Best card for avoiding overseas transaction fees

[Hammer61]

Most of the big banks and financial institutions will offer cards with no international transaction fees, but its also a trade off as you wont get points or the complimentary travel insurance some of the other card have or if you do the card fee is high.

 

I'm using a Westpac altitude card at the moment which has free travel insurance plus the points, for oversees transactions though or when im raveling/cruising i use an ING Orange one visa card it has no annual fee and no international fees of any kind when using oversees, but no points or any perks. 

 

On some occasions however its useful to use the Westpac card with its 3% fee, booking our Azamara cruise for example, it was priced in $A but the office is in Dublin so its classed as an oversees transaction, so i pay just enough with that card to get the insurance for the trip, then the rest fee free with the ING card.

[MicCanberra]

We normally carry a minimal amount of cash in the foreign currency unless it is pounds, USD or Euros as we know we will use any remainders on a future trip.

[Sallyandtex]

30 minutes ago, Hammer61 said:

Most of the big banks and financial institutions will offer cards with no international transaction fees, but its also a trade off as you wont get points or the complimentary travel insurance some of the other card have or if you do the card fee is high.

 

I'm using a Westpac altitude card at the moment which has free travel insurance plus the points, for oversees transactions though or when im raveling/cruising i use an ING Orange one visa card it has no annual fee and no international fees of any kind when using oversees, but no points or any perks. 

 

On some occasions however its useful to use the Westpac card with its 3% fee, booking our Azamara cruise for example, it was priced in $A but the office is in Dublin so its classed as an oversees transaction, so i pay just enough with that card to get the insurance for the trip, then the rest fee free with the ING card.

Delving into it further, looks like 2 cards are needed?

 

I wouldn't be eligible for the 28 degrees or the Citibank free insurance, as we have paid for the flights already as there were only a few seats left and we couldn't wait for the card application approval (conditions are that you pay for "flights" or "overseas travel ticket" with the 28 * card/Citibank card).

 

Wespac will give you free insurance if you "prepay at least $500 on your travel costs" on the card so that could work for that, but they charge the 3% transaction fees. I guess that would add up to less than the travel insurance , which looks to be about $700.

 

If we get a Westpac one or similar, would probably need a 2nd card for the free transactions OS.

 

Am I missing something?

 

[Aus Traveller]

We use our ANZ Platinum Visa to pay at least $250 of the travel cost (can be the deposit on the cruise) to qualify for travel insurance. When they say 'international travel' it doesn't have to be the international flight. A cruise ticket is an overseas travel ticket as long as it is an international cruise and not just one (say) from Brisbane to Sydney. I also have the ANZ Rewards card that has no international currency conversion fees.

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, Sallyandtex said:

Delving into it further, looks like 2 cards are needed?

 

I wouldn't be eligible for the 28 degrees or the Citibank free insurance, as we have paid for the flights already as there were only a few seats left and we couldn't wait for the card application approval (conditions are that you pay for "flights" or "overseas travel ticket" with the 28 * card/Citibank card).

 

Wespac will give you free insurance if you "prepay at least $500 on your travel costs" on the card so that could work for that, but they charge the 3% transaction fees. I guess that would add up to less than the travel insurance , which looks to be about $700.

 

If we get a Westpac one or similar, would probably need a 2nd card for the free transactions OS.

 

Am I missing something?

 

Just make sure the insurance covers what you need it to cover. Some of these credit card insurances can have more limited coverage than a stand alone travel insurance product. 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I also have the ANZ Rewards card that has no international currency conversion fees.

A large number do not have upfront fees, but do take a % commission from the official rate and convert your spend to a few % lower.

[Aus Traveller]

3 minutes ago, arxcards said:

A large number do not have upfront fees, but do take a % commission from the official rate and convert your spend to a few % lower.

My card had up-front fees that are more than covered by rewards. 

[Nang]

You might want to look into the possibility of loading a 28 Degrees card with cash prior to getting one. I have had one for over 10 years and used to preload with cash and then get interest free cash from an ATM but they now discourage that by charging 3% of the amount even if your account is loaded up with cash.

[arxcards]

13 hours ago, Nang said:

You might want to look into the possibility of loading a 28 Degrees card with cash prior to getting one. I have had one for over 10 years and used to preload with cash and then get interest free cash from an ATM but they now discourage that by charging 3% of the amount even if your account is loaded up with cash.

We had a separate card each. One for spending, and the other pre-loaded into credit for ATM withdrawals. It worked well at the time. Even 10 years ago, their rules were saying you couldn't do this but it was largely ignored, us included. The 3% is a genuine discouragement. We now take local currency and just use the card for purchases.

 

Still, 3% is more than competitive, considering the conversion is done on the official rate.

[stki]

15 hours ago, Nang said:

You might want to look into the possibility of loading a 28 Degrees card with cash prior to getting one. I have had one for over 10 years and used to preload with cash and then get interest free cash from an ATM but they now discourage that by charging 3% of the amount even if your account is loaded up with cash.

The only problem is if your card is in credit, and it gets scammed, the bank is not liable for any credit balance

 

I would definitely have a separate card card to get cash from ATMS. We use the Citibank debit account

 

Tanya

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, stki said:

The only problem is if your card is in credit, and it gets scammed, the bank is not liable for any credit balance

 

I would definitely have a separate card card to get cash from ATMS. We use the Citibank debit account

 

Tanya

Very true.

[aussiecruiser66]

I have just successfully opened a Citibank Plus Debit Account. They say that I will receive a "Welcome Pack". Just wondering- will that include a designated PIN for ATM withdrawals (or can I choose my own PIN) and do I choose the "credit" option when using the ATM or the EFPOS option seeing that it is my money that has been loaded.  Sorry but it has been a while since I have taken money out of an overseas ATM.

Thanks in advance

 

 

[MicCanberra]

It is likely they will provide a PIN in a separate post, but you can always change your PIN at the time you activate the card or at a later date.

[Elorac123]

55 minutes ago, aussiecruiser66 said:

I have just successfully opened a Citibank Plus Debit Account. They say that I will receive a "Welcome Pack". Just wondering- will that include a designated PIN for ATM withdrawals (or can I choose my own PIN) and do I choose the "credit" option when using the ATM or the EFPOS option seeing that it is my money that has been loaded.  Sorry but it has been a while since I have taken money out of an overseas ATM.

Thanks in advance

 

 

You use debit and be sure to choose the currency of the country you are visiting,

Cheers Carole

[stki]

2 hours ago, aussiecruiser66 said:

I have just successfully opened a Citibank Plus Debit Account. They say that I will receive a "Welcome Pack". Just wondering- will that include a designated PIN for ATM withdrawals (or can I choose my own PIN) and do I choose the "credit" option when using the ATM or the EFPOS option seeing that it is my money that has been loaded.  Sorry but it has been a while since I have taken money out of an overseas ATM.

Thanks in advance

 

 

Download the Citibank app onto your phone. You can then set your pin for your card after activating your card

[LittleFish1976]

On 1/14/2023 at 8:48 AM, Sallyandtex said:

So, I wint be chargedto put money on the card to use like a debit card? Was worried After seeing "purchase rate and the ongoing balance transfer rate" of 14.9%".

'Balance transfer rate' tends to mean the interest rate they will charge you for the balance of other credit cards that you transfer to your new card; so it's an existing debt that you're just moving from one credit card to another. If you don't wish to do that then don't worry about it.

 

Is the 'purchase rate' the interest rate they charge you on purchases that you don't pay off in full within the interest-free period? I should think it is; they usually allow you 30 or 45 days interest free to pay items off.