Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earning

[dalereardon]

Hi,

I have a CBA Diamond card and it charges around 2.5% foreign transaction fees which I thought was bad.

I just got a Woolworths Mastercard and it has a good earn rate of 1:1 but I have just made some foreign transactions prepaying some things for our foreign trip and it is charging around 3.5% foreign transactions fees! This is even worse.

Can anyone recommend a mastercard or Visa that has 0 or low foreign fees and a good earn rate?

Thanks,
Dale.

 

[opusman]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

BankWest Qantas Platinum Mastercard. $99/yr, 1pt/$, no foreign currency fees (no points on foreign purchases is the only downside).

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

There aren't that many 1:1 cards around in the Visa/Mastercard space, so it comes down to which limitation you can best live with....

While it still has a forex fee, the HSBC card does pay a bonus point for foreign transactions.


(Does the Bankwest card really exclude foreign purchases. I saw an exclusion on foreign exchange, but thought that referred to buying currency)

 

[Awesom Andy]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

Everyone values QFF points differently, but in most cases, you are paying a few % extra just to have accrue points. Depending on how much you travel, it may be a better idea to get the most suitable local-spend card for your everyday spending, and then a no-fx-fee card, e.g. 28 degrees, for your overseas spend.

 

[blu]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

You could check your local Citibank website for a fee free Visa Debit card.

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

Everyone values QFF points differently, but in most cases, you are paying a few % extra just to have accrue points. Depending on how much you travel, it may be a better idea to get the most suitable local-spend card for your everyday spending, and then a no-fx-fee card, e.g. 28 degrees, for your overseas spend.

Which the Bankwest Platinum roles into one card.....

 

[legroom]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

Hi,

I have a CBA Diamond card and it charges around 2.5% foreign transaction fees which I thought was bad.

I just got a Woolworths Mastercard and it has a good earn rate of 1:1 but I have just made some foreign transactions prepaying some things for our foreign trip and it is charging around 3.5% foreign transactions fees! This is even worse.

Can anyone recommend a mastercard or Visa that has 0 or low foreign fees and a good earn rate?

Thanks,
Dale.

Surcharge is only part of the problem.

Exchange Rate is another unseen danger and different banks use a different scale to hurt you.

I am not aware of any CC with no / low fees AND a good earn rate.

28-degrees MC would give you no fees and a good rate, but no points.

Personally, I am happy to pay 3% on my Citibank Visa Select collecting 3.33 KrisFlyer points per dollar - hard to beat. And with a reasonable exchange rate, too.

CBA has one of the worst exchange rate and I'd refrain from using that card.

 

[dalereardon]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

I will check out the exchange rate on the CBA compared to the Woolworths.

I have just applied for the HSBC card - if I can earn 2 points per dollar for foreign transactions then that helps make up for the fees.

Quite a bit of our accommodation wants us to pay in cash - apartments we have booked - what is the best way to get cash overseas at a reasonable exchange rate? There are so many cash cards about and Qantas won't have released their new card by the time we go.

Dale.

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

Exchange Rate is another unseen danger and different banks use a different scale to hurt you.

People keep saying this, and it is simply not true. For all banks and cards that I can find, it is the scheme (Visa, Mastercard or American Express) that does the currency conversion using their rates of the day.

 

[Pushka]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

28 degree MasterCard uses virtually the same exchange rate that you seen online so much better than the others, and doesn't charge for international transactions. But no QFF points.

 

[Jleno]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

I will check out the exchange rate on the CBA compared to the Woolworths.

I have just applied for the HSBC card - if I can earn 2 points per dollar for foreign transactions then that helps make up for the fees.

Quite a bit of our accommodation wants us to pay in cash - apartments we have booked - what is the best way to get cash overseas at a reasonable exchange rate? There are so many cash cards about and Qantas won't have released their new card by the time we go.

Dale.

I use 28 degrees for cash withdrawals.

 

[DeKa]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

I will check out the exchange rate on the CBA compared to the Woolworths.

I have just applied for the HSBC card - if I can earn 2 points per dollar for foreign transactions then that helps make up for the fees.

Quite a bit of our accommodation wants us to pay in cash - apartments we have booked - what is the best way to get cash overseas at a reasonable exchange rate? There are so many cash cards about and Qantas won't have released their new card by the time we go.

Dale.

Citibank plus is my card of choice for cash. Others will say 28Deg but that is not its designed purpose... Get something designed for cash withdrawals. I've tested.. The Citi and 28Deg rates are almost exactly the same.

 

[legroom]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

People keep saying this, and it is simply not true. For all banks and cards that I can find, it is the scheme (Visa, Mastercard or American Express) that does the currency conversion using their rates of the day.

I stand corrected.

Must be an urban myth in my head.

See this for VISA and MasterCard

I must have been influenced by the branch exchange rates which are different between banks.

A new thing to learn today

 

[Awesom Andy]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

Which the Bankwest Platinum roles into one card.....

Only if the Bankwest plat suits your local needs.

 

[NP1]

Re: Mastercard or Visa with reasonable or no international fees and Qantas point earn

I have found the Prosple website to be really helpful in weighing up the pros and cons when considering new credit cards

It ranks cards by 'best value for you' based on your specified monthly spend, the card's annual fee and any sign on bonus, and the FF point earn rate. You can then weigh this up against the other perks, which are neatly summarised!

I currently have a Citibusiness Gold Mastercard which I use for most personal and work expenses (1.25 QFF points/$1, free wine, unfortunately no longer available to new customers), the BankWest Platinum Qantas Mastercard shared with my partner (1 QFF point/$1, good sign-on bonus, low international fees I think), and the 28 degrees card for travelling (no annual fee, no international fees and seemingly decent exchange rates)