Best no-foreign-transaction-fee credit cards of April 2024

For some people, a card with no foreign transaction fees can offer hundreds of dollars in savings. People who travel overseas frequently, students studying abroad and some online shoppers may benefit most from picking a card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. If you’re hoping to earn rewards on these purchases, avoiding a foreign transaction fee is even more important since the common 3 percent rate could more than outweigh any rewards you’d earn from your purchases.

Look for a rewards card that offers cash back, points, or miles in categories that match your spending habits.

While choosing a travel credit card, compare the full suite of benefits each one offers. Along with rewards and no foreign transaction fees, top-tier travel credit cards usually carry benefits like annual travel credits, trip cancellation insurance, expedited airport security screening and airport lounge access. You may need to pay a higher annual fee to get all the perks you want, so pick the card that offers the best cost-to-benefit balance for you.

Common credit card fees include annual fees, late fees, balance transfer fees, cash advance fees and returned payment fees. An annual fee is the hardest to avoid since you can dodge most other costs with responsible card use. 

Annual fees are most common among mid-tier and premium travel credit cards, even if these cards skip foreign transaction fees. Weigh whether you can offset an annual fee with reward earnings and added benefits, as you may find some cards with annual fees are worth it when they offer rewards.

Although you shouldn’t have much of a problem with credit card acceptance, Visa and Mastercard credit cards are accepted more widely internationally than cards on the American Express and Discover networks.

Since many cardholders looking for a card with no foreign transaction fee are eager to earn rewards, a key criteria for a card’s inclusion in our list is whether it offers impressive rewards value. This includes a card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories, as well as how closely those categories match the average person’s spending habits. In other words: Does the card earn rewards at a high rate in the most popular spending categories?

We use consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to get a reliable third-party measure of people’s spending habits. The most recent BLS data estimates average total spending in 2022 was $72,967 per consumer. We then narrow our focus to which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards, subtracting expenditures like housing, vehicle purchases and education. This gives us a total “chargeable” annual spend of around $22,500.  

Some of the major spending categories that contribute towards the annual spend include:

• Groceries: $5,700
• Dining out: $3,600
• Entertainment: $2,400
• Gas: $3,100
• Apparel and services: $1,900

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 22 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases — as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other cards in its primary category.

The better these values, the higher its score will be, making it more worthy of inclusion in our list and increasing its potential ranking.

Naturally, all of the cards on this list do not charge foreign transaction fees.

We also rate all cards based on how their ongoing average APR compares to the average APR you’ll find other cards in their primary category. However, the impact of an especially high or low APR on a card’s overall score depends on its primary category.

For rewards-earning cards, this factor has only a minor influence on the card’s score and whether the card is included in our list, since rewards card users generally try to avoid carrying a balance. That said, rewards-earning cards may get a solid boost in score and be more worthy of inclusion in our list if they also offer an intro APR on balance transfers or new purchases, since such offers aren’t always present on these cards.

More important to these cards’ scores and their inclusion in our list is how their annual fees influence their overall value. We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. 

Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value. However, if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score and a spot in our list even if it carries a high annual fee. After all, the highest rewards rates and most valuable perks are often found on cards with annual fees.

Interest rates and intro APR offers play a much larger role in a card’s score and whether it’s included in our list when the card is designed specifically for users looking to save on interest charges, such as dedicated balance transfer or low-interest cards.

Other fees considered include cash advance and late payment fees, along with penalty APRs.

Along with rewards value and cost, we consider other factors that could give cards great long-term value, like flexible rewards redemption and especially unique and valuable perks.

We rate rewards-earning cards based on the restrictions they impose on earning and redeeming rewards and consider this when deciding on a card’s inclusion in our list.

These restrictions could include only allowing users to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requiring users to meet a certain earning threshold before they can redeem rewards. We also examine whether points are worth less when you opt for some redemption options over others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners.

We also evaluate each card’s perks based on their value, usefulness and uniqueness. Cards that offer top-tier benefits like airport lounge access or travel credits are likely to stand out, but we also aim to highlight cards that offer valuable under-the-radar perks, like cellphone protection or one-off credits for everyday expenses like dining and streaming services.

• Capital One 360
• Chime
• Charles Schwab Bank
• Sofi Money

The best overall card for international transactions will vary depending on your specific overseas travel needs, but Bankrate has rated cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, Platinum card from American Express and the Capital One VentureOne Rewards card as some of the best travel rewards cards with no foreign transaction fee.

If you’re curious to know how much you’ll pay for a foreign transaction fee, multiply the purchase price by the fee percentage. Then add the result to the purchase price.

For example, let’s say your nephew’s favorite soccer team is Manchester United F.C., so you buy him a jersey from an online retailer based in England using a credit card that charges a 3 percent foreign transaction fee. If this purchase costs $100, the fee would be $3, bringing your total cost to $103 ($100 x 3 percent = $3, $100 + $3 = $103).

To understand what you're being charged overseas versus what you'd be paying in your home currency, just divide the base amount (base currency) by the finishing amount (foreign currency) to determine the exchange rate. 

You may be able to see exactly what the currency conversion and its cost would be if your card network has an online currency converter, such as Visa’s exchange calculator and Mastercard’s currency converter calculator.

If you're looking for an alternative to credit cards with no foreign transaction fees, here are some great options:

Using a prepaid debit card

These cards let you load money onto them at home, then use them to make purchases wherever you go — no matter where in the world you are. You can even use these cards online or over the phone, just as if they were a traditional credit card.

Exchanging currency before you travel

It’s a good idea to have some local currency on hand in case you're somewhere that doesn’t accept credit cards. Before you travel, stop by your local bank and ask to exchange your dollars for your destination’s currency. Your bank will likely charge lower exchange fees than you’ll find at the airport (or none at all).

Using a traveler's check

When obtained through an eligible bank, you can use a traveler’s check almost anywhere in the world to make purchases. The paper document is cashed in exchange for local currency once you’re abroad. They are also safer than carrying cash, since you can replace them if they are stolen or lost.

Whether you should get traveler’s checks or a credit card with no foreign transaction fee depends on your preferences, but keep in mind that getting traveler's checks may be more difficult than using a credit card. Some banks no longer offer traveler's checks, so you may have to jump through more hoops to get them. 

However, with a credit card you can enjoy the same protections and benefits as you would with a traveler's check, such as:

• Replacement protection: Like with credit cards, traveler’s checks can be replaced if they’re lost or stolen.
• Broad acceptance: Traveler's checks may be accepted at places that don't take personal checks. However, you wouldn't have to worry about acceptance with a Visa or Mastercard credit card. 
• Cash alternative:  While an added benefit of a traveler's check is that you could exchange it for cash, using a credit card with adequate security features makes using cash internationally unnecessary.