Don't be deceived by their marketing - Capital One is NOT a good card for international travelers. Yes they have no foreign transaction fees, but that doesn't do you any good if your card doesn't work.

Background: I work from home and typically spend 5-7 months abroad every year. I have a cheap US cell plan for when I'm in the US, but when traveling abroad, I use a cheap foreign SIM/plan. Big savings on cell service without the need for expensive international plans or roaming.

The problem: Capital One Mastercard is a fine card when using the physical card - it will work anywhere MasterCard is accepted. However, if you ever try to use the card on a website where you manually type in your 16 digit card number, expiration and CVV code - it generates a pop-up from MasterCard that wants to send you a OTC (One Time Code) as a text message to your US number. But what if you're not using your US number at the time? You have no way to receive the code. It doesn't give you any other option to receive the code. Not email, not a different international number, not an authenticator app like Google/Microsoft Authenticator. You're basically screwed. And don't bother trying to call customer service - there is NOTHING they can do. Its MasterCards Fault they'll tell you. Out of our control. Yet if you try to call MasterCard - "Sorry we're just the transaction processor, contact your card company." Circular finger pointing with you left screwed over.

I know this may be a small issue for people who keep their US number when outside US, but for travelers like me its a deal breaker.

Buyer Beware.

So pretty much the title and probably a dumb question. The capital one website says I can use my savor card with no issue internationally with no foreign transaction fees. So if I'm traveling through Qatar and I want food at the airport I can just swipe my card as normal and it just charges automatically in local currency? Or does it convert into dollars or something?

I was charged a 4% transaction fee withdrawing cash..is this normal or did I make an error at the ATM ? (Edit-This was a 360 card .. should have no transaction fee )

Has anyone else been slapped with exorbitant foreign transaction fees on their Capital One credit card? I recently found out that my monthly fee would increase by $15 for any purchase made outside the US, and I'm wondering if this is a standard practice or if there are ways to avoid it. I've tried looking through my account settings and customer service hasn't been able to provide me with any information on how to minimize these fees. Any advice or experience with Capital One would be greatly appreciated!

Considering “no foreign transaction fees” as a benefit is like celebrating that your credit card company has a mobile app to manage your account.

What mainstream cards are assessing foreign transaction fees?

Hi all! I recently cut up my credit cards (wahoo) and am on BS3. With my upcoming honeymoon to Italy, I want to know if there are any recommendations for debit cards that either don't charge a foreign transaction fee, or accounts that have a very low % fee. Mainly looking into this to switch from Chase to a better bank.

Any suggestions?

I recently noticed I am being charged almost 4.5% on every purchase on my purchases in Mexico with my capital one quicksilver. Is this normal? I thought the card was suppose to have no fees.

For example I just bought something that was 260 MXN which the time of this writing, using Xe to do the conversion is $13.56, yet I was charged $14.16! I understand visa / mc take like 0.5% or something or the top but this 4% seems way too high.

Another data point, using the Mastercard website here with whatever they take off the top it says the charge should only be $13.94

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html

Is it possible because it’s the weekend it is much worse?

Both of them are Visa cards with no foreign transaction fees. However, I was surprised by the amount that was recently posted to my Venmo account. It was much higher than what Google showed. I know the foreign exchange rate is never as good as Google’s, but it felt closer when I was using my Venture X. Or perhaps the currency matters as well? I used Venture X for Japanese yen and Venmo for Canadian dollars.

Yeah this is tough for me. This is my primary method for getting cash in foreign countries. The no foreign atm fees was clutch. Need new card now.

Somehow, I just relieazied, I did not pay attention to the fees.

I have review a lot posts, most recommend to withdrawal yen from ATM in the airport, instead of exchange the currency while you still in your own country, in my case, US.

I only have bank of american debit card and credit card. there is 3% international transcation fee, and I don't see any Japanese partner ATM. In this case, if I use my BOA debit card to withdrawal Yen from ATM in Narrita airport, I will be charged to ATM fee and 3% international transcation fee.

It sounds a lot.

So i review few posts about withdrawal from international ATM.

few people mentioned Capital One 360 and Charles Schwab, that no annual fee, no ATM withdrawal fee (they will refund ATM fee??? and you can withdrawal from any ATM anywhere without any fee???) and no forgein internation transcation fee.

I just want get more detail information from who own/used them. Really no fee at all??????? Any restriction or hide fee????? or hide fee to open an account???

If so, which one do you recommend ?

I live in the United States and I recently got the Capital One Savor One credit card because it has no foreign transaction fees. My question is, when I travel abroad how can I make sure I get the best/most competitive exchange rate when paying with my credit card? The thing is, when you pay for something it will usually ask if you want to pay in the local currency or if you want to pay directly in US dollars. I have no idea what I should be clicking. Does it matter which one I choose (local currency or US dollars)? Should I be choosing a different option based on the card? Any guidance on this will help a ton.

Important points for me:

• No FTF since I live abroad and do most of my purchases in foreign currencies

• Free ATM withdraws abroad

• Simplicity, I don't want 7 cards and 5 different logins to manage. Happy to sacrifice some rewards for this.

• Apple Pay support

• No Discover cards or anything that's useless outside the US

• Good user interface

Previously Capital one used to check all these boxes. My current setup is:

• 360 Checking

• Debit Mastercard, no FTF and no ATM fee

• Savor One, 3% back on dining and groceries worldwide, no FTF

• Quicksilver, 1.5% back on everything else worldwide, no FTF

Honestly the perfect simple setup for anyone abroad. Simple, free, everything Mastercard so no issues with acceptance abroad. And a useful Debit card since a fair amount of merchants in Europe refuse credit cards. I'd probably replace the Quicksilver with a Venture X to add a Visa into the setup and get 2% on everything, but I can't get approved for it.

Only thing lacking is ATM refunds, but in Europe you can find free ATMs everywhere so that's not a big issue. If it means paying $1 here and there in Mexico for ATM withdrawals I'm happy to do that for simplicity.

Now the big issue: Capital One has just moved my Debit card over to the Discover network, which makes it basically useless outside the US. For now the credit cards are still on Mastercard/Visa but it's only a matter of time until they switch too. Which turns one of the best banks for international use into one of the worst.

So what are my other options?

• Fidelity: Debit Card and 2% Cashback Visa Credit with no FTF, but their interface looks like it's from the 90s

• SOFI: app seems better than Fidelity, but their Debit card charges a FTF, 2% Cashback Visa does not

Any other suggestions? I'm happy to use separate checking and credit card issuers if necessary.