I recently discovered that Schwab has a Visa Credit card that has no international currency transaction fees, no yearly fee, and rebates 2 percent of your purchases into your Schwab brokerage account. It appears if you don't have a Schwab account you can still get the card but not the 2 percent rebate.

In any event, at a time when many cards are charging 2 to 3 percent extra for international purchases, the Schwab card joins Capital One's as a no international transaction fee alternative. And unlike the Capital One card, you get two percent back if you link the card to your Schwab account.

So, until Schwab does something to piss me off (all banks get around to doing that at some point) this will be my primary card for international use.

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/credit_card

OTOH, as long as I'm talking about credit cards, the absolute worst for international use in my experience is the Chase brand. I cannot count the number of times I informed them in advance of an international trip, and then had my first attempted purchase on the trip declined for "possible fraudulent usage" reasons. There were even times I then telephoned them to have the security hold removed, only to then have it re-instituted on my next attempted purchase. I also can't count the number of Chase credit cards I canceled as a result, but I still sometimes applied for them to get the 20,000 or so miles they offered on various airlines for getting a new card (I believe they now only let you do that once per airline; once you cancel you cannot reapply and get the mileage bonus again).

Here is another one for you. Get a Citi bank mastercard, the CitiGold account has a no international fee, no yearly fee, points rewards card.

So, until Schwab does something to piss me off (all banks get around to doing that at some point)

Lately I've been running low on banks that havn't pissed me off yet. Their aren't very many of them left.

My cards charge a fee but offer a high exchange rate, better than the money changers, I suppose a card that offers no fee could make up for that by giving a lower exchange rate, they'll get you one way or another.

One other thing worth noting if you have a Schwab brokerage account is the Visa debit card they issue--at least the one I have--seems to forego any foreign currency conversion charges AND it rebates those pesky ATM transaction fees back into your account (irrespective of whether you use the card in the US or out of the country, and irrespective of who operates the ATM). In other words you get a fair conversion rate and don't have to pay any ATM fees.

This is a different card than the Visa credit card from Schwab I referenced at the beginning of this thread. Using the two during a trip makes it possible to get cash without any fees, and also use a credit card without any fees and with a 2 percent rebate.

I'm knocking on wood right now because in my experience as soon as I recommend a bank, credit card, airline, or similar service, the next thing I know they fuck me on my next transaction.

Beware the credit card. It sounds really really nice but it IS issued and administered by FIA Card Services, AKA formerly MBNA, now Bank of America. It is well known and widely understood that Bank of America is controlled by Satan and is an evil evil organization.

IAS:

Why did you have to tell me FIA is essentially Bank of America?? I just canceled one of my Bank of America cards in protest of something idiotic they did to me and replaced it with the Schwab FIA card. You just can't win.

OTOH, I do like that there is no foreign conversion charge and in addition I get back 2 percent of the cost of my purchases. And since members of this board are all essentially members of a satanic cult (except for Beachman, who is pure and godly, the downside being that means he is also celibate) we really can't object to companies controlled by Satan.

Here's a commercial I'd like to see

MBNA was an independent company, and bought by BofA a few years back now. After the purchase, their name was changed to FIA.

It's important to remember with branded cards that even though the servicer is FIA/BofA, BofA has to abide by the agreement they signed with the sponsor company - whether it be Schwab, LL Bean, John Deere, etc.

These agreements vary - some are just BofA cards in disguise, others are far more generous with their features, and have more limits around how FIA/BofA can handle their customers.

Schwab's card is an excellent one, perfect for international travelers - definitely one of the best cards out there IMO. Given that Schwab is a financial services company like BofA, they probably have more fences around their card to keep BofA's nasty ways to a minimum, more so than say retailer affinity cards.