Question
Which card offers the best forex rates for puchases (mostly EUR and GBP)
This is what I have
Amex Plat charge (the actual rate itself is ok, it's the add on's that make it a rip-off. I use this the most, stateside)
Citibank AA Mastercard World (2nd most used card)
Chase Platinum Visa (hardly use this)
BofA Visa (hardly use this)
Merill Lynch (Total Merill) MBNA (I've heard MBNA is good for forex charges)
That's it. Suggestions?
Answer
The Nordstrom Visa doesn't charge any conversion fees at all. They even eat the Visa 1% exchange fee. In addition, it's no annual fee and you earn points for purchases at Nordstrom (if you're into that sort of thing). Of the cards you have, the MBNA one is the best.
Answer
Just went to their website and saw this note:
Foreign Currency Conversion Fee: Effective
April 1, 2005, 1% of the converted transaction amount :mad: :mad: :mad:
So, I guess Nordstrom card is loosing its advantages over MBNA cards.
Answer
I lived in Switzerland for 3 years and used the State Farm Bank Visa Card.
http://www.statefarmbank.com/bank/before.htm
They charge the 1% conversion fee that Visa takes, but then offer 1% cash back that can be applied towards State Farm Insurance or simply deposited into your State Farm Bank account. (I also use them for banking with free internet bill paying, etc.)
Best deal I've found.
Answer
The MBNA Fidelity MC gets you 1.5% of the amount charged credited in cash to your Fidelity brokerage account. Since the card includes only the 1% MC mark-up, you're getting half of 1%. No fee and no miles.