I am going to Longon, Paris, and Oslo in the summer. Which credit card should I use to avoid fees as much as possible? (Thanks for your help.)

Do a google search for credit card comparisons and you should be ok. There are fewer and fewer that offer no fee foreign transactions and I'm thinking that Capital One may be the only one these days.

Of course the best approach is cash...best rates going. Use an ATM...don't take traveler checks and don't exchange money...you get raped. The only thing I would use credit cards for is the hotel room personally, otherwise it is daily trips to the ATM.

Also, most banks will raise your daily limit for a period of time upon an in person visit and request form.

Capital One.

HI G,

CapitalOne doesn't charge conversion fees above the 1% set by MC/Visa.

I just use my AMEX. Sure, there is a 2% fee, but I think the service, security, and rewards make up for that. Otherwise, I think the Capital One card has the lowest fees.

I know some swear that it isn't widely accepted in Europe, but I have been to London, Oslo, and Paris (as well as many other European cities) within the past year or so and didn't have too many problems in any of those cities. Perhaps for a few smaller purchases, it wasn't an option, but it was never enough of an issue that I really noticed it.

One question I have, and which I can't seem to find any answer to, is what fx rate the various cards use. This would seem like an easy way to charge a fee, without declaring it as such. I don't know that any cards do this, but I sure wouldn't put it past them.

One that has a big credit limit.... . I recommend either Visa or Mastercard... Both work well, and have been accepted pretty much anywhere I've been....

I looked back at some statements, and if anyone is interested, the net "charge" for AMEX seems to be right around 3%. Since the AMEX fee is 2%, it looks like they use a fx rate of interbank + 1%. This holds for Euros and Kroner, so I suspect it is standard across currencies.

For comparison purposes, my ATM card gave me a net "charge" of less than 1% for an ATM withdrawal, but my bank is not typical.

It would be great if anyone could do the same for a Capital One card, so that folks could compare.

My method to calculate was, as follows:

1) Obtained the actual interbank rate for the day of the charge from Oanda.com.
2) Calculated an implied fx rate from my Amex statement by dividing the Euro/Kroner charge amount by the amount billed in USD.
3) Divided the implied rate by the interbank rate to find the "charge" percentage.

Capital One doesn't add on the one pct VISA/MC charge, either. I have done Capital One comparisons before and so have other people and I think it's been discussed before on Fodors. It is basically the interbank rate, period.

For those who don't believe that (and I know from prior posts, some people do not), I'll give some examples from one Cap One MC bill I have in my expense account files at my desk from 8/07:

Cap One exchange rate of USD to CHF (Swiss francs): 1.207834 (interbank daily average that date from Oanda was 1.2072); same thing a few days later--Cap One 1.1997, interbank 1.2037

Cap One rate for USD to euro on 8/4/07 was .7291 and the interbank was .7288; on 8/5/07 Cap One rate was .7293 and interbank was .7263

Those Capital One rates were the only ones used to determine my bill, there were absolutely no itemized separate charges or fees for foreign transactions.

Thanks Christina. That is exactly the sort of comparison I was looking for.

This doesn't mean I will rush off to get a Capital One card, but at least we have full data.

Thanks for your replies!

I will bring ATM card and other credit cards, but I will be sure to sign up for a Capital One card before my trip. That seems to be the way to go.

I appreciate all the advice given.

I have a Capital One card, but it is a Capital One Mastercard. So is there another kind of Capital One card I need to get?