HImom

Some places will also give you discounts if you pay cash. Two of the three hotels we're staying at in Europe are giving us cash discounts, so it's really no hassle for me to get them Euros instead of charging the amount to the credit card. The hotel that doesn't give a cash discount will accept our credit card.

Most of the smaller cafes and places we plan to stay/shop at I suspect will prefer cash, which is what we plan to use.

lgnutah

Capital One no hassles reward card (credit card) has no foreign transaction fee

Get cash using a credit union ATM card. No foreign transaction fees (with mine) and a $1.00 per use fee for using a non-credit union ATM machine. Use a bank ATM, preferably during bank hours, so that if the machine takes your card you can go inside and report it to someone (or use the ATM machine inside the bank for added security, if there is one)

travelerjan

About ATM cards: Be aware that even tho your Credit Union, like mine -- and some good banks, like TD -- do not have a "foreign transaction fee" for getting money while abroad, there is still the "currency conversion fee." This is the 1% charged by Visa/Mastercard for converting $$ into Euros or Pounds... this is a stupid fee, because it costs those Giant card outfits virtually nothing, just an automatic software action. However, there it is. I understand that the Capitol One ATM card (on a Cap One bank account) will "eat" that fee and not charge your account.

On threads like this, it is important to be very clear what kind of card -- debit or credit -- one is talking about. I almost never use my credit cards abroad because of fees. I would use them only if buying a huge-ticket item and wanted the option to block payment ... but then, I never splurge that way.

brotherleelove2004

Those "Giant card outfits" aren't banks. They make their profits from processing transactions from the banks they are contracted to serve, be they VISA partners or Mastercard partners, or partners with one of the smaller companies such as Discover, Diners Club, AMEX, etc. It's not a stupid fee, and it doesn't cost virtually nothing. If there was not some sort of central clearing house for ATM and Credit Card transactions the system would not work as smoothly as it does WORLDWIDE, allowing people in every country to get cash in hand at a moment's notice. Think about it and think of all the people who work for those companies and depend on them for their livelihood.

HImom

A 1% charge for international liquidity sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I guess I'll find out whether this charge appears somewhere on my statements or on-line or is somehow itemized. If it's assessed, I guess it's a cost of travel?!?!

brotherleelove2004

As I understand it the 1% is somehow built into the exchange rate so it doesn't show up as an additional charge. Companies like Schwab automatically reimburse it.

LoveItaly

If one qualifies, USAA credit cards, Master Card or Visa, only charge the 1% fee that the Master Card or Visa charges. Active military, retired military and those that have served in the military qualify if their credit rating is good of course. The only thing I am not sure about is that they did require one to have a least one insurance policy with USAA, they changed that requirement, but I think possibly that is now true again. Their website would address that requirement however. They have the USAA Savings Bank and something like the first 10 ATM withdrawal charges from other ATM's are credited back to your account.

Jean

Applying for a new credit card dings your credit score. Anyone thinking of buying a house in the near term should keep this in mind.

krgystn

who cares? houses are overpriced anyway; the bubble continues...

xyz123

The banking industry as well as Mastercard and visa lost a class action suit in the USA a few years ago and now they must explicitely state the foreign transaction fees on the statements; before it was buried in the exchange rate they showed (some banks never even showed the exchange rate, they simply showed the amount of the foreign transaction as converted to your currency (presumably this discussion is for USA residents as not all of Capital One international affiliates give the free ride on foreign currency transactions

The 1% fee for currency exchange by MC/visa is probably warranted as they do the actual exchange and do take a risk, however small it might be, of currency fluctuations. What is inexcusable is the additional 2% tacked on by the near criminal large banks such as Citibank, Chase, Bank of America, HSBC which receive the transactions already converted and play no role in the currency transaction but use this as a way to rip off their customers. Unfortunately, they have so much control over the national bank regulators that they were afraid to declare this additional charge as what it is namely a rip off. But then again, what's important in the USA is free enterprise.

But there are a couplf of things in this game one has to be aware of. One is the dreaded dynamic currency conversion (dcc) where the merchant offers as a "courtesy" and "convenience" to you to convert the currency and you see on the sales slip not only the amount in local currency but in USD (again assuming this is a discussion for Americans although similar things are done to other nationalities in the name of courtesy). DCC is a rip off plain and simple. They use inflated exchange rates. Be aware that under MC/Visa rules they may not perform this scam unless you agree to it. The merchants must offer you the opportunity to pay in local currency. Of course, this scam allows some merchants to lie with excuses such as, :I have no control over it. The terminal does it automatically." Nonsense, because of the above noted reg, the terminal asks the mercdhant if the customer wishes to be scammed oops if the customer wishes the "convenience" of having the amount shown in his or her currency. Or the lie "well the USD amount is just an approximation." Then why are you being asked to sign a statement that you were offered the opportunity to pay in local currtency and accept the converted amount as final. Or then the famous "No speak English." (They even once tried to pull this on me in Ireland). If they tru to pull this scam on you, politely tell the mertchant to void (not credit) the transaction (they claim they can't but of course every mc/visa terminal has to have provision in case the merchant "accidentally" enters the wrong amount). If they refuse, politely ask to see the manager. If they persist in their attempts to scam you, circle th elocal currency figure on the sales slip, instead of signing write local currency not offered, and tell the merchant you will be requesting a chargeback from MC/visa and then do it. This cancer had been spreading throughout the travel world and has to be stopped in its tracks.

