Credit Cards for Spending Outside the U.S.

Recommended Credit Cards for Use Outside the US

If you’re too lazy to read the analysis below, just check out the cards we recommend here~

Note: no FTF means no foreign transaction fee. When you make a transaction outside the US, a foreign transaction fee will be charged regardless of whether the currency is USD

No annual fee

Deserve EDU can be applied for without an SSN, so if you’re studying in the US and can’t get approved for other credit cards, getting this card would be a great option. With no FTF, and Mastercard is also widely accepted outside the US.

Both Discover cards can route through the UnionPay network in China and other places, so acceptance is fairly broad. Discover it’s 5% can be used on dining abroad, while Discover it Miles offers a 1.5% cash back rate on all purchases, which has its own advantages. Discover also doesn’t have DCC (more on that below), so that’s one less pitfall.

If you have a certain amount of deposits, this card can earn up to 2.75% on all purchases. Add no FTF, and that means 2.75% cash back on all overseas spending, which is incredibly strong~

This newly released card offers bonus rewards on travel purchases and has no FTF.

This card offers 4% on dining, has no annual fee, and no FTF, so it’s easy to keep without any stress.

With annual fee

The cards below can earn bonus rewards on dining, airfare, hotels, and other travel-related spending, and they also have no FTF. If you use them regularly outside the US, or if the rewards you earn from those purchases can cover the annual fee, we strongly recommend keeping one.

About spending outside the US

Some people may travel outside the US often, or may have already returned to China but still keep their US credit cards. Choosing cards that are suitable for use outside the US becomes very important. On one hand, you need to consider the fees charged when making purchases abroad; on the other hand, it’s even better if you can also earn some extra rewards along the way. This article will talk about which cards are suitable for spending outside the US.

As a card that is suitable for spending outside the US, there are a few points to consider:

• Foreign transaction fee (FTF): foreign transaction fee
• Dynamic currency conversion (DCC): dynamic currency conversion fee
• Wide acceptance, bonus rewards, fraud protection, etc.

Of course, if one or more cards can meet the requirements above, they can become very good travel cards.

Credit cards with no FTF

A foreign transaction fee (FTF) is basically an extra fee that banks charge us. This fee is charged under the following two circumstances:

• The transaction is completed through a foreign bank
• The transaction involves currency conversion

For example, if you’re holding a Chase-issued credit card and make a purchase back in your home country, Chase will charge you this foreign transaction fee as long as the transaction is completed through a local bank, regardless of whether the purchase involves conversion between USD and RMB. This fee generally includes two parts. The first part is charged by the credit card network (such as Visa, Mastercard, AMEX), and the second part is charged by the card issuer (such as Chase, Citi, BofA). Visa and Mastercard usually charge 1%, while the issuer bank charges 2%. So in general, this fee is usually around 3%.

Also note that currency conversion uses the exchange rate at the time of the transaction to affect the actual amount you spend, while the foreign transaction fee is added separately to your bill. For a detailed analysis of FTF, see the article below:

• Introduction to Foreign Transaction Fee

As far as credit cards go, many cards with annual fees do not have FTF, especially some travel cards. So we mainly list some no-annual-fee cards with no FTF for reference.

Personal credit cards with no annual fee and no FTF

• Apple Card Credit Card
• AMEX Hilton Credit Card
• AMEX Blue Delta SkyMiles Credit Card
• Barclays Priceline Credit Card
• Barclays Priceline VIP Rewards Credit Card
• Barclays AARP Travel Credit Card
• Barclays JetBlue Credit Card
• Barclays Wyndham Earner Credit Card
• BofA Travel Rewards Credit Card
• BofA AAA Credit Card
• Chase Amazon Prime Credit Card
• Chase UA Gateway Credit Card
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card
• Chase IHG Traveler Credit Card
• Capital One SavorOne Credit Card
• Capital One Quicksilver Credit Card
• Capital One VentureOne Credit Card
• Capital One Walmart Credit Card
• Citi Costco Credit Card
• Barclays Choice Privileges Credit Card
• Discover it Credit Card
• Discover it Miles Credit Card
• Deserve EDU Credit Card (can be applied for without SSN)
• Wells Fargo Autograph Credit Card
• Wells Fargo Hotels.com Credit Card Introduction
• US Bank Altitude Go Credit Card

Business credit cards with no annual fee and no FTF

• AMEX Amazon Business Prime Business Credit Card
• BofA Travel Rewards Business Business Credit Card
• Wells Fargo Business Platinum Business Credit Card
• Citi Costco Business Credit Card

Dynamic currency conversion (DCC)

The idea behind dynamic currency conversion (DCC) is very simple. Basically, when you’re about to make a card payment, the terminal detects that your credit card is different from the local currency and directly prompts you to switch to the local currency. For example, if you’re back in China using a US credit card, the terminal may ask whether you want to pay in RMB. The benefit of this service is that, while paying, you can directly see the exchange rate in your home currency and know how much you need to pay in your local currency.

