The companies can be really tricky on this. My Visa bill always shows the 1% as a separate listing there by the original transaction, so I can see clearly that a fee was charged, and for how much. My AmEx, on the other hand, I stupidly thought had no fees until I read the fine print in the agreement and saw they add it in, and don't list it separately.

It feels like a scam, no matter how you slice it.

Yes, I sometimes wonder how many also wander around the streets of Paris before buying a glass of wine to make sure they're not paying 3% more for it at this place than another. Or making sure the pizza they're buying in Rome isn't marked up a few percent higher than the one around the block.
Travel is too much fun to get THAT hung up on minor expenses in my opinion.

Capital One is the only one I know that does not charge any extra. I got one just before my last trip and not one extra penny was added.

Neither Charles Schwab nor Salomon Smith Barney add either a currency conversion markup nor pass through the 1% Visa ISA (International Service Assessment).

If the price tag said £1, that's what came out of my account (at the interbank rate prevailing the day the transaction settled).

Neither charges any fees or markup on ATM withdrawals using a debit card, and Schwab even rebates any fees charged by the bank that owns the ATM.

There was an interesting article on how using a Capital One card affects the credit score:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ourCredit.aspx

Wow. Very interesting article.

I planned on using my citi bank AA miles card. They do charge 3%, but I get to build up the miles. This trip coming up was on miles.

Very interesting article. I'm glad I haven't been using a Capital One card this year. We have been doing a lot of home improvements and pay with my Disney Visa for everything that will accept credit cards (then pay in full every month.) This month, we are close to our limit, which is very high.

Does anyone know how American Express handles this? We were hoping to rack up some points on this trip, but ot if it will cost us significantly over the Cap One card!