Maraudermick

Got hit with a 3% foreign transaction fee when I purchased an OPW Heritage Card online with my Citi Bank CC.

Just spoke with Bank of America ; they charge 2% foreign transaction fee for purchases in Ireland, and 5%.

What Credit Card is best to bring to Ireland?

MmePerdu

Not just Ireland, anywhere beyond the US, there are a number of cards that charge no foreign transaction fee and debit cards, too.

Mine are AAdvantage Citibank, Capital One credit cards and the Capital One 360 checking account debit card, opened for exactly that reason. There a lot of them these days, those are mine, others will be along to contribute other possibilities.

Kathie

I use my Chase cards - one is affiliated with United, another with Hyatt. Oh, and Bank of America does have cards that don't charge a transaction fee - the Alaska card, for instance.

But you don't want to use ANY credit card in an ATM. Using a credit card in an ATM is borrowing money form the issuer and you will be charged interest (usually at a rate of 20% or more) from the day you withdraw the money until you have paid them back. You want to use an debit card connected to a checking or savings account. If BoA is your bank, you will find their ATM charges quite high: $5 per use plus 3%.

You might want to open an account to use for your travel - at a small bank or credit union, or if you have a brokerage account, they usually don't charge for use of foreign ATMs. Choose a financial institution that has no charge for ATM use and does not charge for foreign exchange.

MmePerdu

The Capital One 360 checking account I mentioned above is easy to open online, link to another account to fund it, use the debit card in foreign atms. I use it only when I travel and the rest of the time it just sits there behaving itself and requiring nothing from me.

greg

You need to read the Terms & Conditions. Many people don't bother reading them and get hit with charges they claim they will hit you.

In the so called Schumer Box that comes with Terms & Conditions, look at the Foreign Transactions. Note that it says Foreign "Transactions" not "Exchange." What is means is that if the transaction takes place with foreign company, even if it is done in US dollars, you STILL get hit with foreign "Transaction" fee. This has an implication on what is called DCC = Dynamic Currency Conversion. Online as well as in Ireland purchase, you would be offered a "favor" (a sweet scam flag word...) of comfort (in obliviously being hit with totally avoidable fee...) in being charged in dollars. This costs you at least 3% on top of EVERYTHING else including your foreign transaction fee. Can you do math? Then you realize you would be hit with 3% Citibank CC foreign transcation + 3% DCC fee = 6% total. This is totally avoidable by using a one of many no transaction fee cards and avoiding DCC, always say "charge my card in EURO, please." DCC is prevalent in Ireland.

Even the Bank of America does offer several no foreign transaction cards. BankAmerica Travel Rewards is one such card. Your card was not one of them. Learn to read the Terms & Conditions.

MmePerdu

Ireland was, in fact, the first place I was offered DCC as a "courtesy" by a retailer. Well before it was being discussed and warnings given to avoid.

Tony2phones

DCC typically 3% is a little cheaper than the charges I have from my UK bank when drawing/spending € rather than £. Don't complain about DCC until you check how much your own bank would actually charge you.

Christina

I also wondered about the B of A thing as I know they have many different type of cards with different features. So I guess the OP had a particular card of theirs already and those are the terms. I thought she was thinking of getting one, but that would have been a very bad answer as they have so many. In fact, I have one administered by B of A without any foreign transaction charges, it's the AAA Visa. I think the benefits are similar to the B of A Travel card, or a little better. I like it because you get more rewards for your points if you use them at a AAA store, so I can use it to pay my AAA membership fee each year, even though it's not my main CC.

I thought most people chose cards nowadays for variious rewards they get, although some of the more advantageous ones cost about $95 a year. Still, there are plenty that are free with no foreign transaction. It's a tradeoff, if you didn't travel very often at all abroad, the B of A Travel Rewards card might not be a better deal than the cashback one which gves more points.

