As COVID-19 travel restrictions are gradually fading away, we offer you to consider a credit card for travelers
The best cards for international travel 2020. Source: shutterstock.com
Who doesn’t like to travel? Some people travel so much they might even need a second passport. For all those who do travel frequently, before packing their bags, it is worth thinking about the fintech solutions that will make a trip smooth and comfortable. Cash is becoming obsolete all over the world, while mobile banking might still be treated with caution at some places. Therefore, consider using a bank card. It’s convenient, omnipresent, and it doesn’t take up much space in your wallet.
Below is the selection of the most significant banking options suitable for traveling abroad.
8 best cards for travelers
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- 28 Degrees card
- Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card
- Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- The Platinum Card by American Express
- Discover it Miles
- Wells Fargo Propel American Express card
Chase Sapphire Preferred
This card is definitely one of the best variants for US citizens. It is specially created for the traveler’s benefit. Imagine that, you’ll get a major cashback amount for dining and traveling abroad. That’s right, you can save significantly along with exploring new cultures and getting fresh impressions.
The fee policy is simple. Users pay $95 annually. Then they start traveling and earning bonus points. If you spend over $4,000 in the first 3 months of use, you receive 60,000 reward points (worth $750). Your points can be doubled or even tripled if you spend money on international flights, hotels, and dining. The points can be redeemed at the most popular airline and hotel loyalty programs.
By the way, there are no foreign transaction fees applied. That is one of the qualities travelers look for. After all, you never know what currency exchange rates you’ll encounter at the local facilities.
28 Degrees card
This Australian offer will attract all those who cannot live through their vacation without the internet and social networks.
The users can enjoy fast, premium quality Global Wi-Fi at more than 1 million hotspots worldwide. Moreover, this credit card can be easily compatible with any mobile or wearable device. Use mobile payments where it’s applicable and take out your credit card where it’s not.
The “no foreign transaction fees” rule also applies to online shopping. If you order from the foreign trading platforms, consider this a double benefit.
Right on the planning stage, 28 Degrees will also be helpful. Free concierge service is available 24/7 to help plan your next holiday. If you found a very tempting last-minute flight and don’t have a payment option yet, you can apply for a 28 Degrees Platinum Mastercard and get a response within a minute.
The card hasn’t any annual fees or currency conversion fees either. Of course, using it is not totally free. You can find the list of all applicable fees here. Users are allowed up to 55 days interest-free on purchases if they pay the full closing balance on each account statement by the applicable due date.
If your card gets lost or stolen, you can always enjoy the worldwide emergency card replacement service.
Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card
A great reward system is topped with the absence of any annual fees or foreign transaction fees.
The lucky owners of this credit account, have to spend only $1,000 within the first 90 days, in which case, they receive 25000 online bonus points which is equivalent to $250. All the reward points can be redeemed during your next trips.
Unlike the Chase Sapphire Preferred, this card is great for budget travel. The amount to spend is not too big, so even students and low-income users can enjoy the perks of the credit card. You no longer have to save big before embarking on a trip.
Furthermore, if you are already a client of Bank of America, and use one of its savings or checking options, your rewards grow significantly. You’ll receive an additional 10% customer points for every purchase you make with this bank. If you’re a Preferred Rewards client, that bonus will vary from 25% to 75%.
Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard
This credit card has plenty of pleasant attributes for the experienced traveler.
To begin with, it uses the international Chip and PIN system for self-service chip terminals around the world. If you use the Barclays mobile app, you can also appraise a new security option. You can instantly lock your cards with Barclays SecurHold, set transaction limits or block certain purchase categories.
Along with the common reward system (70,000 bonus miles for spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days), there’s a nice innovation. Users can earn bonuses for sharing their travel experiences in the new mobile-friendly Barclays Travel Community. That’s a real godsend for anyone who enjoys giving feedback.
Every redemption case brings you an additional 5% miles. Frequent travelers will enjoy that fact. Their balances will be constantly replenished.
An additional benefit is the 24/7 travel card concierge service that performs the function of a dedicated personal assistant. Not all of us have one, yet their help is often priceless.
The pricing policies of Barclays are quite fair. Annual fee equals $89 after the first year of use. Your initial trial term is free. The APR for purchases and balance transfers is no more than 25.24%. It changes from customer to customer based on their financial trustworthiness.
