Does anyone know of a credit card that doesn't charge the 1% - 3% fee that most do on trasactions made in europe?

The best I could find with MC and Visa was the 1% standard fee. Issuing banks add anything up to 3% on top of that. Mine charges only the 1% standard fee. If someone else can find one that eliminates or rebates the standard 1%, I'd be interested.

I don't think you'll find any card that doesn't charge at least one percent. That's really not much given you are getting bank exchange rate.

The Motley Fool MBNA card charges a 1% fee but also gives you a 1% rebate on all purchases, so foreign transactions become a break-even. I think that's the best you can do.

<BR>RufusT--how did you find out what your bank charges. One of mine said: &quot;we charge 2% on top of visa's 1%.&quot; <BR>the other said &quot;we charge 2%&quot; and when i asked him if that includes mastercard's 1% charge (i was bluffing), he said, &quot;i presume so.&quot; <BR><BR>

take a look at capital one...maybe no fee....

Wasn't there a recent ruling by a court that conversion fees are required to be disclosed? Was this for a specific state or for the whole country?<BR><BR>It's been my experience that my bank has no idea what I'm talking about when I ask about this.

I have a card issued through AAA with MBNA as the card issuer. It does not charge the extra 2% for non US dollar denominated transactions. The 1% is an addon by Visa and Master Card.<BR><BR>A recent California court decision told both MC and Visa that they had to refund what they had been charging.<BR>I wonder if that will ever happen.<BR>You can bet your last credit card that the case will be tied up in legal thrashing about for the next 10 years.<BR>But contact MBNA and ask them directly if overseas credit card charges incur the 2% extra charge. Mine does not.<BR><BR>

Many will disagree with me, but I have no real objection to the extra 2% (3%total) that my Citibank Aadvantage card charges for international charges. I just cashed in 90,000 miles for a ticket worth over $7000. (yes, first class from Florida to NYC for a stay, then business class to London for a stay, then business class to Berlin for a stay, and business class from Paris back to Miami). That means basically my miles are worth about 13 cents each, or I'm getting a 13 % return on my credit card charges -- makes the 2 % seem insignificant. Even if that entire ticket was the result of international charges (which it certainly isn't), it would have cost me $1800. Tell me where I could get a ticket like I have for $1800!

Capital One doesn't charge it

My card is also MBNA, and I found out they don't add anything to the 1% Visa/MC fee by first reading all the fine print in my card agreement, and then calling my bank to verify. I get a 1% rebate on all purchases except gasoline which is 3%.

Me again. Does each card limit you to a single airline (re those wonderful ff miles) Patrick?

Capital One does not charge the fee and has a miles program that does not limit you to any specific airline. The only downside I have found is minimal (unlike Chase miles program, if the purchased ticket throught them goes down in price at the airline, the airline does not give you a voucher for the difference). Capital one must buy tickets at a consolidator or discount price which prevents the reduction or voucher.<BR>They have on line statements, etc. We have used it since 2000, had no problem getting the tickets we wanted the 2 times we have cashed in miles (on two different airlines).<BR>

To jmw, yes, my card limits me to American Airlines, but that is the only airline I normally fly and it fills all my needs. Better to put &quot;all my eggs in one basket&quot; so to speak as that way I also earn lots of bonuses through that one airline and there are no losses when I convert the miles to other airlines or scatter them among several airlines. (OK, let's not talk about what happens if American does go bankrupt). I'm closely approaching the 1 million mile mark with AA, but most of those &quot;miles&quot; earned in ways other than actual air miles. I've done some 10 international trips with American miles, either upgrading to Business from the cheapest coach fare, or doing all &quot;free&quot; business class with various bonus stopovers and/or gateway stopovers included. In addition to quite a few European trips, I've used miles to fly business free to Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Perth, and Aukland as well!

Take a look at this article:<BR>http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20020513c.asp<BR>It lists the larger banks and what they add on for overseas purchases not only for credit cards but also for debit cards. ATM fees are also listed. <BR><BR>Looks like the only ones that have no extra fee currently are SunTrust, Wachovia/FirstUnion, Capital One, and MBNA. The others listed are at 2%.<BR><BR>Most credit unions do not add on the extra 2%.

There is so much misinformation out there both by people who don't seem able to read or by so called customer service reps of cc companies so here goes..<BR><BR>1. Visa/MC use the interbank rate which is the best rate to convert foreign currencies to US currency. To protect themselves against possible currency fluctuations, they add a very justified 1%. This additioal 1% charge is on the charge when it reaches your bank. Therefore unless a bank wants to lose money it passes this charge along to the customer as the charge has already been increased when it reaches your bank. So every bank passes along the 1% visa/mc surcharge contrary to what some think Capital One does not surcharge...it doesn't add the surcharge but it passes it along even if the customer service rep claims it doesn't.<BR><BR>2. Many of the large credit card banks then tack on a additional absolutely unjustified additional charge of 2%. Tru getting an answer out of them as to just what you are being charged for..protection against currency fluctuations some customer service reps tell you. A lie as the currency fluctuation can only affect visa/mc which do the conversion. When the charge reaches your bank it has already been converted so your bank has no worries about currency fluctuations. You can't get a straight answer from the banks about this.<BR><BR>3. Of the big credit card banks, MBNA and Capital One do not add the additional fee but most assuredly they pass along the 1%. Many credit unions and smaller banks do not impose the additional surcharge but others whose credit card programs are controlled by the big credit card banks do.<BR><BR>4. The suit in California only had to do with informing the public regarding these charges. The judge absolutely did not say the charges are illegal; rather they have to be disclosed. This is a class actio suit and credit card holders will probably some day get 12 cents each and the lawyers get millions but that is another thread.<BR><BR>5. Amex charges 2% against the interbank rate for your information.<BR><BR>The above is a simple concise statement of what is going on. Anybody who tells you otherwise does not know what they are talking about.

To Jeff49<BR>Thanks for the article, it is a concise explanation of the fee (surcharge) that may be imposed and a good website to keep in touch.