Cjar

I have a Charles Schwab debit. No foreign transaction fees and they'll refund any ATM fees as well I think.
I also have a Capital One Venture card and Chase Sapphire preferred that I can travel with to have a credit card available.

BigRuss

This is easy - get a Cap One account or a credit union account (G-d knows NASA and the Navy have been advertising their CUs like crazy, no connection to either required) and use that debit card for little to no fee.

And you should have a no forex fee credit card - there are too many available to list. Citibank offers some, Barclays does, Chase does, Cap One does - this is fish-barrel-shotgun targeting.

BigRuss

This is easy - get a Cap One account or a credit union account (G-d knows NASA and the Navy have been advertising their CUs like crazy, no connection to either required) and use that debit card for little to no fee.

And you should have a no forex fee credit card - there are too many available to list. Citibank offers some, Barclays does, Chase does, Cap One does - this is fish-barrel-shotgun targeting.

Trophywife007

MmePerdu on Jul 4, 17 at 9:49am

"The Capital One 360 checking account I mentioned above is easy to open online, link to another account to fund it, use the debit card in foreign atms. I use it only when I travel and the rest of the time it just sits there behaving itself and requiring nothing from me."

Ditto what MmeP. said re. use of atms and Cap One 360. I've had excellent use from this account. Turn on text alerts and they will tell you exactly how much you withdrew from your acct. in dollars after using an atm -- great for checking to see what your exchange rate was.

BigRuss

Speaking of exchange rates - NEVER CONVERT AT THE ATM. You will have the option to perform a money conversion at the ATM that will give you a receipt in dollars, or to proceed without conversion.

Always proceed without conversion.

In the UK, we were offered to convert at the ATM on arrival. Without conversion, we withdrew about 200 GBP and that translated to about $260; if we had chosen to convert, we'd have been charged $282.

Trophywife007

"Speaking of exchange rates - NEVER CONVERT AT THE ATM. "

I noticed this for the first time a couple of weeks ago in Copenhagen. At the atm they offered an exchange rate of 5.91 and it almost seemed that if we declined it, the machine wouldn't proceed. We did persist without using their rate and it turns out, we got 6.595 when the rate on xe.com was listed as 6.63... much better than the 5.91 initially offered.

I know I'm in the realm of hair splitting at this point, but I like knowing I'm getting a much better deal than I would be using my BoA or Chase atm card.

MmePerdu

I seem to recall being given a similar "opportunity" at an ATM in Mexico. A mantra of mine, in retail as in life, when in doubt the answer is no.

Maraudermick

Thanks for all your great info.

I 've been on the phone & internet for days asking questions about obtaining some of the debit cards in these posts.
There's always some obstacle ; I can open an acct online but the card has to be mailed to me...in 1-2 weeks, or the person on the phone has no idea of the difference between an exchange rate (which I never asked about) and foreign transaction fees!

Sooooo frustrating.

I saw a TV commercial for TD Bank, that said you could get a debit card same day at any branch (I leave July 10). So I spent 2 hrs (yeah,Two hrs!) at my local branch getting a chip debit ATM card. The platform guy swore TD had NO : charge for using a foreign ATM, foreign transaction fees, or foreign conversion fees.

I was happy until I got home, and called TD to confirm.
Sure enough, the TD guy in the bank flat out lied! TD charges $3.00 for Every ATM use at a non-TD Bank ATM.

Grrrr.

Maraudermick

Christina,

I also have a B of A - AAA VISA card; "Cirrus" on the back.
I checked with the 24 hr Customer service # on the back ; they DO
charge.....$5. for each ATM use, 2% for all purchases.

Maybe B of A gave you the same wrong info that so many banks have given me?

Trophywife007

"Maybe B of A gave you the same wrong info that so many banks have given me?"

She may have been referring to some BoA credit cards, not atm cards? They may also have different levels of bank accounts with different fee structures... for me, I only have the basic free with direct deposit type which is why I use a different account for travel.