A credit card can make travel much easier. There are times when you really don’t want to carry cash, and even if you are using cash or traveler’s checks, having a card in reserve can be a lifesaver.
It can be expensive to take the card you use for gas and groceries on a trip outside the country. Many cards carry foreign transaction fees, which means every time you see the card outside your own country, you’ll pay a fee.
Best Credit Cards With No Foreign Transaction Fee
If you plan to use your card in another country, you need a card with no foreign transaction fee. Here are some of the best ones.
- 🏆 Best Secured Card – DiscoverIt Secured
- 🏆 Best for Fair Credit – Capitol One Platinum
- 🏆 Best Basic Card – Capital One Savor Rewards
- 🏆 Best For Frequent Travelers – Chase Sapphire Preferred
- 🏆 Best For Jet-Setters – American Express Platinum Card
BEST SECURED CARD
Discover It Secured
⭐️ Sign-up bonus: Unlimited dollar-for-dollar match of your first year’s rewards.
🎁 Rewards: 2% cash back on gas stations and restaurants up to $1000 combined purchases per quarter, 1% on everything else.
🥂 Perks: Free FICO score, privacy protection, and card loss protection.
BEST FOR FAIR CREDIT
Capitol One Platinum
⭐️ Sign-up bonus: None
🎁 Rewards: None
🥂 Perks: Free credit score, credit monitoring, and credit simulator with CreditWise. You’ll be considered for a higher limit after six months.
BEST BASIC CARD
Capital One Savor Rewards
⭐️ Sign-up bonus: $200 when you spend $500 in the first 3 months.
🎁 Rewards: 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, streaming, and groceries, plus 1% on everything else.
🥂 Perks: Complimentary Uber One through November 2024 and access to Capital One’s travel, entertainment, and dining portals.
BEST FOR FREQUENT TRAVELERS
Chase Sapphire Preferred
⭐️ Sign-up bonus: 60,000 points when you spend $4,000 in 3 months
🎁 Rewards:
- 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3x points on dining, delivery, takeout, online groceries, and streaming
- 2x points on other travel
- 1x points on everything else
🥂 Perks:
- Get 25% more value (1.25 cents per point) when redeeming points for travel through Chase.
- $50 in annual statement credits for hotel stays booked through Chase.
- 6 months of complimentary Instacart+Complimentary DashPass subscription.
BEST FOR JET-SETTERS
American Express Platinum Card
⭐️ Sign-up bonus: 100,000 points when you spend $6,000 in 6 months
🎁 Rewards: 5x points on flights and hotels booked through American Express Travel and 1x points on everything else
🥂 Perks:
- $200 in annual credits for select hotel bookings
- $20 in monthly credits for select digital entertainment, including Disney+, Peacock, and the New York Times
- A complimentary Walmart+ subscription
- $200 in annual Uber credits
- $200 in annual airline fee credits
- $300 in annual credits for Equinox digital fitness
- $100 in annual credits at Saks
- Credit to sign up for CLEAR and Precheck, Global dining, access through Resy, Airport lounge access, Hotel rewards status
How to Choose a Credit Card With No Foreign Transaction Fee
If you’re looking for a card with no foreign transaction fee there are several factors you’ll need to consider.
- Your credit score will determine which cards you’re eligible to get. You will have options even with a low score or no score, but you won’t get the best deals.
- Your travel habits. If you travel often, travel-focused rewards might make it worth paying an annual fee. If you don’t travel much, look for a card with no annual fee.
- Rewards. Look for a rewards package that matches your spending style.
- Costs. If you pay every balance in full and on time, you’ll never pay interest, but a low APR is still a good thing. Check for fees as well.
Many major airlines and hotel chains have their own branded travel-focused cards, and most have no foreign transaction fees. We haven’t covered those here, as they are specialized products, but if you have a favorite hotel chain or there’s an airline you use often, look into their card offerings.
Our Methodology
When comparing cards, we looked at the following factors:
- Accessibility. We tried to include cards that would be available to people of all credit scores and income levels.
- Rewards: We prefer larger rewards and also those that are flexible rather than being tied to a specific airline or hotel chain.
- Sign-up bonus: Higher bonuses with lower minimum spending are better
- Perks: Higher-value and easier-to-use perks are better
- Other: We also considered things like bonus categories and quality of customer service when selecting these cards
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