What's the American Express exchange rate?

The American Express Platinum card exchange rate is American Express's exchange rate on the date you make an international purchase. American Express exchange rates change on a daily basis, but they do not make their exchange rates public. The rates do tend to be quite low, however.

While credit card exchange rates normally also include foreign transaction fees, the American Express Platinum card does not charge foreign fees. This means the American Express Platinum card will save cardholders 1.44% on purchases with international merchants, compared to the average credit card offer. As long as cardholders avoid … read full answerdynamic currency conversion, the exchange rates they'll pay on international spending with this card will be much lower than those they'd get from converting cash with banks, credit unions, or airport currency exchange services.

There are several American Express credit cards that have no foreign transaction fees, including The Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express® Gold Card, and cards with rewards for Hilton, Marriott and Delta. The Amex cards without international fees have annual fees ranging from $0 to $500+. They also offer valuable travel benefits, such as free checked bags and luxury airport lounge access.… read full answer

The best American Express credit card with 0% foreign transaction fee is the Hilton Honors American Express Card because it’s one of the two general-consumer offer with a $0 annual fee. The Hilton Credit Card also has a nice initial bonus, giving 100,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months, plus up to $100 in statement credits for purchases made at any of the Hilton family hotels in the first 12 months. The ongoing rewards are pretty good, too; cardholders earn 3 - 7 points per $1, depending on the type of purchase.

American Express Cards with No Foreign Transaction Fees:

• American Express Platinum card ($695 annual fee)
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card ($95 annual fee)
• Hilton Credit Card ($0 annual fee)
• American Express® Gold Card ($250 annual fee)
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card ($450 annual fee)
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card ($550 annual fee)
• Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card ($0 intro 1st yr, $99 after annual fee)
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card ($250 annual fee)
• American Express® Green Card (($150 annual fee)
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card ($95 annual fee)
• Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card ($0 annual fee)

While American Express no-foreign transaction fee credit cards make it cheaper to travel with your Amex card, they’re not accepted everywhere. You should be able to find businesses that accept American Express in places like Canada and Mexico. However, it’ll be harder in smaller countries, especially those that don’t typically do business with the U.S.

The usual credit card exchange rate used for purchases made abroad is 2-4%. Credit card networks (i.e. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover) generally use conversion rates based on interbank rates they select from customary industry sources on the business day prior to the processing date.

Visa and Mastercard provide calculators you can use to get an indication of the rate you may receive when using your card abroad.… read full answer

Please note that when shopping abroad, a merchant may ask you if you would like to convert your credit card transaction from the local currency into U.S. dollars. This is called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), is very expensive for the cardholder and should be avoided.

Generally, when overseas merchants make this offer, they will use a conversion rate that is far higher than the actual going rate – as much as 7 percent higher.