klandres

United Miles Debit card recently stopped giving miles. So I switched to the credit card. Now I'm wondering about getting money on trips overseas through ATMs, which I've always done. Seems like the credit card will cost me a lot more, but I haven't figured it out yet. Anyone have suggestions for getting money on overseas travel? Kathleen

doug_stallings

NEVER EVER use a credit card in an ATM machine unless you want to incur scandalously high interest rates and charges. That's just short-sighted. The price you pay to get a cash advance more than overwhelms any benefit from the miles. If you need cash abroad, you use your debit card from your checking account, never a credit card.

november_moon

Yep - use youre debit card. If you use your credit card, it will be considered a cash advance, which has no grace period and high interest. You'll be charged interest on your money from the minute you withdraw the cash to the minute your payment is received by your bank - probably at around 23%.

qwovadis

www.capitalone.com Venture VISA CREDIT card best for me.

No foreign transaction fees unlike debit card

taken everywhere I ATM with it abroad for local money

get the FOREX best rate last in Rome paid less than $10

in local bank fees no other fees

from Banco di Roma way better than changing USD

the way to go for me.

I leave all my debit cards at home too risky for "skimming"

abroad if you do not catch it a good thief can clean you out

If you elect to use one open a separate travel account

you after a time you are 100% liable for debit card

with credit card 0% liability can always reverse dodgy

charges service get my money back THEY are liable.

One poor guy I know had $150000 in a margin broker account

used his debit card in Peru got dinged for $300000

they even maxed his margin out so CREDIT CARD VISA best for

me.... The editor of cntraveler.com Wendy Perrin

has a great article on best travel cards in their last issue.

Debit card scamswww.consumerreports.org › Home › Money - CachedSimilar- Block all www.consumerreports.org results
Not helpful? You can block www.consumerreports.org results when you're signed in to search.www.consumerreports.org
Debit-card 'skimming' scams. Three steps to take to protect your account data from "skimming" ID theft while traveling.

qwovadis

It is true that ATM withdrawal is treated

as a cash withdrawal and as such

accrues interest from date it is withdrawn.

it is a simple matter for me to go on line and pay it

off quickly so personally it rarely amounts to more

than a few dollars for me best exchange rate

and decreased risk liability more than makes up for it

for me.

.

qwovadis

The Informer: Card Tricks Every Traveler Should Know from Condé ...www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/503775 - com
Wendy Perrin reveals winning strategies for scoring hotel rooms, flights.

Great insider tips on best cards I have a bunch amazing

deals on flights hotels etc free fee for the first year

usually cancel head for another deal quickly...

thursdaysd

The sensible thing to do is to get either a Credit Union account, which will almost certainly charge only 1% foreign conversion fee, or a Capital One BANK (NOT, NOT, NOT credit) account, which will charge 0% foreign conversion fee and NO bank fees.

kentchristopher

Withdrawing cash from an ATM with a debit card is definitely the way to go for getting cash abroad. The only question is which bank to go with, as some have ridiculous ATM fees, i.e. Chase, which charges $5 per transaction + 3% of the amount withdrawn = $14 on a $300 withdrawal!

The best resource for this is the Wiki at FlyerTalk:

http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...reign_Exchange

Note that even Capital One, well-known amongst seasoned travelers, now charges a $1.50 ATM fee.

Ideally you want a debit card with no foreign withdrawal fees (0%) AND which actually reimburses you for any ATM fees charged by the ATM owner. Looking at the list, though, you'll see this isn't easy to come by. The only universal option which doesn't require residence in a certain state is Schwab Bank.

If you can't get an account with Schwab, the next best option is simply one with no fees and acknowledge that you'll have to pay any ATM fees which ATM owner charges. Just make sure to withdraw money at actual bank ATMs and not the ones you see outside convenience stores which tend to charges higher ATM fees.

Good luck!

thursdaysd

"Note that even Capital One, well-known amongst seasoned travelers, now charges a $1.50 ATM fee."

Where did you see that??? Checking their web site I see no such fee, and the reimbursement for fees charged by other banks' ATMs has gone from $10 to $25 a month.

kentchristopher

Thursdaysd, check the link I posted. I don't make any claim for its accuracy - just going by what's on the FlyerTalk Wiki which I assume has been updated. Capital One recently issued me a new debit card, so maybe this has something to do with the change. It could also be that the fee only applies to new accounts.

thursdaysd

I'd rather believe the Capital One website that some wiki. It is possible that the terms are different in different parts of the country, as the website asks you for your zip code before providing information.

Kay2

I don't remember the specifics, but on one trip I needed to use my credit card instead of an ATM card to withdraw cash somewhere. Knowing that I would have to do this, I overpaid my credit card bill a couple of days in advance so it showed a positive balance and then when I had to make the withdrawal, there was no interest because the balance in the account immediately covered the withdrawal. The credit card company had the use of my money, but it would have been sitting in my checking account anyway.

I don't make a habit of this and it won't work if you carry an outstanding balance on the credit card.

doug_stallings

Kay, that's actually a shrewd and interesting way of getting around the exorbitant interest charges. But didn't you have to still pay the huge cash-advance fee that most credit cards charge?

Kay2

Again, it has been several years since I overpaid the credit card in advance, so I don't remember why I did it. Maybe my previous credit card did not have a high cash advance fee. It is now 3%. It could also be that the country I was traveling to did not have ample reliable ATMs at that time, so I was prepared to go into a bank and get a credit card advance or else carry travelers checks to cash at a bank. I haven't been in that situation in a while.

Before online banking was so easy, I also overpaid utility bills, etc. when I knew I was going to be traveling when the next bill was due. Now I can pay online, so that is no longer necessary.