Capital One vs Schwab ATM card

The merits of both/either of these cards is often bandied about, probably because of forums like this and their advertising.

My podunk credit union and podunk local bank atm cards give the same benefits. The fees that pop up on my regular vis/amex/mc are so inconsequential (less than my coffee budget on a month-long trip) that I refuse to worry about them.

Check and see what the deal is with the cards you already have -- it might not be worth the pain in the neck of getting a new one.

And forget about "may need to use" and assume that you will use an ATM. Speaking of which, if you use it four times in ten days, what can the cost be (refer to pain in neck above)?.

I'm with Ed - my local credit union ATM card charges no fees, either, except a once-monthly $3.00 "foreign ATM" fee if I use an out-of-network ATM more than three times in one month. To me, that's insignificant. There is never a conversion fee or anything added to the exchange.

I solved most of the fee problems by just taking Euros with me. I take a credit card for large purchases -hotels, plane tickets -if we decide on the spur of the moment- to go somewhere else, large shopping purchases, etc. Otherwise, cash it is.

I solved most of the fee problems by just taking Euros with me.

That only works if you can buy euros in the US at a lower mark up than the ATM charges you'll pay in Europe. Unless you pay massive ATM fees it's unlikely you can buy euros in the US that cheap - so this tactic won't work for most people.

The best rate I know of for getting Euro in the US is from Wells Farge for about 5% over the Interbank rate.

I have a PMA account with Wells and get the Interbank rate from ATMs over there. However, their credit card charges 3% for POS purchases.

I also have an account with a local bank that doesn't have a foreign currency operation, and they just pass on to me the 1% "network" charge for both ATM and credit card usage. They also add a couple of dollars for using an out of system ATM, same as they would in this country.

I've used ATMs for eight trips and have never had an ATM charge from the banks over there.

I use a Capital One card for foreign travel because they do not charge a foreign transaction fee and seem to have a really good exchange rate (within 1-2% of the daily interbank rate according to Yahoo).

My local bank's Debit card refunds all ATM fees however has a pretty bad foreign exchange rate for purcahses so I take the cash out with the debit and use the Capital One for bigger purchases and hotels.

'BE WARY OF THE CHARGE YOU IN YOUR OWN CURRENCY' thing that a lot of hotels and shops seem to be doing now. You'll get nailed with a poor rate and still get hit with a foreign transaction fee by your bank. Always tell them to charge it in their currency before handing them the card.

Just to echo Tyson's very good tip, the "should we charge you in your own currency" offer that a lot of hotels are doing now is ALWAYS a bad deal, because the exchange rate the hotel uses is never as good as the exchange rate your Visa or Mastercard use. It makes me wonder why so many hotels are doing this now, other than to suck in the naive. Tyson is right, you always want to be charged in the local currency.

I have a Capital One and honestly it's a pain in the AS* to make foreign purchases. I'm prepaying for hotels and before I actually make a purchase I do the "right" thing and call Cap1 to let them know a foreign transaction is coming through. They tell me fine we will not block it. However, every SINGLE TIME I make a charge they block it. Why, I don't know because when I call I never get a straight answer from the customer support people I talk with all over the world but mostly from India and Philipines (yes, I ask them where they are located). Interestingly enough I found that if I DON'T call Cap1 to alert them that a foreign transaction is coming it's never stopped and everything progresses as it should...go figure.

Honestly I have spent hours on the phone trying to fix problems with Cap1 and while it's nice to have a 0% foreign transaction fee, it's much easier to just whip out my AMEX and be assured that there will never be a problem (as long as the merchant accepts AMEX).

I really beginning to hate Cap1!

I've been using the CapOne card in Europe for several years, usually only once or twice per trip. In 2008 I used it to pay at two hotels in England. I had called in advance to notify CapOne of foreign travel. I had no trouble using the card, but a month or two after returning home I got a call from CapOne that someone had tried to use my card in England. They called to ask if this was me. I said "no" and to block that transaction. That was the end of the matter; I think they may have cancelled the card and re-issued a new one. I consider that good service from CapOne.

However, after that experience I decided to use cash as much as possible. The last two trips have been all cash; some things were prepaid with another card before leaving home. I will continue to carry the CapOne card, but will use it very little.

I just re-read the original question. I don't use the CapOne card at the ATM, only as a credit card.

See what I get for saying something nice about a company

I'm trying to book my May flight from LHR-BIO with a Capital One card and they are driving me mental. The fraud department has now been outsourced to a foreign call center which has no idea what I am trying to do and says everything is fine.

They let 2 charges through and blocked the last charge of 10 euro despite me having them on the phone as I was making the transaction.

They seem to love to do it with foreign airlines. Have had problems with BMI and now Vueling.

After what I have read, I guess CASH is KING. I will just limit myself to as few use of the ATM and credit card as possible. BoA and Chase are my bankers, and although they charge a 3% interest on my purchases, at least it will be minimal.

Thanks for sharing all your experiences.

Sammee

Hi, Sammee. Check out BECU. Anyone in Washington can be a member now, and as a credit union, it charges no fees for accounts (rather, you get interest on almost everything), and the ATM/international fees are the bare minimum they have to charge.

Happy customer for 22 years now.