There is a 0% introductory APR for 12 months for those transfers made within 45 days of account opening. A fee for balance transfers can be $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Cash withdrawals will cost you 27.49% APR. There are no foreign transaction fees on international purchases.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
This card has always been a nice option in terms of international travel, and this card is rather a well-known one in the traveller community. The card is powered by the Visa network, and requires a good or excellent (700-749 and 750-850 respectively) credit score rating to get it.
First of all, people choose Capital One’s Venture Rewards card because it has no foreign transaction fees, which is maybe the major point when it comes to the best cross-border travel card. Furthermore, the company waives their annual fee for the first trial year. After twelve months of use, you’ll be charged $95 yearly in the normal way. As with type of reward, this card is mileage-based (in contrast to point-based cards).
Secondly, a cardholder receives a one-time bonus in the form of 50,000 miles, which also equals $500 in travel miles (as soon as you have spent $3,000 within the first three months of account opening). Capital One’s card offers Glоbаl Еntrу аррlication fee credit and airline trаnsfеr раrtnеrs as well. On the other hand, a cardholder has the opportunity to earn and receive miles-per-dollar with every рurchase thеy mаkе (you get 2X miles for every dollar spent, no matter which category of purchase it is).
Overall, Capital One offers a simple, intuitive, and straightforward rewards structure, while you can be sure you won’t be worried about blackout dates using planes, hotels, rental cars, and more.
The Platinum Card by American Express
First of all, this card is a premium one, and mostly, your credit score has to be rated as excellent if you want to apply for it. Normally, users with a credit score above 700 try to apply for this card, while the average cardholder’s score is 715. According to Credit Karma, even a couple of cardholders with a credit score of 643-670 have been approved, but it’s rather an exception, so don’t expect too much with a poor credit score. Moreover, the Platinum Card from American Express is considered to be the best premium international travel card (according to multiple experts and travel magazines). We are not here to affirm the greatness of this card, we’d rather leave it for you to decide. Thus, let’s see what this premium card can offer.
Actually, the card offers tons of travel perks, such as $200 credit to cover air travel incidental charges (i.e. luggage fees, in-flight refreshment, etc), airport lounge access (like Сеnturiоn or Рriоritу Раss), fee credit for TSA PrеСhсеk or Global Entry, elite status with partnering hotel brands Маrriоtt and Нiltоn, and much more. The annual fee is $550, and it is, to put it mildly, not the cheapest option, but if you travel a lot, these perks can become beneficial. Therefore, the annual fee would be worth the price only if a cardholder is an avid traveler, who mostly prefers lounges, VIP rooms, and whatnot.
This card has a kind of membership reward, meaning you can get 60,000 welcome-offer points if you manage to spend $5,000 in the first three months of account opening. You’ll also earn 5 points for every $1 spent when you book flights directly from AmEx Travel (and the same applies to hotel booking). Any other eligible purchase will give you 1 point for $1 spent.
Discover it Miles
This Discover card is a rеlаtivеly stаndаrd trаvеl саrd. Like most regular credit cards, it has its weak and strong points. First of all, it’s worth mentioning that the card has no annual fee, as well as it doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees. But the most amazing feature of the card is probably the fact that it has an unlimited 1.5X miles bonus for every $1 spent for any type of purchase category. For the first year, you’ll turn, let’s say, 35,000 miles into 70,000 miles (which equals $700 for further flights). However, you’ll not get any sign-up bonus, which normally is guaranteed by premium cards.
A cardholder will also get a 0% intrоductоrу АРR on purchases for 14 months (after 14 months it’s going to be between 13.49% and 24.49%, which is actually a high rate for APR).
As for the credit score, you don’t need such a high score as, for example, AmEx’s Platinum Card requires, but the rate has to comply with “good” or “excellent” rates.
Nevertheless, Discover is not so widely accepted as Visa or MasterCard outside of America, so just keep this fact in mind.
Wells Fargo Propel American Express card
This card has no annual and foreign transaction fees and offers some cool first-class perks on top of that. First, you’ve got three bonus points for every $1 spent (works for hotels, flights, etc), and then, you can instantly turn bonus points in real rewards. It is worth mentioning that the 3X bonus points option also works for dining out and other purchases while you’re on vacation. You can “cash” up to 20,000 points as soon as you’ve spent $1,000 in the first three months after account opening. Furthermore, you’ll have a one-year grace period with no interest on purchases/balance transfers.
Wells Fargo Propel AmEx card doesn’t offer any travel transfer partners as premium cards usually do, but you can be sure the bonus points you have are worth 1.5 times more when you use them for award flights.
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