There are ATM in Beijing airport but I don't remember which branch. Maybe just exchange $100 or so at the airport before you find a good ATM machine or bank.

You can find Citibank, HSBC banks in Beijing and if you have their ATM card, the exchange rate would be much better than airport and hotels.

If you have Bank of America ATM card, it can also be used with no charge on China Construction Bank ATM machine.

Credit card is widely accepted in Beijing. I would suggest Discover and Capital One. Discover is linked with a Chinese credit card network "Union Pay" and would considered as domestic charge so no fee.

If you haven't been following this thread in all its insane bloat, before posting a question or comment PLEASE consult the Summary and FAQ we have posted on flyerguide. It already addresses 90% of the questions and answers in this thread.

Silly question - I thought this was talking about ATM fees - doesn't Capital One charge a 3% cash advance fee + interest?

According to the WIKI, Pacific National Bank does not charge foreign exchange conversion fee. I called them 2 minutes ago and they told me indeed , there's a 1% charge.
I am not tech savvy enough to change it on the WIKI myself, can someone please correct the information?

Has anyone used the Capitol One ATM card overseas? I know Capitol One doesn't charge the conversion fee, however, the hosting bank ATM fees are not reimbursed. How often does overseas banks' hosting ATM charges a withdrawal fee?

Done.

It depends on where you're going, but ATM owner fees are generally pretty rare overseas. I once encountered an ATM owner fee in Canada, but I don't think I've ever seen one (at least not on a bank ATM) in the UK, Holland, Israel, China or Hong Kong.

-Charles Schwab Bank also has zero conversion fee for their VISA ATM card and they do refund unlimited ATM fees.

-Bank of Internet refunds strange amounts as ATM fee reimbursements for non-dollar withdrawals even when there seems to be no ATM fee. In any case, their refunds are limited, but result in the best exchange rates I've ever seen anywhere (considering the amount of foreign currency received and the amount of dollars subtracted from the account).

Thanks for the information on Charles Schwab. I called them and did confirm what you said, that they do not charge any conversion fees and any transaction fees with other banks will be reimbursed.

That link seems to be talking about the "Citibank Banking Card". I believe these are the cards attached to bank accounts offered by CitiBank (when you open one of those bank accounts, they issue you a debit-type card you can use to withdraw money from the account through an ATM).

My CitiCard credit cards (AA miles-earning MasterCard and VISA) T&Cs still talk about charges only when converting transactions into US dollars from a "foreign" currency. I have not been charged any extra fee for dollar-denominated credit card (purchase) transactions using those cards outside the US.

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MM=> UA 96%, AA 93%

For the last couple of weeks I've been receiving letters from Citibank changing the terms of my (numerous) Citi credit cards. They all include this sentence (emphases as they appear in the letter):

Another vote for Capital One, but they are very stingy with credit limit increases (especially as I never use it anymore).

AmEx (directly, not through another bank) charges 2% (on mine in anycase). Most all other big banks charge 3%.

You are mostly, but not entirely, correct.

If you haven't been following this thread in all its insane bloat, before posting a question or comment PLEASE consult the Summary and FAQ we have posted on flyerguide. It already addresses 90% of the questions and answers in this thread.

Not being argumentative, but what did I post that was not correct?

I know the flyerguide wiki is a good resource, but unless people update and peer review constantly, some of the information is dated or not complete either.

On another board, there have been some categorical statements that Visa/MC-branded debit cards do not work for purchases outside the country where they were issued. Since there's a section about them on the wiki, can I take it that at least some can be used? The section's small, but that may be because there isn't much incentive to use them other than taking a lower percentage than one's credit card. So do the recent "Confirmed" dates mean that they've actually been used for purchases? Does this include U.S. cards in Italy?

You said all Amex cards are 2%, when in fact the only ones that are 2% are Amex-issued personal cards. Amex-issued corporate cards are 2.5% and Amex-network cards issued by other banks usually have different fees. For example, the Citi Chairman card is 0%, while other Citi-issued and BofA-issued Amex cards are almost all 3%.

There are a few of us who follow changes to the wiki pretty closely to try to keep it current and consistent with new information that comes to light in this thread and elsewhere. Lately we've been trying to add more detail about when specific information was last confirmed, and many popular cards like CapOne get reconfirmed almost monthly.

Sorry if I sounded snippy. It's just tough to keep people pointed at the wiki when they keep posting the same stuff over and over in this thread (there are probably a hundred posts in this thread about how CapOne is 0%, Amex personal cards are 2% and most others are 3%). And thanks for your input. ^