But this service comes with a fee. Generally speaking, merchants will add an extra 0.5%~1% on top of the charge. In addition, DCC itself also has a fee of about ~3%, which brings the total cost after DCC conversion close to 4%. What’s more, once DCC is applied, the FTF is not waived either; it is charged as usual (FTF does not depend on which currency you actually pay in, but on whether the transaction took place outside the United States). So we strongly recommend using the local currency directly and letting the bank use its default exchange rate (which is usually fairly stable and not a rip-off), rather than using the merchant’s DCC.

• Introduction to Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) — Travel Money-Saving Guide (2)

So how do you avoid DCC?

• Discover and American Express do not offer DCC, so there is no DCC when you use Discover or American Express cards.
• If the card terminal or merchant asks which currency you want to be charged in, remember to choose the local currency.
• Check your receipt to see whether any DCC-related fee was charged. If so, remember to ask the merchant to cancel the transaction. If the merchant charged DCC fees without your consent, you can dispute the transaction.

So if you don’t want to deal with DCC at all, just use an AMEX or Discover card.

Other Questions

When using credit cards abroad, avoiding fees is definitely the most important thing, but having some extra perks or protection is even better.

Acceptance

In the United States, most transactions are completed by swiping a card, and many POS terminals also let you insert a chip card to pay. But card usage habits may be different in other countries, for example:

• Europe, Canada: Many transactions require you to insert the card and pay with chip+signature, and sometimes you need to enter a PIN (just press Enter). So be sure to bring a chip card with you. Large merchants generally accept VISA/MASTER/AMEX, but smaller merchants may not accept AMEX, and Discover acceptance is relatively poor.
• Japan: VISA/MASTER/AMEX/Discover are basically all accepted; just swipe the card.
• Australia: Large merchants generally accept VISA/MASTER/AMEX/Discover, and Discover (UnionPay) is widely accepted.
• China: Major supermarkets, hotels, and shopping complexes all support VISA/MASTER/AMEX/Discover. Discover is accepted more widely because it can route through the UnionPay channel; AMEX is generally a bit worse. However, Alipay and WeChat Pay are still the most common payment methods in China, and you can add foreign cards to use them. See (WeChat Pay, Alipay)
• Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong: Apple Pay works at about 90% of merchants, and using Apple Card can get you 2x

So I recommend bringing at least one card for each of VISA/MASTER/AMEX/Discover, just in case.

Multiple Rewards

For most credit cards, rewards categories are limited to the United States. For example, supermarket, gas, drugstore, and dining categories abroad are often only coded as general purchases, such as 1x or 1%. But there are also some cards that offer global bonus categories.

• Hotels, airlines, car rentals: If you book flights or hotels through U.S. websites, you can earn bonus rewards. If you spend directly at a local property, chain hotels usually still earn bonus rewards. For example, the co-branded cards for Marriott, IHG, Hyatt, and Hilton can all earn bonus rewards at participating properties within their hotel programs.
• Dining: Currently, Citi Premier 3x, Chase Sapphire Reserve 3x, Chase Sapphire Preferred 2x, and AMEX Gold 4x offer global dining rewards. It is said that US Altitude Go may also work, and Discover card quarterly 5% has also earned it before. There is also a view that VISA/MASTER/Discover cards can all work. In short, it also depends on whether the merchant is coded as dining in the payment network (MCC code).
• Apple Pay: In theory, US Altitude Reserve should earn 3x, but it is unclear in practice.
• WeChat Pay: Sapphire Reserve used to give 3x, but apparently no longer does. Chase Ink cards may still offer bonus rewards.
• Alipay: There used to be cases where Chase Freedom treated Taobao purchases as supermarket purchases, but it is unclear now.

If you have examples of earning bonus rewards abroad with U.S. credit cards, feel free to leave a comment and share.

Fraud Protection

Using a credit card outside the United States can trigger a Fraud Alert, so I recommend setting up Travel Notification: call them, send a secure message, or mark it in your account. If you plan to use the card abroad for an extended period, you should also confirm everything clearly with the card issuer.

There is also a risk of card fraud when using credit cards abroad, so I personally recommend using cards from large credit card issuers. That way, handling fraud will be a bit easier. Smaller banks can be hard to deal with, which can be pretty troublesome.