General Discussion If it's Baja Related but Don't Know Where? Post it Here...

Old 03-13-14, 12:58 PM   #1
pauldavidmena
 
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Default credit cards without foreign transaction fees?

I apologize if this question has already been asked - I tried to do a search for it, honest! I've noticed some fairly steep foreign transaction fees when I use my MBNA Visa in Mexico. That, combined with a pretty lame "rewards" program, has me ready to switch. The $10K limit is nice, but to be honest, I pay it off every month, so a limit that high is unnecessary except in the case of a dire emergency. Does anyone have good experience with another credit card?

Last edited by pauldavidmena; 03-13-14 at 02:19 PM.
Old 03-13-14, 03:04 PM   #2
CDN_JOHNNY
 
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Default Re: credit cards without foreign transaction fees?

I am Canadian and use Royal Bank and Scotia Bank issued Visa Cards.

Other than currency exchange there are no other fee's!
Old 03-13-14, 07:14 PM   #3
longlegsinlapaz
 
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Default Re: credit cards without foreign transaction fees?

I personally found the one MasterCard credit card I had to be more of a liability than an asset here in "cash land". I kept it longer that I should have strictly for "emergency backup"; I'd had that card for more than 35 years, but when they started charging me an annual fee.....for a card I no longer used; I cancelled it. I haven't had a credit card for more than 5 years & it had been roughly 5 years prior to that since I'd actually used it.

One of the loudest things I can say to anyone wanting to relocate to Baja is to leave your home country standards & expectations at the border. A large chunk of those standards are credit.....Mexico is essentially a cash country, using credit cards here comes at ludicrously high interest rates!! Mexican banks charge fees and/or your US cardholder charges for international usage fees.

.....just my personal opinion.
Old 03-13-14, 08:29 PM   #4
kate
 
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Default Re: credit cards without foreign transaction fees?

I agree in general about using credit cards in Mexico, but dire emergencies do happen. Last year I was suddenly faced with major medical expenses and was REALLY glad I'd kept a couple of credit cards. I have American Express and a MasterCard from my small US regional bank, both of which have foreign transaction fees, but I use them sparingly.
Old 03-14-14, 07:42 AM   #5
Teniente
 
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Default Re: credit cards without foreign transaction fees?

Chase/Southwest Airlines VISA card has no foreign transaction fees and it builds SWA credits you can use for flights. We pay our balance off every month
Old 03-14-14, 07:56 AM   #6
edinnopolo
 
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Default Re: credit cards without foreign transaction fees?

We use Capital One and Bank of America reward cards.
The latter is a new card, especially for out of country transactions.

I believe the Capital One card should not be used frequently outside of the US.
When we use it, we usually notify them ahead of time, so we don't get embarrassed by in store refusal.

For major purchases, they make quite a difference in the exchange rate, like 13,25 instead of 12,50
Old 03-18-14, 07:16 AM   #7
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Default Re: credit cards without foreign transaction fees?

We also use Capital One and Bank of Americar reward cards, neither of which have international transaction fees. In addition they have cash and/or travel rewards. They also have very favorable exchange rates as Ed mentioned. Since we don't carry balances, I don't much care what the interest rate is as long as there is no annual fee (which there isn't). That's what's in my wallet.
Old 03-18-14, 07:49 AM   #8
larry
 
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Default Re: credit cards without foreign transaction fees?

We have United Airlines Visa Explorer Card. No Foreign transaction fee and one mile credit for every dollar spent plus 15,000 mile sign up credit.





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