I confirmed with Commerce Bank that they do not charge a foreign exchange fee for their VISA, only VISA's 1%. They have no plans to tack on their own fee.

Now for my next two questions.... I am renting a car in Israel in July. I have made the reservation here in the US and gave them my credit card information. Will I be charged the foreign transaction fee when I get the car in July? Also, does anyone know of a credit card (preferably without a large foreign exchange fee) that covers car rental insurance in Israel? VISA excludes coverage in Israel, Jamaica, Ireland and one or two other countries.

Most Platinum MasterCards with the MasterRental insurance at least used to cover rentals in Israel, but it appears that this is not the case anymore:

" In general, coverage is accepted worldwide, but there are exceptions.
� You may be unable to use this service in Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, or New Zealand. Please contact your car rental company before you travel.
� Coverage is not available where prohibited by law."

text from Web site

If you have a Platinum MasterCard, it might be worth a try calling 1-800-MC-ASSIST to inquire about rental collision insurance in Israel. I doubt that the car rental agencies would tell you the correct information, as of course they want to sell you their own CDW.

Household Bank (HSBC) issues MasterCards that still charge only 1% for foreign transactions.

FWIW, in March, when I last rented a car in Israel, Hertz still waived CDW for all Mastercard customers (including me with my Citi AAdvantage World Mastercard).

Which Commerce Bank? The one based in NJ with the NYC presence? Or the one in MO/KS? Or the one in central MA? Or one of the dozen or so other "Commerce Banks?"

Giving them the credit card now just guarantees the reservation so if you don't pick it up they can still charge you. The fees apply at the time of the charge, which will be when you return the car. That said, most rental car companies in Israel bill Americans in USD and not in NIS, so if you have a MC, you wouldn't get hit with a fee until October, and then it would be .8% rather than the full 1% Visa charges.

What card is FWIW? Do you have a link? Right now I only have a VISA with the 3% fee, but will get a Mastercard if it covers my car rental and has a 1% fee. It doesn't also accrue miles does it? I guess that would be asking too much.

Also, the Commerce Bank I got the brochure from was in NYC. But I think that the card is national. It has an 800 number and lists branches throughout the U.S. The information I recieved was through that 800 number.

No, FWIW is Internet shorthand for "For What It's Worth."

The Household Bank cards don't accrue miles, but I just received a Corvette MasterCard that I plan to use for foreign purchases. Cool looking card and the 1% FX fee is reward enough.

I just looked at my Amex insurance info and it says nothing about Israel being excluded (it is an American-issued Amex using my Florida address).

I'm pretty sure the SPG Amex excludes Israel. Not sure about Amex charge cards.

Sorry, you are right. It does not include cars rented in Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand.

Having ditched my UA MP Visa card when THEY raised their FOREX rate to 3% and having acquired an MBNA Amtrak card in its stead, I'm certainly not going to tolerate a 3% charge from them. I registered for the bonus points promotion discussed above, and will make it on foreign charges incurred prior to 5/25. Thereafter, I will use Amex abroad until I receive my newly-applied for CU and Capital One cards. After 5/25, I'll keep the MBNA card solely to be used when buying slow train tickets, and plan to use my points if and when they bring the somewhat-faster moving Acelas back into service. Having suffered countless weather-related problems with the US shuttle, I really look forward to taking the Acela to DC again.

Despite they warning me that when I called MBNA about using my amex plat MC in Israel for my rental car, I called MC Assist for the full details and they told me it still covered the CDW and deductible in Israel, and I used it there without a problem...It is AMEX that pulled out of those markets, not sure why mbna felt the need to warn me, cause MC-Assist even told me that was AMEX only and that im definetely covered...

r

What is an SPG AMEX? Which American Express? I have several--green card, Delta FF, etc. There should be an acronymn site for newbies around here!

You mean, like this?

http://www.flyertalk.com/glossary/

SPG = Starwood Preferred Guest (their Loyalty Program)

Thanks....I needed that.

I think this is the usual BS from Amex, but I don't have the card so I haven't wasted time trying to get a straight answer from the Bangalore call center.

With a regular AMEX card, the markup is at least 2%, and that is on top of a mediocre exchange rate. [Yes, in my personal experience, it was mediocre and far below the WSJ wholesale rates or the rates used by VISA/MC]. I can't imagine why Amex would spend money to implement a different system for processing MBNA transactions or why they would treat MBNA customers better than their own.

The only plus to carrying an Amex card is you can sometimes get a replacement card from one of their overseas offices. I once lost a card at Oktoberfest and received a replacement card within an hour from the Munich office. Unfortunately the magnetic strip didn't work (I'll bet the offices don't have coding technology), but the card worked fine. ^

Good luck getting a VISA delivered on a platter at the pool as they used to show in the TV commercials. You'll be lucky if you can get your bank to fedex it to your billing address.