should I get a new credit card for Europe trip?

[shaynaatl]

None of our current credit cards offer a "no foreign transaction fee" benefit. We are headed to Paris & London for 8 days this fall. Do you think it's worth it to apply for a card just for the trip? Or should we just pay cash everywhere we go?

This might be our last Intl trip for a while so the card would probably just be for this trip.

[Susie]

I would. Foreign transaction fees add up quickly, and are you really going to pay for your hotel, etc. in cash? Plus the best way to use cash without carrying tons of it at once is to hit the ATM every couple days, and at least with my bank, I'm paying transaction fees there too each time, and I have a max that I can withdraw per day.

The drop in your credit score from having an inquiry is modest and temporary. Unless you have active plans to borrow money in the near future, I wouldn't worry about it.

[hz80408]

Ha, great question. I debated on this for our Europe trip in March and literally 2 days before we left, I went to Chase and changed our Freedom CC to the Sapphire, which has $0/0% transaction fees (although after the first year there is an annual $96 fee). I'm glad we did because we pretty much put everything we could on the credit card.

Another thing to consider is withdrawling cash. Our trip was 18 days and we paid ~$100 in ATM fees with our chase card. We were told the place to get the best exchange rate is ATMs, so that's how we got our Euros/Pounds, but Chase charges $5 AND 3% of the amount you're taking out with every ATM transaction. $100 in fees isn't bad, but I imagine if we didn't switch our CC to have $0fees that we btwn our debit/cash withdrawls and CC usage, we would have at least doubled the $100 of fees we spent.

I'd consider it. (We don't travel a ton; although we have another international trip in the fall; but after that I will probably try to change our card back to Chase Freedom, which has $0 annual fees)

[frlcb]

I would and I would get either the Chase BA card or Chase Hyatt, both which have the Chip in it which will make it much easier to use in the UK than a non-chip card.

[shaynaatl]

Jul 11, 2012 12:58:42 GMT -5 frlcb said:

I would and I would get either the Chase BA card or Chase Hyatt, both which have the Chip in it which will make it much easier to use in the UK than a non-chip card.

Ah yes, I forgot about the Chip. I'm reading that pretty much of all the automated machines require a CC with a Chip in it (magnetic stripe won't work). Are there any no annual fee cards that have a smart chip?

[frlcb]

The Capital One may have Chip too, but the Chase cards definitely do. I don't know any card that doesn't have an annual fee that also doesn't charge foreign transaction fees. And yes, you likely will not be able to use your swipe card at automated machines (like in a train station).

[Susie]

We don't have any cards with the chip, and it wasn't a big deal in Ireland or Italy. The main thing we couldn't do was buy train tickets at the kiosks in Italy; instead we had to wait in line and buy them at the ticket counter (or pay cash at the kiosk). No biggie.

The Capital One Venture card that gives 1.25 points per dollar spent has no annual fee + no foreign transaction fees. (The one that gives 2 points per dollar spent does have an annual fee.) No chip in the card, though.

[hz80408]

Jul 11, 2012 13:51:55 GMT -5 shaynaatl said:

Ah yes, I forgot about the Chip. I'm reading that pretty much of all the automated machines require a CC with a Chip in it (magnetic stripe won't work). Are there any no annual fee cards that have a smart chip?

The only issue we had with having a no-chip card was trying to rent bikes in Paris and the metro in Paris; so we ending up using cash to buy metro tickets

ETA: My sister lived outside of London Jan-July 2012 and kept her US cards the whole time, without chip and didn't have any issues!

If the chip cards don't have an annual charge and are $0 transaction fees; I'd get one; otherwise I'd consider Capitol One or Chase Saphhire, which has no fees but does have good rewards

[frlcb]

I have issues every time I visit the UK with the no chip, but I always just tell them they have to swipe it and they generally do, even if it is in a huff. I lived there for 3 years and used my US card and just had to deal with people not wanting to swipe. But I was there over Christmas and they had clamped down on it in many stores. I would imagine this summer in London they won't since the Olympics are there, but we only use our chip and pin cards now when we go there (we have a UK bank acct so we have chip and pin cards or use our Chase card with the Chip)

[juliabug]

I did. I got the capital one with no transaction fees and no annual fee.

[aurora]

I also have a Capital One card without foreign transaction fees and annual fees. However, it doesn't have a chip. There were some places where I did have to use a different card with a chip and pay transaction fees, and my understanding is that the transition to chip-based systems is happening faster and faster so magnetic cards won't work that much longer.

[ChiKate]

All of Capital One Canada's cards have chips, I wish they brought that to the US. Does anyone know if the US has plans to start using the chip-based system?

[chicago]

Jul 11, 2012 13:51:55 GMT -5 shaynaatl said:

Jul 11, 2012 12:58:42 GMT -5 frlcb said:

I would and I would get either the Chase BA card or Chase Hyatt, both which have the Chip in it which will make it much easier to use in the UK than a non-chip card.

Ah yes, I forgot about the Chip. I'm reading that pretty much of all the automated machines require a CC with a Chip in it (magnetic stripe won't work). Are there any no annual fee cards that have a smart chip?

I don't particularly like the annual fee cards either, but keep in mind that the Chase Hyatt card will give you two free nights at any Hyatt in the world after you make your first purchase. I can't remember what the annual fee is ($75? $95?) but we used our two free nights at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and, at $400+/night, we more than made up for the fee. We also got more free nights on the anniversary of opening the card.

[frlcb]

Jul 12, 2012 11:51:04 GMT -5 chicago said:

Jul 11, 2012 13:51:55 GMT -5 shaynaatl said:

Ah yes, I forgot about the Chip. I'm reading that pretty much of all the automated machines require a CC with a Chip in it (magnetic stripe won't work). Are there any no annual fee cards that have a smart chip?

I don't particularly like the annual fee cards either, but keep in mind that the Chase Hyatt card will give you two free nights at any Hyatt in the world after you make your first purchase. I can't remember what the annual fee is ($75? $95?) but we used our two free nights at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and, at $400+/night, we more than made up for the fee. We also got more free nights on the anniversary of opening the card.

It is $75, and totally worth it. We are using ours in SF, and the rooms are normally $350 or so a night. It is also worth it to have the chip so you don't have to deal with the swipe. I have actually been told in the UK that stores can't accept a swipe card, even though I know they can.