Visa AAA told me they do not charge any fee for international transactions...can this be true?
Sep 18th, 2006, 07:15 AM
#4
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You pay indirectly for exchange rate. Some cards give you the actual rate of the day and then charge an exchange fee. Most of them build extra exchange into the conversion and unless you get a rate for that day from an official source you have no idea how much you are paying.
Sep 19th, 2006, 01:28 PM
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I've had horrible luck with this. Every time I've used any card out of the USA, it has cost me 3%. Either a fee, or a surcharge, or a lower exchange rate, but it always works out to 3% more than I should have paid. Maybe I'll check out Visa AAA.
Sep 19th, 2006, 02:09 PM
#10
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We had a discussion on this over at the Asia forum not too long ago. Someone posted the transaction fee rates:
* Capital One: 0% transaction fee. (Capital One not only doesn't impose its own fee, but it also eats the 1% fee that Visa or MasterCard impose.)
* Providian: 1% transaction fee
* American Express: 2%
* Juniper Bank (issuer of US Airways credit card and other partner-branded cards): 2%
* Bank of America: 3%
* Chase: 3%
* Citibank: 3%
* HSBC: 1%-3% depending on card (Updated 4/3/06)
* MBNA: 3%
* U.S. Bancorp (U.S. Bank): 3%
* Wells Fargo: 3%
I have since opened a Capital One account for my international travel. The 3% REALLY adds up.
* Capital One: 0% transaction fee. (Capital One not only doesn't impose its own fee, but it also eats the 1% fee that Visa or MasterCard impose.)
* Providian: 1% transaction fee
* American Express: 2%
* Juniper Bank (issuer of US Airways credit card and other partner-branded cards): 2%
* Bank of America: 3%
* Chase: 3%
* Citibank: 3%
* HSBC: 1%-3% depending on card (Updated 4/3/06)
* MBNA: 3%
* U.S. Bancorp (U.S. Bank): 3%
* Wells Fargo: 3%
I have since opened a Capital One account for my international travel. The 3% REALLY adds up.
Sep 19th, 2006, 03:25 PM
#12
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I just recently got back from Germany and Switzerland. I used Capital One for almost all charges.
I did use my AAA Visa card for my rental car because at Hertz I got 10% off the cost of the rental. The only other time I used it was when I tried to charge a meal just before leaving Switzerland (out of Swiss money) and the waiter said the card did not work. I was semi forced to use my AAA card.
Don't know why the Capital One did not work because I used it sucessfully the following morning to checkout of the hotel. Probably a dirty card reader or the guy doing the entry miskeyed it.
The AAA Visa card does impose the 1% add on. It is listed as a separate line item on the monthly statement.
How much longer that will be the case I don't know becaus MBNA is now owned by Bank of America and a total of 3%is the standard rip 'em off policy. I leave my BOA card buried in my passport case when overseas. I comes out only in case of a most dire emergency which, thankfully, has yet to arise.
Otherwise, Capital One gets the nod as a regular procedure.
I did use my AAA Visa card for my rental car because at Hertz I got 10% off the cost of the rental. The only other time I used it was when I tried to charge a meal just before leaving Switzerland (out of Swiss money) and the waiter said the card did not work. I was semi forced to use my AAA card.
Don't know why the Capital One did not work because I used it sucessfully the following morning to checkout of the hotel. Probably a dirty card reader or the guy doing the entry miskeyed it.
The AAA Visa card does impose the 1% add on. It is listed as a separate line item on the monthly statement.
How much longer that will be the case I don't know becaus MBNA is now owned by Bank of America and a total of 3%is the standard rip 'em off policy. I leave my BOA card buried in my passport case when overseas. I comes out only in case of a most dire emergency which, thankfully, has yet to arise.
Otherwise, Capital One gets the nod as a regular procedure.
