Currency, Cards and Charges Abroad

The charges to identify

A foreign transaction fee, a percentage applied by your card issuer to non-domestic spending.

A cash withdrawal fee, applied on top when taking cash, sometimes with a minimum amount.

Interest from the day of withdrawal on credit card cash advances, with no interest-free period.

An ATM operator fee, charged by the machine's owner and separate from anything your bank charges.

The exchange rate spread, which is where the largest cost usually hides.

Dynamic currency conversion

When a foreign terminal or ATM offers to charge you in your home currency, it is offering to do the conversion at its own rate, which is consistently worse than your card issuer's.

Always choose the local currency. This single habit saves more than most other measures combined.

The offer is worded to sound helpful — the machine says it will show you the amount in your own currency — which is exactly why it works.

The card options

Specialist travel cards and app-based accounts frequently charge no foreign transaction fee and convert at close to the interbank rate, sometimes with limits or weekend surcharges.

Some mainstream credit cards waive foreign fees, and using them for purchases while carrying a small amount of cash covers most situations.

Prepaid currency cards lock a rate in advance, which protects against movement and usually at a worse starting rate.

Cash

Airport bureaux offer the worst rates available anywhere. Buying currency there is the most expensive way to obtain it.

Withdrawing from a bank ATM on arrival, in local currency, declining conversion, is usually the cheapest.

Take a small amount of cash for arrival and obtain the rest locally.

Before travelling

Check your card's specific fees rather than assuming, since they vary within the same bank's range.

Tell the issuer where you are going if it still requires that, and carry a second card stored separately.