We tried to put a deposit through SPG American Express card for our stay in Assisi at an agriturismo. Primary reason we got the card is we had purchased a Westin time share and there's no foreign transaction fees. The lady at the agriturismo my husband spoke with said that she tried it 2 times on two different days and it still didnt go through. Hubby called Amex and the customer service said he doesn't know why it did not processed as he doesn't see anything in the computer under "pending charges" either. We then pay the deposit through Citibank Costco & got a surprise in our statement for $46.00 foreign transaction fee. Lesson learned! My question is has anyone in the forum had problems with Amex cards overseas in the past or is this just an isolated incident? Also would like to know forum's opinion on 2nd credit card to get with no foreign transaction fees. We recently got in the mail Capital One venture card invitation to open, but haven't made up our mind yet. Thanks for all your input. I really enjoy and have learned so much from all. BTW this will be our 1st trip to Italy in December.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Capital One and Chase Visa have no foreign transaction fees.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Yeah, the Costco Citi Visa doesn't offer free foreign transaction fees. But plenty of other cards do.
If you want a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees and is also a chip and PIN (so you can use it at train station ticket machines, etc.), try the Andrews Federal Credit Union Visa card. Other cards from Chase and Bank of America, among others, also offer no foreign transaction fees. (E.g. Chase Southwest Premier Visa, Bank of America Alaska AIrlines Visa card.) If you want the Bank of America Alaska card, you can get a $100 statement credit plus 30,000 miles after $1,000 spend (the $100 negates the $75 annual fee the first year). I use Alaska miles every year to fly to Europe - it's a good mileage program.
Amex is well known not to be widely accepted in Europe.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thank you Zoe and Andrew for the suggestions, we'll start doing our homework as which other card to get. Theresa/CA.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Just look out for the tradeoffs -- possible annual fees on some cards. Or big sign-up bonuses/double points which may make the first-year fee worthwhile. We have used Capital One in the past, but now carry the pricey ($450/year less $300 rebate on travel) Chase Sapphire Reserve which pays triple points on travel and restaurants and has extra insurance benefits.
Posted by
California 🦋
5343 posts
Theresa,
We have Citi Mastercard (not connected to Costco though) and Chase Marriott Rewards Visa, both of which do not charge foreign transaction fees.
Posted by
Perugia, Italy
211 posts
Amex sometimes just doesn't go through. I can't explain it. I've used it in Italy a fair amount, but only some stores accept it. And even then, the merchant's swiped it a few times, and they always say they have problems with it.
Posted by
9001 posts
I use my AmEx card the most of any of my credit cards, since I get Delta Skymiles. I have only had one time when I was booking something in Australia that it was rejected. I used my Master Card instead, then called AmEx and they could not explain to my why the charge didn't go through. Other than that time, I have used it a lot for booking tours and hotel with no problem.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thank you Laura, Priscilla, Apaonita, & Geovagriffith for all your feedback. We have narrowed it to Capital One or Chase. There's also a credit union in town that might be worth looking into as Andrew had mentioned earlier. Have a blessed day. Theresa/CA