Overseas Credit Card Charges

Many travelers now rely on credit cards to pay for overseas travel and purchases. For many consumers, credit cards are easier to keep up with than traveler's checks and they're almost universally accepted now.

Most credit card issuers charge fees for overseas transactions. American Express, for example, adds 2.7 percent to every overseas transaction (up from 2 percent last summer), while Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and HSBC tack on 3 percent, according to Curtis Arnold, who runs CardRatings.com, a Web site that tracks credit card fees.

Also, you may find surprising that purchases of products from Web sites that are based outside the United States may be subject to this fee.

Virtually every credit card assesses an international transaction fee for purchases done outside the 50 states, and that could even include U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Visa and MasterCard charge a 1% processing fee and most card-issuing banks add additional fees as well (on top of the 1% fee levied by MasterCard/Visa).

This fee is generally a percentage of the U.S. dollar value of the transaction. So, even if you paid 100 Euros for a meal that was actually $125 (U.S. dollars), the foreign transaction fees will be assessed on the $125 amount.

There are ways around this. Discover, for example, charges no fees, but is not as widely accepted abroad as Visa, MasterCard and American Express. In December, Charles Schwab Bank, a corporate sibling of the brokerage house, introduced a credit card that charges no transaction fees and puts 2 percent cash back into a brokerage account. Capital One charges no fees of its own and even eats the Visa charge.

A January 2009 survey of credit card issuers revealed the following foreign transaction fees:

• American Express - 2.7%
• Bank of America - 3%
• Chase - 3%
• Citi Bank - 3%
• HSBC - 3%
• Washington Mutual - 1%
• Wells Fargo - 3%
• Capital One - No Foreign Transaction Fee
• Discover - No fees. Accepted in China, the Carribean, Central America, Mexico and certain parts of Europe. Note: Discover is adding a 2% fee on May 1, 2009.

Despite fee hikes in the past year or so, credit cards are often still the most cost effective payment method for overseas travel, but you should consider fees when planning your trip and budget accordingly. For all credit cards, be sure to call your company before you leave the country and tell them specifically where you will be traveling. Otherwise, they may tag your purchases as fradulent and stop your card.

Bank Reward Programs Not So Rewarding for Travel

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on an important side effect of the financial problems of Citigroup and other banks: Credit-card rewards programs are vanishing, especially for travel.

On March 1, Citibank will make a key change to its ThankYou Rewards program for its credit-card holders. You'll have to spend a certain amount each month on your card before you'll be able to earn points for travel.

And travel rewards will become more difficult to redeem, according to a story broken by the Frugal Travel Guy. For example, today you can redeem ThankYou Points for different types of tickets once you've reached a threshold, such as by redeeming 90,000 ThankYou Points for a business-class ticket worth up to $2,700. But under the system the company is about to set up, you'll need to have 100 points per every $1 of airfare. So a $2,700 business-class ticket will now require 270,000 points.

(Citibank defends its move by saying that it will now include the price of taxes and fees as part of its reward. Right now, members have to pay the airline taxes and fees for reward tickets.)

Other news items:
"Last month, American Express eliminated double miles for shopping in a broad range of categories on its Delta SkyMiles card." This may be partly driven by Delta's merger of its frequent flier program with Northwest's program.

"Chase scaled back the cash-back bonus opportunities on its Freedom card for new customers."

"Capital One's new No Hassle Rewards Card requires customers to spend at least $1,000 a month in order to earn double miles for each dollar above that threshold. (Customers earn one mile per dollar spent on all other, non-travel purchases.)"

Banks partly blame the airlines, some of which are hiking the mileage thresholds required to redeem free flights.

Banks are also getting more likely to revoke your points before you get a chance to use them. Says the Journal:

If you're late, not only will you likely see your interest rate jump, but you'll also probably forfeit reward points. Under American Express' Membership Rewards program, for example, members who pay late will forfeit their points for that month (although they can reinstate those points by paying a $29 fee).

The short take: Don't bank those points. If you have a stockpile of rewards points, consider redeeming them for rewards now before they are likely to be devalued.

Be Prepared When Bad Weather Strikes

Air travel can be dicey when the weather outside is frightful, so heed these tips from Fare Compare CEO Rick Seaney if you think you might be affected by bad weather:

* Before heading to the airport, check your flight status on the airline's or airport's Web site.

* Also, make sure you have your airline's phone number hand-programmed in your cell phone or written down somewhere handy with a stash of change for pay phones - so you can call the airline the minute your plans change.

* If you're already at the airport, you'll usually have better luck making alternative arrangements through the gate agent rather than the ticket agent, so head to the gate pronto.

* Anytime you're stuck waiting in line, maximize your chances of reaching someone by getting on the phone with the airline, too.

* If bad weather is going to cause you to get to the airport late and miss your flight, call the airline immediately to get put on the stand-by list. Ditto if you know you're going to miss your connecting flight.

Cruise Industry Posts Increase in 2008

In a surprise announcement, the Cruise Lines Industry Association is predicting that 13.5 million people will cruise North America this year, an increase of 2.3 percent over last year. If the forecast proves accurate, the cruise industry may be the only part of the travel industry to post a gain this year (assuming you don't count the national park system).

Some of that cruise passenger growth will come from non-American visitors to the Caribbean. All told, annual passenger volume has increased 79 percent in the past eight years.