Traveling has a unique set of hassles associated with it. Foremost among these concerns is money. While cash is accepted just about anywhere, it runs the risk of easy theft, poor exchange rates or hard to find exchanges. A credit card is the smallest, most convenient option for payments overseas, but if you’re not careful you can be hit with a number of fees. Here’s a few tips to managing a credit card for overseas usage.
Travel for Less with These Tips
- Make sure it’s a widely accepted card – Visa and MasterCard are the two most likely to be accepted anywhere around the world. Those two brands are the most widespread. American Express works in many places as well, but not quite as many as the big two. Any other brand might not be accepted in the locale you’re traveling to. If you’re not using a Visa or MasterCard, you should look into getting one for travel.
- If possible, pay in the local currency – Paying in your home currency can incur a Dynamic Currency Conversion charge, which often times is a larger amount than the money you lose by a standard currency conversion. This doesn’t apply everywhere, however.
- Check the fine print – If you have multiple credit cards, look into the fine print or call your credit card company for each of them. Find out which of them has the lowest fees for international usage. Sometimes these rates will change depending on the country you’re traveling to. For instance, Capital One has no transaction fee between the United States and the United Kingdom. However, that doesn’t apply if you’re traveling to Asia or South America. Do your research and find which card of yours has the lowest rates.
- Avoid cash advances – They’re riddled with fees and you’re likely to end up having to pay quite a bit more than you get out of the deal. It’s wise to always be prepared with some cash immediately upon entering a country, even though cash has a number of risks on its own. Cash is still a better investment than a cash advance.
- Get a local credit card – If you travel internationally on a regular or frequent basis, consider getting a local credit card in the country you travel to. If you only use it for these travel trips, you can reap the benefits of local rates without having to deal with exchange rates, conversion charges, international surcharges or any other sneaky addition to your bill. Just make sure you remember to pay it off, or the next time you travel you may be in for a rude surprise.
- Get a local debit card. – If you’re traveling for an extended period of time, such as a six month study abroad or an extended business trip, it might be wise to set up a local bank account. If you do that, you can use their bank card to pay for your purchases instead of using a credit card. This saves you a lot of money in various credit card fees, interest and surcharges. It’s not always an ideal means for saving money however, as setting up a bank account internationally can be a hassle all on its own.
- Dedicated travel cards – See if your credit card company offers a travel-specific credit card. Often times these credit cards are geared specifically for people traveling abroad, and offer many benefits that a standard credit card doesn’t. While they’re more useful for frequent travellers than they are for rare or extended stays abroad, they do offer various interesting rewards. Often times these rewards can include cheaper hotels or flights, free items or cash back rewards.
With these simple steps and a little time spent in research, you can go a long way towards making your travel experience much more comfortable, safer and worry free. Unfortunately you won’t be able to find one specific solution that’s perfect for everyone, and you’ll never be able to eliminate carrying cash entirely as you travel, but you should be able to take most of the hassle out of overseas credit card usage.
