All About Credit Cards

When traveling to Europe, the Orient, or wherever your final destination may be, your options for paying for dinners and tourist gifts are either 1) traveler’s checks or 2) your credit card. The choice of which to used to be quite easy, but things have changed.

The ideal choice used to be to swipe your plastic. The big three (Visa/Mastercard/AMEX) would give you an excellent exchange rate, since they run so much money through the international banks. However, these days, cards have begun to affix surcharges when they’re used internationally. The percentages are usually fairly low (from 1-3 percents) but they can add up.

These fees make it so it might be worth looking into traveler’s checks, particularly if A) you can get them for free and B) you find a place with good exchange rates. You do lose some convenience, but expensive meals can rack up some big bills. So, take a close look at your options, and choose which payment method makes the most sense to you (and your wallet.)

Ways to compare credit card offers
New credit card legislation for students
New credit card legislation for students