But it gets more dicey. Both MC/Visa have extended what was once a foreign conversion transaction fee to all foreign transactions, even done in your currency. I found that out when I ordered some things on ebay from Hong Kong merchants and although the entire transaction was done in USD, I was still charged the foreign transaction fee. And wouldn't you know, of course the near criminal banks such as Citibank, Bank of America, Chase tack on their additional 2%. So now whenever I use paypal for such transaction, I use my Charles Schwab Bank credit card. That way I save 5%, the 3% rip off fee by Citibank and the 2% bonus they give me. What a wonderful world eh.

travelerjan

The TD Bank (formerly Commerce Bank) which is widespread now in the North Eastern US at least, is very good about it. For using ATM cards only the 1% conversion fee, NO Foreign Transaction Fee for up to 10 Withdrawals per month abroad. I always also go to the bank before my trip to Greece, and tell hem I'll be withdrawing in Europe & also get the allowable amount per withdrawal increased to $700 per transaction. I make sure they note it in their computers. I do the same for my other ATM card I use as a back-up, from my Credit Union account.

By contrast, my Wachovia account (a Senior Cit. account, which I only use in Philadelphia as a convenient quick-cash resource) has become even Greedier since being acquired by Wells Fargo. Of course, the 1% conversion fee. OK. Formerly they also charged a $3 fee per transaction. Now they've made that $5... AND have added a 3% fee ON TOP. THis means that to obtain $300, it would cost you $14!!! No thank you.

Brotherlee, did not mean to badmouth Visa/Mastercard and all of their wonderful employees who provide us with international liquidity. Don't get huffy. I HAVE objected to the fact that on bank statements, the currency conversion fee is not split out and not stated anywhere, so unless people are curious like you & me, they'd never know it existed.

brotherleelove2004

"I HAVE objected to the fact that on bank statements, the currency conversion fee is not split out and not stated anywhere...."

Perhaps that's what you were thinking but that's not at all what you said above. As you so often sternly point out to others, we're not mind readers.

You wrote that you did not mean to badmouth Visa/Mastercard... Well, "this is a stupid fee" isn't exactly a glowing recommendation. In fact it speaks directly to your opinion of their primary function as a business.

How is it that having taken the time to point out incorrect statements labels me as "huffy"? That's a word I might use to describe some of your more impatient rants towards those who ask travel questions but don't provide the details you believe necessary for a detailed answer.

Have your say and then let's be done with this.

surfmom

xyz has some great information. re-read that post.

I am also an advocate of Schwab. I was in London in February and we used a few different cards at different times (if reimbursable by the company, etc.) ... I will go through and check exchange rates on similar days and report back.

gracejoan3

I still find my way is the best for me and do not even think of all the rest. I go to Paris for up to 6 weeks a stay. I only need 600 - 800 euros and always want to return home with at least 100 euros. This amount is so small that the 'extra' fees for just going to my local AAA office and ordering them in the denominations that I want, wrting them a check the following day when I pick them up, is well worth it to me. Not all AAA office locations do this. I never need to go to an ATM. I use the CapOne card for most everything..load Navigo and buy small items with the euros. I take other credit cards and a bank ATM card along for extras. This does work well for me. If you needed a lot of cash that would make a difference.

So many ways to do it and to look at it..each has to choose which works best for them!

Joan

Keith

My Capital One Card has no transaction fee, but looking at a charge made to it in Euros this weekend, the total charged in US dollars was about 10% more than the prevailing exchange rate.

I will not know exactly what they did, until I receive my actual statement.

Keith

Christina

I suspect there is a mistake or misunderstanding by you as I have a Cap One MC and have used it for years and never once has there been any foreign transaction fee or discrepancy compared to the current official exchange rate. It's true I haven't used it for a couple months abroad, but still, they haven't changed their terms.

Perhaps you are simply doing your math wrong, or perhaps you don't know the actual exchange rate (check www.oanda.com or something for the official one). It also can vary a day or two from the actual date when you think you bought something as to when it went through (that can't change 10 pct though). Or did you by any chance use a merchant who said they were going to charge you in US dollars and you said fine or signed a slip that had USD on it? That is the most likely situation when this occurs, in which case the merchant took the markup, not Capital One. Some people think they are being charged in euros if they agree to DCC but if your charge slip showed USD on it, it is DCC. It's also possible there was some fee in what you did, and if you took out cash, of course there would be a cash advance fee (that is another likely suspect, actually).

Cap One puts the actual exchange rate right on the bill, anyway. So you don't have to be guessing what rate they used. What they don't do (which is a little inconvenient) is put the original charge on the bill in the original currency, so you have to keep your receipts to compare and make sure it matches up okay.

brotherleelove2004

If your Cap One card is a credit card, not an ATM card, and you used it to withdraw cash from an ATM you might have been charged a cash advance fee which is a separate charge, and by the way it's at a significantly higher interest rate.

gracejoan3

I used my Cap one for 6 weeks from Nov 1st thru mid Dec. I just looked at my Jan Statement and as Christina said the exchange rate is on every item. When I was in Paris, I used a spreadsheet and posted each receipt with the euro charge and then the $ charge as it showed up along with computed exchange rate. Easy to do and to follow.

No problems. You must hae siething else with your above computation. I'm sure you will get it all straightened out.

Joan

Keith

It was a charge in Euros by internet at the Eurostar web site.

xyz123

Ah ha....when you started with ther Eurostar web site, it asks where you are from....if you put the USA it puts a cookie in your computer and it forces, although you are not aware of it, to use their currency conversion rate as they bill you in USD....it is a form of dcc. I had a hell of time with that until I realized what they had done....I found the cookie, removed it from the computer and the next time I started www.eurostar.com it first asked me where I was located and I answered the UK.....end of problem. All billing was then done in sterling and I got the Charles Schwab account rebate (2%) plus waiver of visa/mc surcharge (1%) + mp citibank surcharge (2%) although I note now that the eurostar web site now charges £3 for using a credit card for the booking!