Using EB CC abroad. Is it worth it?
 

I suppose more people are thinking about the same thing as me. Since I lived some months in Euro-countries this year, I have got some local credit cards as well as a EB CC from Sweden. Sometimes Im wondering which card to use. So the main question for the thread is; How much are you willing to pay to get points?

Lets not compare with buying points or if you really want some point, for example to pass a 10k limit etc. I also know the conditions are different for different credit cards (and that AMEX currently had a summer promo running). However I would like the discussion to be more general.

In fact its really easy to get a CC for no cost in many European countries (that have Euro). For example, in Germany you have www.dkb.de which you can use for free at ATMs all over Europe (you can order via M&M to get some M&M points).

Due to the exchange rate it cost about 2% more for me to use a Swedish Mastercard (than transferring the money from Sweden to my German Visa). So, like yesterday when we had a dinner for 55€ that would mean I would pay about 10 sek for 50 points which is the same as 1000:- for 5000 points. So with Mastcard, I think its pretty clear that its not worth it. For Dinner & Amex the conditions are better but as long as you dont fly a lot the north Scandinavia I'm not sure sure if its worth it...

Also, like today when the Euro is really weak, I usually do bigger transactions which is another reason for me to rather use the Euro CC. Any other people which are quite a lot abroad and have been thinking of the same thing?

I'm quite obsessed with this; I have even made a list for my spouse on when to use different cards (card purchases in SEK, ATM in EUR countries, card purchases in USD, etc...) :D

My rules when my wallet pays for things are rather simple: Cash is always better than points, so I pay with SAS cards or other Swedish miles/points cards only in Sweden, with the only exception being airline tickets in other currencies if I want to have Amex insurance. Otherwise I use a local card or a card with 0% exchange surcharge.

So my answer to your question in nothing! But I am sure a lot of people have a different opinion. ;)

a card with no exchange surcharge? :confused: what card would that be? I've a norwegian SK Mastercard which has a 1.50% surcharge, however compared to other cards I always feel cheated on the exchange rate they're using :/

therefore I rather use local cards for the most common currencies in my travel patterns and transfer money at a lower surcharge and typically better rate.

Sorry I can't be of help with Norwegian cards, but for Swedes, check GE Money Bank and ICA Banken.

FYI:
GE Money Bank in Denmark charges a 1.5% surcharge for European currencies and 2% for all other.

To answer the OPs question:
When abroad I have no present means of avoiding a exchange surcharge and thus uses a CC with priority to SKDC (due to exchange rate and point earning) and if DC is not accepted it is SKMC. In Denmark it is the same, however a variety of cards in many cases provider better benefits than SK CCs does (10% discount, extended warranty, etc) in which case they are used.

Several many years agp I moved Back to Norway from the states. Having gotten used To the ameX Platinum card and membership rewards, i was quite dissapointed To fint that neither was part of the Amex nor portfolio. As a result i opened an Amex currency card Acct in london and had my card billed in Eur. This was fine for a long while, i got membership rewards points, no currency charges when shopping in eur contries. I paid my bills either by check from a spanish euro Acct or by wireless transfer from my SEB Nok Acct.

Then, Amex raised the conversion charges for non Eur currencies from 2 To 2,7% and this really ticked med off. At the same time i was looking at the rates i was getting on my wire transfers from nok To eur at SEB (bank name) and these were really horrible. My conclusion was that If you do not have a large sum To transfer and call the currency desk in person and agree on the exchange rate you will get a lousy rate on your bank transfer.

Now i can get EB points on diners and mastercard in norway, so i figure its better To get screwed once than twice and now i just use my norwegian cards, 1,5% charges.

I guess my point is that IF your incomes are in sek, It will be same same If you use your swedish cards, get eb points or transfer To a foreign Acct and use a debit or non bonus cc. If your incomes are in eur, its another stort.

Ps. IF someone from Amex norway reads this, its time To expand the portfolio. Your offerings in the norweian marked blows. No sas amex card, no Platinum card, no membership rewards.

I use btw Skandiabanken for my bank transferes. They dont have a stupid fee or bad exchange rate. :)

How about using € for all of Europe? No, I just came back from Sweden and what a hassle it was. Getting cash out of Nordea´s Bankomats (it´s free of comission if using a Nordea card), then using my MC when out of cash or bogger purchases, etc. Why have the Swedish/Danish pesos? Norwegian money are not Pesos as everything is unlawfully expensive no matter what the currency used.

In Denmark you can get very cheap conversion ratios to other currencies if you do bank to bank transfers though your banks internet site. So I would try to find a good credit card in Britain or a EUR country and route money through that.

Personally I have most of my income in the US and the UK, and I route all my non-US transactions through Capital One with zero fees, interbank exchange rate, and 1% cash back. There are other US credit cards with similar features, but you need an american credit history to get them.

Carsten

For small/medium foreign payment Skandiabanken is great. For larger amounts (>2000 EUR) always check the exchange rate twice, since their exchange rate includes all "fees" and the rate is not always competitive for larger amounts.

@Nordiclane: Thanks, I will do that :-)

Today, I also found another reason why you shouldn't use the Master Card when you are some months abroad. Its a bit more advance tip but advance tips are also more fun, Right? My father didnt used his EB CC for 5 months (since he wanted to collect SJ points) and then they offered him 5000 points for using the EB Master CC again. He had 2 months to do 5 payments to get the extra 5000 points. :)

Nice! Extremely non-tough criteria. :)

On the other hand, I find that it's easier to argue for having the yearly fee waived for a card you use a lot. (I'm not saying this applies to the EB cards, it's just my general experience with card companies/banks.)

It has been discussed before; Multiple-sas-eb-cc.

They dont do it automaticly but will do it via telefon if you say that you wanna end the card. I guess its around 100k. It worked for me and two friends. If the CC is about to expire close to the annual fee it might also be wise to ask for a new card some months before.