM cards usually yield the same rates), but we've never seen another card consistently get better rates.

Note, however, that you'll also want one or two other cards for backup just in case (even if they charge a small fee). Schwab's customer service isn't bad, but when I head overseas, in addition to Schwab I bring at minimum an AmEx credit card, a World Mastercard (mine is from Citi, which once FedExed me a replacement card in China--not every credit card provider will do that) and an ATM card with Cirrus (mine is from Citi), so I have all the possible networks covered (AmEx/MC/Visa on the CC side, and Plus/Cirrus on the ATM side) and good int'l customer service available to me.

See also the wiki that attempts to summarize this thread.

Thanks guys, this is really useful--am going to apply for the Schwab accounts now!

*edit--they're all approved and on their way. Thanks again.

I use a CapitalOne NoHassle Rewards card and have never been charged a fee in my travels to Peru, Europe, or India. Plus I get 1% back (I think) on all purchases. It's a great card with zero fee. That said, I'll look into the Schwab card the next time I need a new card.

The Cap1 card may be a great card, but ime if ever you need customer service, you may be a lot. lot happier with Schwab or many of the competitors. When you need/want service the "NoHassle" marketing name is very ironic. YMMV.

Thanks for cognitive information! It is urgent problem for me^

Hi, I don't want to edit the wiki before I confirm this. I just received my Capital One ATM card (not debit card) and there are no network logos at the back of the card. So I called them up and see what's going on, and this is what they told me:

The Capital One ATM card is able to use the Maestro, Cirrus and Pube network.

This is not what is written on the wiki, which is Visa/Plus.

I want to confirm this with the readers here before making edits in the wiki.

I thought I was covered too, until I went directly from Easter Island (Cirrus only for ATM) to Tahiti (PLUS only for ATM).

hi everyone..
new to the forum...
I'm gonna be taking a european cruise in a month and a half and i'm not sure what to do credit card wise. I have a citi premier pass elite that I had been planning to use for on board purchases (which should be charged in US Dollars, so hopefully no fee?) and then in addition I was gonna just get local currency prior to the trip for other stops we make. Does anyone have experience with Citibank and charging the cruise onboard things on an american credit card and is it worth getting like a capitol one for POSSIBLE purchases when I'm off the ship?
I'm hesitant to because I don't want to open another card, and my fiance (we will be married by the cruise..its our honeymoon) and I want to buy a house somewhat soon so I don't need more inquiries on my credit...

Any advice is great!

Welcome mronvacay. You'll find a lot of answers at the wiki summary of this thread.

A couple of decent credit and ATM cards should get you through the trip, but bring some USD cash, too, just in case. Be warned that if Citi interprets your charges as being made outside the USA, they'll tack on a 3% charge regardless of currency. So if the cruise company bills things in USD through their Miami office, you'll be fine. But if they bill things through an office overseas, even if the charges are in USD you'll pay 3% to Citi for the privilege of using their card.

I'd definitely recommend getting something else. Schwab is the current favorite in this forum.

I'm pretty sure they bill out of hte miami office... I guess I have to do the math on if getting another credit card and having another hit on my credit report by an agency is worth it. I have excellent credit, but with a home purchase on the horizon... I'd rather not...

either way, is the Schwab card comparible to the Capitol one?

Thanks

If your cruise is from an American-based operation-wise cruiseline, the Citi card as your card to settle shipboard account is fine, as the currency used on the ship is USD. (Lines such as Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival, Holland America, and the like).

Incidentally, the cruiselines billing offices are mostly NOT in Miami - but they are all US-based if their operation offices are US-based. For example, Princess billing office is in California. You can go to Carnival's corporate website to see how Carnival classifies each line it owns. Costa, for example, is classified as an European operation. All Royal Caribbean's (the corporation) fleets are US-based.

Depends on your itinerary, if it is a Med cruise, chances are, you are only dealing with Euro. Without knowing your itinerary, we cannot help you on what currencies you may be using while at port.

Getting foreign currencies in US prior your trip, is a FOOL's game as you would incur a very high cost - both in terms of exchange rate differentials and the service fee / commission charge - particularly so if the amount involved is relatively small.

Your BEST bet is to have an ATM card that does not charge withdrawal fee outside the bank's own network, or an ATM card that reimburses all the ATM withdrawal fee.

If you have a BofA account, then you can use BofA's ATM card at the countries where it has partner in its Global ATM Network - NOTE: Must be partner specific in each country. i.e. Deutsche bank in Germany would not incur fee, but Deutsche bank in Spain, would incur $5 or more international withdrawal fee. Ditto Barclays is only for UK, but not for anywhere else in Europe... There is a list on BofA website when you search by Global ATM Network keywords, you will find it.

If you have a Fidelity mySmartCash account, or a SchwabOne / Schwab Investor Checking Account, their check cards let you withdraw local currency at foreign ATMs with very competitive exchange rates and would reimburse ATM fee. Although in Europe, most ATMs dont charge fee on cards that dont belong to the operating banks, unlike in US.

Schwab Investor Visa does not charge forex fee, other than the 1% Visa network fee that it passes on. However in most cases, the rates are very competitve and the difference when comparing with historical rates after the fact, were all below 1% - that was our experiences on a 45 days long trip to Pacific Region, including New Zealand, Australia, SE Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan - each country has its own currency, and that makes using CC far more convenient than using cash. We did get small amount of cash in each city just enough to meet the initial needs of transportation and quick meals.

I would highly recommend a Schwab Investor Visa than a CapOne - Schwab has 2% rebate, and Schwab customer service is better. On top of that, having an inquiry from CapOne seems to have more negative effect than having an inquiry from FIA (the BofA division handles Schwab's cards and many financial institutions cards).

If you are afraid to get a new CC, then you just have to bite the bullet and pay the 3% forex fee on your Citi card.