American Express Credit Cards

The American Express foreign transaction fee is 2.7% of all international transactions or $0, depending on the Amex card. There are plenty of American Express cards with no foreign transaction fee. Those cards tend to be the best options for travel.

If you’re unfamiliar with foreign transaction fees, they’re a surcharge for using a credit card with a foreign merchant. Credit cards with foreign fees usually charge 1%-3% of the purchase price. That can really add up, especially since Amex’s 2.7% foreign fee is on the higher end of the spectrum.

Here are the American Express foreign transaction fees:

• American Express cards with a foreign transaction fee charge 2.7%.
• Many American Express credit cards have no foreign transaction fees.
• Amex foreign transaction fees apply when you buy things abroad OR shop at foreign merchants online.
• Some of the best American Express cards with no foreign fees include Amex Platinum and Premier Rewards Gold as well as the PenFed Premium Travel Rewards card and the Amex cards affiliated with Starwood, Hilton and Delta.

If you’re looking for an international credit card, it’s best to get one with no foreign transaction fee, and American Express does have a good selection. But American Express cards aren’t accepted by nearly as many foreign merchants as Visa and Mastercard. So you may find yourself somewhere your Amex won’t work. And that’s why it’s probably better to have a Visa or Mastercard for travel.

The best American Express business card is the Business Platinum card because it offers up to 75,000 bonus points for spending $20,000 in the first 3 months. It also gives 5 points per $1 on flights and prepaid hotels through amextravel.com. And it offers at least 1 point per $1 on everything else. On top of that, cardholders get 35% of their points back when using them to book flights on one selected airline or when booking any first or business class flights, regardless of airline. Lastly, the Platinum card gives free access to 7 major airport lounge networks. The annual fee is $595.

If you aren’t willing to shell out many hundreds of dollars per year for an annual fee, consider the Amex Green Card.

The only American Express secured credit card is the USAA Secured American Express card. It has a $35 annual fee and requires a deposit of at least $250. The card also has a special lowered interest rate of just 4% for deployed military personnel. This card is issued by USAA, but it is on the American Express card network. There is no American Express secured credit card issued by Amex. All American Express-issued credit cards require at least good credit for approval.

To get the USAA American Express secured credit card, you must be a USAA member. You can join USAA if you are active or former military. You’re also eligible to join if your spouse or a parent is a USAA member with a USAA auto/property insurance policy.

The American Express Global Lounge Collection is a network of 7 airport lounges with more than 1,000 locations in over 120 countries. Amex Platinum, Amex Business Platinum and Amex Centurion cardholders can access them for free. The airport lounge brands that belong to the Amex Global Lounge Collection are Centurion, International American Express, Delta Sky Club, Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Airspace and Escape.

Different lounges offer different amenities. But in general, you can expect to receive free Wi-Fi, free snacks and beverages, charging stations and comfortable seating. Depending on the lounge network and location, you might also find things like business meeting rooms, printing, newspapers, showers and more. To enter, you will need to present your credit card and ID. In some cases, you will also need a same-day boarding pass. Each lounge has their own rules about how many guests you can bring in for free and how much it costs to bring in additional guests.

The Global Lounge Collection is a valuable perk, as buying a membership for even one of these individual lounges can cost hundreds of dollars. As long as you have one of the eligible Amex cards, you get unlimited free access to each lounge.

The best American Express cash back credit card is the Blue Cash Preferred card. It offers $250 cash back for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. Cardholders also earn 6% cash back on the first $6,000 spent per year at U.S. supermarkets. And there’s unlimited 3% back at U.S. gas stations and 1% on all other purchases. Blue Cash Preferred has a $95 annual fee. But it also gives introductory APRs of 0% for 12 months on purchases and 0% for 12 months on balance transfers.

If you don’t want to pay an annual fee, the Amex Cash Magnet card is a better choice. It gives 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Its bonus is a $150 statement credit for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. And Amex Cash Magnet helps keep interest costs low, too. It offers 0% for 15 months on purchases and 0% for 15 months on balance transfers.

You actually can’t set an American Express travel notification. Amex is one of the few credit card companies that doesn’t allow it. Most issuers want you to tell them ahead of time when you plan on traveling, so they won’t flag your purchases as fraud if they see you spending money in another country or state. Amex, on the other hand, is confident in their ability to recognize fraud without travel notifications.

This is what American Express has to say about travel notifications on their website: “We use industry-leading fraud detection capabilities that help us recognize when our Card Members are traveling, so you don't need to notify us before you travel.” While the exact nature of how they do this is an Amex secret, some Amex customers have been able to provide insight into the process. For example, some report that Amex sent them an email saying their recent purchases indicated they’d be traveling in the near future. So if you buy plane tickets, for example, Amex will reasonably assume you’ll be going somewhere.

So in the end, you don’t need to set an American Express travel notification, and there’s no way to do it even if you wanted to. You should just expect Amex to figure out when you’re traveling. But if your card ever is flagged for fraud, a call to the number on the back of your card should quickly sort things out. It’s also a good idea to make sure Amex has the right phone number on file for you, so they can let you know if there’s an issue.