Which credit card is best for overseas travel?

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover credit cards can be used internationally. However, Visa and Mastercard credit cards are more widely accepted abroad.

Credit cards without foreign transaction fees are also crucial when traveling internationally. You’ll save an average of 1.52% on each purchase, compared to a card with a foreign transaction fee. As a result, Visa and Mastercard credit cards with no foreign fees are the best credit cards to use internationally.... read full answer

Notable Credit Cards for International Travel

When purchasing from international merchants, remember to also watch out for dynamic currency conversion. By avoiding foreign transaction fees and dynamic currency conversion, you could save up to 10% when using a credit card abroad.

Be aware that chip-and-PIN cards will be slightly more useful when traveling abroad than chip-and-signature cards. Unmanned kiosks, for example, may require a PIN from a chip-and-PIN card. That said, you’ll get around fine if you have any low-fee card on the Visa or Mastercard network and some of the local currency as backup.

When abroad, it's best to carry a no-foreign-fee credit card or a no-foreign-fee debit card, to ensure you're getting the best exchange rate.

There's a catch though. Merchants and ATMs abroad will offer to convert your purchase or withdrawal amount to dollars (or other home currency) under the guise of "convenience" to you. This practice is known as ... read full answerdynamic currency conversion (DCC), which you should refuse every time, because of the higher costs.

To decide whether you should get a credit card or debit card for international travel, it's important to consider aspects like fraud protection and costs associated with purchases and cash withdrawals.

All major-issuer credit cards and debit cards come with $0 liability guarantees, meaning you won’t be held liable for any unauthorized charges. However, credit cards do ... read full answermake fraud easier to deal with.

Having said that, our suggestion is to use international credit cards for purchases and international debit cards for cash withdrawals while traveling abroad. The answer to this question is, therefore, both.