No Foreign Transaction Fee

For the who frequent traveler who regularly finds themselves abroad and likes to swipe overseas, using a card with no foreign transaction fees allows you to avoid being penalized for international purchases, including hotel bookings. Not only does this save you big bucks, but each purchase brings you closer to earning a free or discounted overnight stay upgrades, and more - so that you’ll wake up energized and refreshed and do it all over again. Browse credit card offers from our partners below:

 

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Hotel Cards with No Foreign Transaction Fee 

If a significant source of your credit card bonus points come from a hotel stay or travel-related purchases that are generated abroad, then choosing a hotel credit card with no foreign transaction fees is a necessity. Credit cards with this feature allow international travelers to work – or play – and swipe outside of the United States without penalty.

What are Foreign Transaction Fees? 

Foreign transaction fees are charges from card issuers for transactions at non-U.S retailers. However, these fees can be incurred for more than physically paying with your credit card when you’re overseas, they can include online purchases to foreign companies, ATMs, or currency conversion fees.

Currency conversion fees occur when the payment networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, etc.) charge the card issuer (Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo, etc.) a processing fee. Typically, 1% of each U.S. dollar spent. While currency conversion fees are not the same as foreign transaction fees, they are often included together on a credit card statement.

Which Credit Cards Are Accepted Internationally?  

Whether a credit card can be used in another country (or not) is largely up to the payment network, also known as the processing network, rather than the card issuer. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover have varying levels of international acceptance largely due to the partnerships they have (or lack) with foreign banks.

Visa and Mastercard have the most international merchant partnerships, and their credit cards are the most widely accepted abroad. As such, it’s widely recommended that travelers carry at least two types of credit cards in their wallet in case one network isn’t accepted by a vendor.

Tips for Using Your Credit Card Internationally  

  • Be careful of foreign ATMs as they sometimes carry an international surcharge in addition to the ATM fee
  • Notify your card issuer before your departure, the unfamiliar location could be flagged as suspicious activity and potentially cause your card to be canceled – leaving you financially stranded in a foreign country
  • Check whether your card allows you to earn rewards for international purchases

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Editorial Disclosure — The opinions expressed on HotelCards’ reviews, blogs, and all other content on or relating to the website are solely those of the content’s author. They are not reflective of any card issuer or financial institution and have not been reviewed or approved by these entities unless otherwise noted. Further, HotelCards lists credit card offers that are updated daily with information believed to be accurate to the best of our knowledge.

Advertiser Disclosure: HotelCards is an independent credit card comparison platform. Many of the card offers that appear on this site are from companies from which HotelCards may receive compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). HotelCards does not include all card companies or all card offers available in the marketplace.