Best card for foreign exchange?
Apr 1, 2008 | 8:38 am
#1291
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 8,688
Nope. I'm not sure how the bonus 0.25% works (haven't dealt with that yet), but you can request the 1% (no matter how small an amount) just a couple days after your statement issues and have them credit it toward your balance. It posts a couple days later. It's actually extremely convenient.
Apr 1, 2008 | 6:37 pm
#1292
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 2,086
Are you talking about a US$ card for American expats in Hong Kong, or a HK$ card for a HK resident traveling abroad? If the former, see our wiki: http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php...reign_Exchange
If the latter, I'm afraid we're not going to be much help as this thread (and the wiki) is pretty US-resident-centric.
If the latter, I'm afraid we're not going to be much help as this thread (and the wiki) is pretty US-resident-centric.
Oh well...
Apr 22, 2008 | 2:42 pm
#1293
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 90
I actually have a couple good things to say about CapitalOne (after many months of having only bad things to say). But first, they are running a campaign where they want to be your favorite card...
If you pay your balance in full every month, call them and tell them you want to respond to their offer. The only thing they have to honor their guarantee for someone that pays their bill in full every month is an increase in credit limit! I went from $20K to $35K simply by responding to their incredibly weak campaign. That made a HUGE difference to me...
Another spot of bright news is that the 800 number for the campaign gets answered in the US. And the US-based people are easier for me to to understand, they understand me, and they are far better trained. So far, I am calling the campaign 800# number for all customer service issues now, and they seem to handle them just fine.
If you pay your balance in full every month, call them and tell them you want to respond to their offer. The only thing they have to honor their guarantee for someone that pays their bill in full every month is an increase in credit limit! I went from $20K to $35K simply by responding to their incredibly weak campaign. That made a HUGE difference to me...
Another spot of bright news is that the 800 number for the campaign gets answered in the US. And the US-based people are easier for me to to understand, they understand me, and they are far better trained. So far, I am calling the campaign 800# number for all customer service issues now, and they seem to handle them just fine.
Apr 23, 2008 | 11:25 am
#1294
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 178
I have a visa card with Commerce Bank. No charges for foreign purchases and their exchange rate always seems to be good.
Apr 23, 2008 | 11:37 am
#1295
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 4,071
Which Commerce Bank? I bank at one in Missouri, and I believe there's another one on the East Coast.
Apr 23, 2008 | 9:16 pm
#1296
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: New York
Programs: AA Platinum, Marriott Platinum Elite, SPG Gold
Posts: 320
TD Gold to Platinum Travel Card
I was heeding the advice of the ever helpful FT community and so while I was on the phone to the TD bank finding out about my rarely used Gold card (that they have apparently mysteriously turned into a platinum card) I asked them to go over their f ex rates regarding purchases and ATM stuff. They informed me that I was to disregard their current info after May 1st because the card will then charge NO currency conversion charge and the ATM charge will be a flat $2.00. I thought I would share this with the Canadians that frequent the site.
Apr 24, 2008 | 12:48 pm
#1297
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Living the dream in Antigua and the nightmare in Florida
Programs: AA PLAT 2MM, *A Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 56,579
Is Citi now charging an FX fee for US Dollars?
I heard that Citi is now charging 3% FX fee on all exchanges processed in a foreign country, even if the transaction is in dollars. This would apply in BVI, where the legal currency is US dollars. Others have reported that they get conflicting answers from Citi customer service. Does anyone have a definitive answer?
Apr 24, 2008 | 1:05 pm
#1298
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: NJ
Programs: CO Plat, Amex Plat
Posts: 144
This is the Commerce Bank that I can say first hand does not charge a fee for foreign ATM withdrawals or a conversion fee for foreign currency credit card transactions.
Apr 25, 2008 | 10:14 am
#1299
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: US expat somewhere south of Valpo, Shiiile
Programs: LATAM Platinum on own dime, LATAM World Elite MC, AA, MiClub Lider
Posts: 873
2% fee on all ATM wds outside of US and PR
I heard that Citi is now charging 3% FX fee on all exchanges processed in a foreign country, even if the transaction is in dollars. This would apply in BVI, where the legal currency is US dollars. Others have reported that they get conflicting answers from Citi customer service. Does anyone have a definitive answer?
Apr 25, 2008 | 10:51 am
#1300
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: US expat somewhere south of Valpo, Shiiile
Programs: LATAM Platinum on own dime, LATAM World Elite MC, AA, MiClub Lider
Posts: 873
VISA/PLUS exchange ripoff? - Need confirmation from other FTs - also EVERBANK warning
Starting from the extreme volatility in the USD/CLP rate a month ago, xe.com no longer is reliable for determining the exchange rate before hitting the bank ATM.
My CITIBANK MC/CIRRUS debit card still seems to consistently give rates approaching the one shown realtime by xe.com but about 1% worse (for many years, xe.com used to be "on the nose") while my EVERBANK VISA/PLUS debit card appears to be in pure rip off mode. Last month it was off by about 3 percentage points making my total hit with their 1% fee nearly 4% from the interbank rate. Yesterday in back to back test between the two cards, I received 447.43 VS. 443.26 - nearly a 1 point difference.
EVERBANK claims that VISA sets the rate.
Anyone else with recent real life realtime testing of the exchange rate given via the VISA/PLUS system?
My CITIBANK MC/CIRRUS debit card still seems to consistently give rates approaching the one shown realtime by xe.com but about 1% worse (for many years, xe.com used to be "on the nose") while my EVERBANK VISA/PLUS debit card appears to be in pure rip off mode. Last month it was off by about 3 percentage points making my total hit with their 1% fee nearly 4% from the interbank rate. Yesterday in back to back test between the two cards, I received 447.43 VS. 443.26 - nearly a 1 point difference.
EVERBANK claims that VISA sets the rate.
Anyone else with recent real life realtime testing of the exchange rate given via the VISA/PLUS system?
Apr 25, 2008 | 12:16 pm
#1301
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 8,688
I had some oddities a year ago with my CapOne Visa credit card in Hungary, though. Multiple charges all made and posted on the same day sometimes yielded exchange rates that varied by more than 1%--but all of them were within the high/low extremes of trading that day (it was a volatile day).
My guess is that the more highly volatile (and thinly traded) a currency is, the more likely you are to get stuck with an outlier rate. To find out whether you were truly ripped off by Everbank/Visa/Plus, I'd recommend trying to find the high/low rates for the day. As long as you're somewhere in the range, I don't think you were ripped off. If it's significantly outside the range, you may have been.
Apr 25, 2008 | 1:35 pm
#1302
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 1
Beijing advice wanted
I am going to Beijing in June arriving at 10PM. What would you all recommend as the best exchange rate to obtain rmb?
Are there ATM machines at the airport?
Do I bring US bills to exchange at the hotel or at the airport?
Do I use my capital One visa which does not appear to tack on a currency conversion charge. My Chase card does so I won't be using that.
Thanks!
Are there ATM machines at the airport?
Do I bring US bills to exchange at the hotel or at the airport?
Do I use my capital One visa which does not appear to tack on a currency conversion charge. My Chase card does so I won't be using that.
Thanks!
Apr 25, 2008 | 4:41 pm
#1304
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Living the dream in Antigua and the nightmare in Florida
Programs: AA PLAT 2MM, *A Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 56,579
Apr 25, 2008 | 7:16 pm
#1305
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: DFW
Programs: DL PM, .6MM; AA Plat; Marriott Platinum Premier
Posts: 4,891