One of the Cap1 cards (the Platinum MC, I believe) had, at least of 2 years ago, auto coverage for Australia, in addition to all the usual countries (not sure about the other exclusions, but they seemed minimal). This happens to be the card I was using with a rental in New Caledonia when we had a small accident. The small cost was reimbursed in full, although it took 2+ months for the paperwork to be completed (the delay was largely due to Hertz's paperwork in NC being written in French and the MC insurance offices in the US not being well equipped to handle that, I think). No complaints, we've been using this card overseas ever since.

I got the CapOne Venture for the 100K points, but it's becoming my favorite travel card for the two reasons you mention.

Mastercard used to have fewer excluded countries than Amex or Visa, but I think they've caught up. About 5 years ago I was able to use my Citi World MC in Israel and the insurance was valid, but now Israel isn't workable either.

I think the answer to this question is no, but I'd like confirmation since I'm flying internationally tomorrow: Is my regular Priority Club visa card (it has no annual fee and earns only 1 pt per dollar) a no exchange fee card? I thought I had read a while ago that it was and that is the only reason I kept it. But reading current info seems to indicate that it does charge the fee.

I'm bumping this thread because FIA ex-Schwab Visa card I (and many of you!) have been using for foreign transactions is about to become less useful on that front, and I'm contemplating my options.

What's the current wisdom?

I've been using the Schwab Visa for the bulk of my spending and a Starwood Amex whenever I think I may want their dispute protection.

I'm considering the getting Hyatt card, though I'm leery of adding another annual-fee card to the stack. I imagine I'd only use it for foreign and Hyatt spend and would just use Starwood for the bulk of stuff.

I had the BA VIsa back in the day of 100k miles sign-up bonuses, but I don't really want to get it again -- I just don't find BA miles that useful.

Please see my post no. 1127 in the thread:

Schwab Invest Visa? 2% cash back on everything?

The summary is this: For a few years now I used the same scheme as you: US dollar expenses on SPG AMEX and all others on ex-Schwab. Due to the circumstances I am replacing ex-Schwab with CapitalOne Business No Hassle Cash Premier VISA. Although I haven't used this new CapitalOne card yet, it seems to come with all the positive features of ex-Schwab except it does have an annual fee. Since the fee is waived in the first year, I'll face that problem later.

There are a number of cards these days that waive forex fees if you pay an annual fee, including affinity cards from Hyatt, BA and others.

But the only cards I know of right now that have no forex fees OR annual fees and are available to most folks with decent credit are the Travel Rewards Amex and Promise Visa (both from PenFed), and almost all cards issued by CapitalOne.

The PenFed Amex is particularly intriguing for big travelers because it has truly global car rental coverage (a feature I don't think I've seen elsewhere--almost all cards carve out some countries from the rental protection). Its rewards program is lame, though. The PenFed Promise Visa has the advantage of being a Visa (more widely accepted than Amex) and is completely fee free, but has no rewards at all, so it's mainly useful as a backup.

In addition to the CapOne Venture and Business Cash cards that pay 2% with an annual fee, CapOne has a no-annual-fee Mastercard with 1.5% effective cash back, which is probably the closest you can get to ex-Schwab without paying an annual fee or forex fees. The big downside is that it's CapOne, which doesn't have the best reputation around here for customer service.

This thread in the Credit Card Programs forum contains a relevant list which, we believe, is up to date:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...tion-fees.html

It seems the closest thing to the (ex-)Schwab is the CapitalOne Cash Rewards card which has 1% cash back + 50% annual bonus for a 1.5% effective cash back rate.

These threads are really interesting, but aren't all these cards most useful in big foreign cities? When a person travels off the beaten path, isn't cash necessary? And how useful does this lack of transaction fee become if you use the card for cash advances? So to get real usefulness, don't you need a debit card, too? Are there debit cards that don't charge the fees?

My citibank debit card does not charge a foreign transaction fee but I don't know if that is because I have a citigold account or if that is across the board. When I didn't have a credit card that wived ftf I would just take out cash and use cash. Now citi's premier pass card has no ftf so on my upcoming trip to Mexico I will use that credit card whenever I can and get less cash from the ATM.

Cash advances on a credit card are almost never cost effective.

Any international traveler should have at least one fee-free credit card for big stuff like hotels and rental cars and at least one fee-free ATM card with a Cirrus or Plus logo (other ATM networks don't work overseas) for getting cash. Ideally you should have a couple of each, since there's always a chance a card won't work or will get blocked when you need it.

The wiki summary of this thread is a bit of a mess right now (I started it but haven't had time or motivation to clean it up in the last year or so), but has a lot of info.

In my wallet I have a Schwab ATM card and a Citi Private Bank ATM card (both fee free and both quite reliable overseas). Regular Citibank ATM cards are NOT fee free overseas, but if you have Citigold or Citi Private Bank, they waive the fees. Schwab has the additional benefit of rebating ATM owner fees, although it can sometimes be tough to get overseas ATM owner fees rebated I'm told (I've never actually encountered one). Schwab's checking product is also great for other reasons (no minimum balance, no fees, free checks, free postage-paid deposit envelopes, etc.).

It's been best for me to either carry cash to exchange for foreign cash, or withdraw cash from an ATM once you arrive in the country you are visiting. The exchange rate +bank fee at the ATM seems to be a better rate than the exchange kiosk at the airport. Credit card acceptance isn't a great abroad as it is in the states, so, yes, you need some cash.

You may also find that some foreign merchants, even though they accept cards with your logo, will not accept your card because it is a 'swipe' card rather than 'chip & pin' as is now the standard in Europe and some other places. While they can still use your card, sometimes they think they cannot and are not willing to try. Also, many vending machines do not accept swipe cards at all. This is important to remember when paying for parking or automated train ticket kiosks.

I travel with AMEX Platinum, and a Suntrust Delta World MC debit. The AMEX doesn't have any foreign transaction fees.

Yeh, I sure hope the USA gets on the bandwagon with the chip-pin cards. We have more inconvenience because of our swipe legacy.

Exceptions exist in certain countries with regards to ATM networks. If you're heading to China, for example, a Pulse ATM card will work in more places due to the agreement with UnionPay (which every ATM in the country is).