Planning a trip abroad?

You'll need a credit card that can keep up with your spending, especially when you're not in your home country. The most important part of choosing a card for traveling internationally is that it has no foreign transaction fee (FTF). With a no-FTF card, you can avoid the high fees (often 3% or more) that banks often charge for international transactions. This can save you a significant amount of money, especially if you're planning on doing a lot of shopping or dining out while you're abroad. And when your card also has no annual fee, you can maximize your savings. Many popular cards, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited, are amazing for spending in the US, giving 1.5% back on everything. However, this card has a 3% foreign transaction fee, which means every time you use the card abroad, you’re effectively losing money.

Luckily, there are a number of great no FTF/no annual fee credit cards on the market! When you’re evaluating which card to get for traveling abroad, it's important to keep a few KEY things in mind when choosing an FTF-less card with no annual fee:

• As mentioned, foreign transaction fees: Make sure the card you choose doesn't charge any foreign transaction fees. These fees can be as high as 3% of your purchase, so they can add up quickly. No one wants to be stuck paying for massive expenses that could be avoided by simply using another credit card! I have personally made this mistake a few times, and forgotten that my cards have FTFs. By only bringing the cards without FTFs (or at least only keeping these cards in your wallet while abroad), you can avoid the issue altogether!

• Rewards: Some no-FTF cards offer rewards programs that can earn you points or miles that can be redeemed for travel, merchandise, or cash back. Generally, you want to first evaluate your spending to see which card can get you the best rewards.

• Acceptance: Unlike in the USA, some cards are not accepted universally abroad (including places like Europe and Asia). While American Express has begun to put lots of money into getting broader coverage (especially in Europe), uptake is still fairly low when not at tourist-heavy or more expensive establishments. Similarly, Discover is often not accepted at many international locations across the world. We recommend staying away from AmEx and Discover until coverage improves (if it ever does) for your travel abroad (however, AmEx doesn’t have any cards with no FTFs and no annual fee, so the issue is slightly moot). There’s nothing worse than being forced to withdraw money from an ATM internationally when you could’ve just used another card (plus it’s a little embarrassing not having a valid payment method).

Given this background, here are our recommendations for the best no-annual-fee credit cards:

The Best No-Annual Fee Travel Cards:

1. Wells Fargo Autograph VISA

The Autograph is pure, effective, and simple: 3x points on restaurants, gas, travel, transit, streaming, and phone plans, all with no annual fee and no FTFs. The Autograph also gives auto rental collision damage waiver and travel and emergency services assistance (including roadside assistance). Frankly, this card is a no-brainer for anyone who travels frequently and doesn’t want to pay an annual fee or worry about using multiple cards. While Wells Fargo isn’t as popular as some other banks, the Autograph (and the Bilt Rewards card also from Wells Fargo) is one of the most exciting and useable cards out there. Most cards with no annual fee offer a minimal sign-on bonus, however, the Autograph offers 20,000 points when you spend $1,000 on the card in the first 3 months! While we also recommend never leaving a balance on a credit card, Autograph does also offer a 0% intro APR for the first 12 months.

Overall, this card is one of the easiest to use, most effective, and most versatile travel cards with no FTFs and no annual fee.

Score: 4.9/5

2. Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards

All Capital One cards have no FTFs and are generally always a safe bet for traveling abroad. For a no-annual-fee, no-FTF card, we recommend the SaverOne, as it is one of the most popular Capital One cards due to its lack of annual fee, easy-to-hit sign-on-bonus ($200 after spending $500), and unlimited 3% back on dining, entertainment, streaming, and grocery stores (which are all great for international spending)! The SavorOne also 10% back on Uber and UberEats, plus a complimentary UberOne membership. For traveling to places that use Uber, this can be an incredible bonus! The biggest downsides of this card are that it’s cash-back only and that it offers no % cash-back bonus on anything related to travel.

Overall, this card is a great option for anyone who prefers a cash-back setup over a point-earning setup when traveling abroad.

Score: 4.3/5

3. U.S. Bank Altitude Go VISA

Our final recommendation is the Altitude Go VISA from US Bank. This no-annual-fee card gives 4x points on dining, takeout, and restaurant delivery, and 2x points at grocery stores, gas stations, and EV charging. The range of bonus spending returns is excellent, though it’s a bummer that it has no bonus for flights. If this card ever does give even 2x points on flights, it’ll become one of the best point cards out there with no annual fee and no FTFs.

While this card fits the criteria of a no annual fee/no FTF card, it is more difficult to get easy value out of compared to the others as you have to commit to the US Bank point system. While not a dealbreaker, the usability of your points is important to consider when thinking about how valuable any given rewards are. As well, similar

Score: 4.0/5

Summary

Despite what people online may say, you can absolutely get excellent value out of a no-annual-fee credit card for traveling abroad! While we recommend also looking into low annual fee cards as well (such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred) as these can give you even more value for your money (and make up any annual fee in benefits), the cards on this list are all great options for traveling abroad exclusively on a no-annual-fee card.

Pro tip: Travel with more than one accepted credit card whenever you go abroad in case one of your cards has an issue with a bank’s automated fraud detection (you don’t want to be stuck in a foreign country with no credit card)! If you’re interested in creating a credit card trifecta for travel, make sure to check out our recommendations HERE.