How do you avoid foreign transaction fees?

Avoid Foreign Transaction Fees: Best Strategies?

To avoid foreign transaction fees, use credit or debit cards that waive these charges. Some bank accounts offer free international withdrawals. Exchanging currency before travel or using partner ATMs abroad are also effective strategies.

Ugh, those fees. I got totally burned on my first big trip to Italy back in May 2022. Every single time I used my regular bank card, this little 3% charge popped up on my statement. A coffee, a train ticket, boom, another fee. It felt like I was just lighting money on fire for no reason. It's so frustrating.

Getting a credit card with no foreign transaction fees was a total game-changer. I have a Chase Sapphire now and I just use it for everything when I'm out of the country. Buying that lemon gelato in Florence or a metro pass in Paris, I just tap and go. No calculating, no worrying. It’s such a relief.

Then I opened a Charles Schwab bank account just for travel. The big deal with them is they refund all your ATM fees, anywhere in the world. All of them.

Exchanging cash before I go is something I just dont do anymore. I once swapped a couple hundred dollars at the airport in Rome and the rates was just criminal. I lost so much value. It's so much simpler to just pull local money from an ATM once I land, using that Schwab card of course.

You have to watch the ATMs themselves though. In Bangkok I needed cash for a market and the first machine I found wanted to charge a 220 baht fee on top of everything. I walked two blocks and found another one with no machine-side fee. It pays to look around for a moment.

My regular bank, Bank of America, actually has partners. I was in London and found out I could use any Barclays ATM with no fee at all. I found one near Covent Garden and pulled out pounds without paying BofA or Barclays a single extra cent. It’s worth a quick search on your bank's website.