Best Visa Credit Cards

There is one Visa exchange rate for every type of currency, which can change once every 24 hours. And that rate is automatically applied to any international transaction made with a Visa credit card or debit card. You can easily check the latest Visa exchange rates online to get an idea of what to expect when traveling.

Here’s how to see your Visa exchange rate:

1. Go to Visa’s online Exchange Rate Calculator.
2. Select United States Dollar for your card’s currency.
3. Select the currency used by the merchant.
4. Enter your bank fee (foreign transaction fee), if applicable. Ideally, you should use a no foreign transaction fee credit card.
5. Put in today’s date (the tool can’t predict the future).
6. Click “Calculate Exchange Rates.”

Using a no foreign transaction fee Visa credit card when traveling abroad will save you up to 9% compared to converting hard currency, according to WalletHub’s Currency Exchange Study. But a Mastercard will do the trick, too. There’s actually not much difference between the exchange rates offered by these two worldwide card networks.

Lastly, you should always avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). This is when a foreign vendor converts the price of a purchase to U.S. dollars, supposedly for your convenience. But that gives the merchant a chance to use an unfavorable exchange rate in place of the low rate you’d automatically get from Visa.

The Visa Infinite concierge is a free personal assistance phone line available 24/7: 877-660-0905 in the U.S. or 1-312-800-4290 if you’re traveling abroad. The Visa Infinite concierge can help you do things like book restaurant reservations, select gifts or obtain event tickets right when they go on sale. The service is available to anyone with a Visa Infinite credit card, such as Chase Sapphire Reserve or the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card.

Here’s what the Visa Infinite concierge can do for you:

• Recommend and book flights, hotels, cruises, rental cars, tours or other travel plans
• Help you locate and make reservations at restaurants
• Get tickets for plays, sporting events, concerts or other events as soon as they go on sale
• Recommend things to do in the area in which you’re traveling
• Reserve conference or meeting rooms
• Get you access to translation, security or legal services
• Help you rent equipment (computers, phones and more)
• Recommend gifts, order them and arrange delivery
• Help you track down difficult to find gift items
• Assist you with your own unique requests

You can ask the Visa Infinite concierge to help you with pretty much anything you can imagine. They’ll do their best to assist you. And they should be able to complete most tasks within 24 to 48 hours.

Finally, it’s worth noting that you don’t need a Visa Infinite card to use a Visa concierge. Visa Signature cards offer a concierge service as well. Both concierges can handle the same range of requests, according to a Visa representative. But the Visa Infinite concierge gives cardholders access to a wider range of exclusive events, travel arrangements, and discounts.

The best Visa credit card for students is Journey Student Rewards from Capital One because it has great cash back rewards, gives you extra for paying on time and doesn’t charge an annual fee. But there a lot of good options to consider. For example, Bank of America Cash Rewards for Students is great for 0% interest at the start, and the Travel Rewards BofA Student Visa has terms well-suited to study abroad.

In general, despite having little credit experience, college students can expect better-than-average rates, fees and rewards because they have high earning potential and many years of financial needs ahead of them. Banks want to get in early, in other words. And you can take advantage of that by getting a great student credit card and saving lots of money.

Here are the best Visa credit cards for students:

• Most Cash Back – Journey Student Rewards from Capital One: The normal cash back rate is 1%, but you can get 1.25% if you pay your bill on time. There’s no annual fee and you don’t need a credit history in order to be approved.
• Intro APR – Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit card for Students: This card won’t charge you any interest for 12 months, both on purchases and on balance transfers. You get 3% cash back on your first $2,500 in gas, 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, and 1% on everything else. There’s also a $150 bonus when you spend $500 in the first 90 days. And there’s no annual fee, nor do you need a credit history.
• Travel Benefits – Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card for Students: If you’re planning to travel often, this card is for you. You get unlimited 3 points per dollar on Amex Travel 1.5 points per dollar on all other purchases. And you get 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days. The card doesn’t have an annual fee and there’s no credit history necessary for approval.
• Insurance Benefits – State Farm Bank Student Visa Credit Card. You get 3 points per dollar on up to $4,000 in insurance premium payments per year, and one point per $2 on other purchases. You’ll also get student discounts on various products. There’s no annual fee, and you don’t need a credit history.

Any of these choices are good for students, but Journey Student Rewards and Bank of America Cash Rewards are probably the best two because they offer cash back rewards and don’t charge annual fees. You’ll be able to get the most consistent value out of them. But it’s good to look at cards from networks other than Visa, too. Some of the best choices include Discover it for Students and the Capital One Secured Mastercard.

Costco takes Visa credit cards, Visa debit cards and Visa gift cards. In fact, Costco only takes Visa cards. You cannot use Mastercard, Discover or American Express cards at Costco. If you don’t have a Visa card, you will have to pay by cash or check. This has been the case since June 2016, when Costco switched from only accepting American Express cards.

It’s not common for retailers to have an exclusive relationship with one card network. Most stores that accept Visa also take Mastercard. It’s more common for stores to not take Discover or American Express.

Does Costco take Visa? Here are the facts:

• Costco takes all Visa credit cards, debit cards and gift cards.
• Costco only takes Visa cards. They won’t accept Mastercard, Discover or American Express.
• You can tell if your card is a Visa by looking for the Visa logo (usually on the front).
• If you don’t have a Visa card, you’ll only be able to pay with cash, a check or a prepaid Costco Cash Card.
• Costco has its own co-branded Visa credit card, the Costco Anywhere Visa. You can use it not only at Costco but anywhere in the world Visa is accepted.

The Costco Anywhere Visa card is one of the best Visa cards to use at Costco. However, you will need to have a Costco membership ($60+ per year) in order to get it. That shouldn’t be an issue, though, as you have to be a Costco member to make purchases there anyway. But if Costco’s credit card doesn’t interest you, you can use any Visa you want.

Your Visa card number and security code are printed on the front and back of your card, respectively, and help verify the card’s authenticity. You need them, along with the card’s expiration date, to make purchases online or over the phone. Luckily, they’re easy to distinguish once you know what you’re looking for.

Here’s what you need to know about your Visa card information:

• Card number: Visa credit card numbers can be 13-to-19 digits long, and they’re printed right on the front of your card. You can’t miss it. Your card number is completely unique, so it’s the primary piece of information merchants use to identify your account.
• Security code: A Visa card’s security code is a 3-digit number printed on the back, to the right of the signature box. This plays a big role in online and phone transactions, as you can’t just swipe your card. It helps confirm that a card is legitimate. If someone just has your card number but not the security code, they can’t use it.
• Expiration date: The month and last two numbers of the year in which your Visa credit card expires are printed on the front of your card. It might say “08/20,” for example. This is the last big piece of information you’ll need to make purchases online or by phone. It’s the date through which the card remains valid. In other words, your card will work through the last day of the month listed.

When you swipe your card in a store, you won’t have to worry about these things, as the computer system deals with them automatically. But it’s good to know where everything is when you need to make a purchase manually.