I really wish people would stop posting in this thread without at least reading some of it.

Amex is NOT the best for foreign exchange.

I understand this thread is long, but that's why we made a wiki to summarize it:

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

Moderators, is there a way we can close this thread and open a new one that specifically references the Credit Card Forex Wiki?

Alternatively, is there any way to put a sticky post inside a thread?

That's exactly my point.

I did read this thread from early on and can't resist to reiterate our FT consensus. Even though I have nothing new to add but I have learned:

Amex is NOT the best CC for foreigh exchange.

Period.

On a recent overseas trip I used a Credit Union Visa and a Platinum Amex.
Visa had better exchange rate, but a 1% Visa fee. No foreign transaction fee.
Amex had approx 1% higher exchange rate. No foreign transaaction fee.
So essentially they came out equal. And I paid zero foreign transaction fees.

The US Platinum Amex absolutely has a foreign exchange fee. See the Amex website for more details. Or does the name Wallaby suggest you have an Australian Amex?

All cards issued directly by American Express in the US have a 2% forex fee (2.5% on corporate cards). Was your Amex card issued by a third-party bank like Citi or USAA? Or perhaps the exchange rate wasn't actually worse on the Amex card, but the 2% was built into it?

Oh well , my 3% notice from HSBC arrived today. The good thing is my next overseas trip ends on 5/29 so it will all be at 1%. Then some spending with it here in the US to get up to the $2500 level so as to Cash it out and then yep, close it up.

So for me it seems its Limping back to Crap One, as getting chits for Norstoms or Bloomingdales is a waste, and Wash Mu doesnt seem to have any rebate card or miles card. So Unfortunately its gonna be back to Crap One. See why its good Never to Never say Never. I closed Crap One up and thought I was done with them for good. Now it turns out that wont be the case.

HSBC Premier World Mastercard - No foreign fees?
 

Hi,

I just heard that HSBC Premier Platinum Mastercards are being swapped out for HSBC Premier World Mastercards as of June 7, 2007. Supposidly they are marketing them with the following text:

"No foreign transaction fees on purchases and cash advances made outside the U.S." with a footnote reading: "Foreign Transaction Fee Finance Charge. There is no Foreign Transaction Fee Finance Charge for transactions made in a foreign currency."

Do you think this means what it sounds like? (That they are no longer passing along the Mastercard 1% fee?) Or is it very misleading advertising relying on a technicality that they charge some other foreign currency fee with a different name?

Cheers!

Given the currently pending class action settlement, to which HSBC is a party, I would think they would be very careful about making claims like this if they aren't true.

It actually seems that no-forex-fees is starting to turn into a mini trend in the high-end credit card world. ^ First we had the Wells Fargo Signature Visa, as reported in this thread, then last night I heard from a very well-placed source that the Citi Chairman's Card (v2.0) will not have any forex fees, and now you report that HSBC's cards for their high end customers might have no fees, too.

Somebody must have done some market research and found that high end customers don't like being nickle-and-dimed.

Perhaps you should get this new HSBC card, make some purchases, and report back your results?

I think I'm going to take your advice and get the card to test it out. Just sounded too good to be true. But as you report this trend that sounds a lot more plausible now.

Thank you!

Cheers!

I hope it turns out to be correct. Thanks for being our guinea pig! ;)

I just called them and apparently the card will not be available until June 7. So a bit of a wait! (Hopefully worth it!)

Seems like that June start date coincides with when they are raising the fees on many of the other HSBC cards. Perhaps they are segmenting the market on purpose.

Cheers!

It is a US-issued Platinum Amex.
No foreign-transaction (not exchange) fee showed on my account.

No foreign-transcation fee on my account.
The exchange rate was 1% higher than for a Visa I used the same day, and was what I consider a good rate (based on published rates for that day). It certainly didn't include a 2% fee. I was taking particular note of the various exchange rates as I was doing this as a test of the comparative Visa and Amex markups on exchange rates. If a 2% fee were embedded in the charge then they were using a below market exchange rate to begin with.
The card is a plain old US-issued Amex Platinum.

This should be helpful.

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/9...premierof3.png

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/6...ierbackgd4.png

Very interesting. Sorry to keep badgering you, but if the rate was 1% higher than the Visa rate, is it possible that the Visa rate had a 1% fee built into it? That would make the Amex fee 2%. It's not uncommon for the underlying exchange rates on credit cards to be slightly below the intermarket rates for that day.

If there truly was no forex fee on your Amex Plat, can you call and see if the CSRs tell you that your card has no forex fee? Perhaps Amex eliminated it on their Plat cards like HSBC and Wells Fargo appear to have eliminated it on their high end cards. Because other US-issued Amex cards definitely have 2-2.5% fees.

Has anyone else charged foreign exchange charges to an Amex Plat card lately? Were there fees? Has anyone charged foreign exchange purchases to any Amex card lately? If so, how did the fees show up on your statement?



Thanks. That does indeed look pretty clear.