5 Best Credit Cards for Stress-Free International Travel (No Foreign Transaction Fee)

If you often travel internationally, you must only keep credit cards with no foreign transaction fee in your wallet.

Otherwise, every transaction outside the US will cost you 2-3% more. At that rate, any rewards you earn get immediately wiped off. So, more than multipliers, more than perks, and more than benefits, what matters is no foreign transaction fee.

Although many people talk about foreign transaction fees, I don’t hear many people talk about inconsistent merchant codes abroad.

When traveling to Bangladesh, Qatar, Turkey, or even Canada, I consistently come across local businesses that use incorrect merchant codes.

For example - a cafe that codes as Grocery, or a local farmer’s market that codes as shopping. Then there’s restaurants coding as supermarkets, and the list goes on. You cannot trust your multipliers.

Because of that, you must keep a 2X everything unlimited card when traveling abroad. That way, whenever you are in doubt, you can throw in your 2X card and get an acceptable reward, instead of getting 1X.

Finally, depending on the country you visit, American Express acceptance can be hot or cold. In some countries, most shops don’t recognize American Express. On the flip side, Mastercard and Visa have almost 100% global acceptance. So, you must keep a backup Visa/Mastercard, if your primary setup revolves around American Express.

Must Have Card Features During International Travel

Okay, before looking at my card recommendations, here’s a summary of card features you should keep in mind when traveling internationally:

No foreign transaction fees to avoid paying 2-3% extra

Unlimited 2X everything to counter incorrect merchant codes

Backup Visa/Mastercard to counter American Express’s low acceptance rate

Now, let’s look at some top credit cards to keep when traveling internationally.

Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature (Top Pick)

I will start with my top recommendation : Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature.

It ticks all boxes above, and some more:

No annual fee

2% unlimited everything

No foreign transaction fee

Visa

$100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (must have if you regularly go through US customs and immigration)

Yes, you don’t earn travel rewards. Instead, you earn plain old cashback. However, the simplicity, $100 credit and zero annual fee means you can rest assured the card has your back.

SoFi Credit Card

If you are looking for an alternative to Fidelity, Sofi has an almost identical credit card: SoFi Credit Card.

It’s another unlimited 2% Mastercard card with no foreign transaction fee and $0 annual fee. You even have a $1,000 cell phone insurance that can come handy if you lose your phone while traveling.

If you bank with SoFi, I would recommend this over the Fidelity card.

Capital One Venture X

If you are comfortable paying high annual fees, there’s no better all-in-one international travel card than Capital One Venture X.

Not only does it tick all the boxes from above, it also gives you lounge access, a $300 travel credit, 10K points annual bonus, primary auto rental insurance, purchase protection, travel insurances, and so much more!

If you take advantage of all the benefits and use the travel credits yearly, you end up pocketing $5 rather than paying Capital One $395 every year.

Easily, one of the all-time best cards for international travel.

Citi Strata Premier

Moving away from 2X cards, let’s talk about some higher multiplier cards.

The problem with 3X/4X category cards is that the base earning rate on all other purchases will be 1X (instead of 2X). The advantage, however, is that you earn more on select categories.

So, if you want the higher multipliers, and don’t want to juggle between multiple cards when you are busy traveling, it’s best to carry 1 card that covers multiple categories at a 3X/4X rate.

One of the best at this is the newly launched Citi Strata Premier. Here’s how the rewards structure looks like:

3X Flights

3X Hotels

3X Dining

3X Groceries

3X Gas / EV Charging

10X Hotel, Car Rental, Attractions in Citi’s Portal

That’s a whole bunch of categories covered by one card.

Wells Fargo Autograph

Another no foreign transaction fee card that can similarly cover many categories at 3X is the $0 annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph.

Here’s the rewards structure.

3X Dining

3X Travel

3X Gas / EV Charging

3X Transit

3X Streaming Services

3X Phone Plans

If you are traveling to busy cities with a robust public transit system, the 3X Transit will come handy. Similarly, the 3X travel covers much more than hotels and flights (car rentals, cruises, campgrounds, etc).

Similar to the Strata Premier, all other categories will earn you 1X, but that’s the tradeoff you make by not running a multi-card setup.

Summary

To sum up, the most important feature on a credit card that you use when traveling internationally is not having foreign transaction fee. That’s crucial!

After that, you can either go for a 2X unlimited everything card, or a category spend card that gives 3X on a wide range of categories.

If you want to take it up another notch, go with a 2-card setup: one 3X category spend card (such as Citi Strata Premier or Wells Fargo Autograph), and another 2X unlimited card (such as Fidelity Rewards or Venture X).

Contact me if you want personalized credit card recommendations.