Costco Visa now has no foreign transaction fee

I assume this is limited to Costco in the US, and not to Costco in other countries. (Canadian Costcos dont even accept Visa credit cards)

Thanks Lynn! Effective January 26, 2018. Was it my multiple suggestions they do so to remain competitive?

Oh wow! Did I know this, Lynn?? lolol...you (and Darcy) are responsible for my knowledge from now on....

This is good info. I have the Citi Costco Visa card and will plan to use it in Europe!

My card has the little contactless symbol on the back. It looks like the WiFi symbol turned sideways. Should be useful when I’m in London this spring for the tube and some trains.

Thanks for letting us know. This is the first I've heard of this! Although I still might use another card on my next trip - I often get a new card that needs a minimum spend to qualify for bonus miles or something, right before a trip - it's nice to know I can get 2% cash back on travel-related expenses - hotels? That would be pretty sweet. Plane tickets too.

Bruce: Thanks for getting this done for all of us.!

CJean: Maybe let Costco know you want the same benefit on the Canada card they offer to USA card customers?

Pam: Just found this out today (by accident, looking for other information). So by being a forum groupie, you are one of the first three to hear it from me. :)

Rocket: I didn't know about the contactless feature. Thanks for the tip. Please post when you get back on how it worked for you.

CITI customer service confirmed the card, at least in America, operates as touch less if you so decide. All sorts of credit card machines have the contactless receiver but not many in my forest function.

just double checked the Canadian equivalent to see if it had changed. It has not. Costco in Canada only accepts MasterCards, and their own branded card from CapitalOne still has a foreign transaction fee:

"Foreign currency conversion

We will bill you in Canadian dollars when you use your card to make a transaction in a foreign currency. The transaction amount will be converted to Canadian dollars using the Mastercard rate of exchange applicable at the time the transaction is processed. When the converted transaction posts to your account, we will add a foreign currency conversion charge equal to 2.5% of the converted transaction amount."

No FTF cards are few and far between in Canada. The Chase Amazon Visa was one, and I've carried it on my European trips for years, but it is dead as of March 15 this year. Home Trust Visa seems to be the only one left, aside from a really limited-use Rogers/Fido card.

I don't know how this works outside Germany, but in Germany there are a lot of small, family run pensions or gasthauses that charge significantly less and don't take credit cards, so if you are using places that take credit cards you are paying much more than 3% more.

Great to know! Thanks!

@Lee: I pay cash for most purchases in Europe and especially when staying in small family-run hotels as I appreciate the business climate they operate within. Larger hotels that treat cash and credit card purchases the same, well. I'll generally use my credit card.

How come Costco just emailed me the news today? Am I the last man on the totem pole?

So I tried using my card at the tube station yesterday. No joy. Came back with an error message to see an agent. Same thing happened with my friend and his Costco Visa card. We switched and used Oyster cards that we had with credit still on them.

Just to check, I tried using my Amex card today. That one seemed to work fine.

I hope others have better luck with their cards.