STOP Paying Hidden Fees! BEST Travel Strategy to Plan Your Spending Abroad with Credit Cards & Cash

It's finally May. People are thinking about their summer plans, where to go on vacation, but have you thought about how are you going to be spending your money if you're going abroad? So in this video, I have a complete guide on everything you need to know about spending money in another country, how to avoid all those fees, and get the best rates while using credit cards, debit cards, and even digital wallets like Apple Pay. So let's get into it. First, let's talk about research and preparation. So before you take off, you'll want to first look up the country you're going to and determine if they are cash-based, credit card friendly, or even embrace digital payment methods like Apple Pay or Google Pay. Let's start off talking about if the country is credit card friendly. You might want to look into what are typical credit card acceptance types. And it could vary, but a lot of times retailers outside of America don't really accept American Express. And I'd always suggest carrying at least two credit cards from different issuers. You never know when you'd run into a restaurant and they would only accept Visa, or you could run into a situation where you get declined out of the blue. Maybe your lender found it suspicious that the card is being used in a foreign country. So carry multiple and different credit cards to be secure. Also, a quick note with credit card lenders and banks enhancing their technology with more advanced security, you don't have to send travel notices like you used to. But I would suggest checking anyway, just in case for whatever reason, your credit card still requires this because it's better to lessen the chances of getting a card decline. Now let's talk about the credit cards you should be using and what you should be looking out for as a travel friendly card. And the first thing your credit card has to have is no foreign transaction fees. Just think about it. You're at a restaurant and you swipe your card and you get charged an additional $2 in fees. You do that five times a day over the course of 10 days. That's a hundred dollars in fees. That's just a general example. So make sure the card that you're using has none of those fees. So you've probably heard about credit card rewards where a credit card could give you three times the points at restaurants by swiping a certain card. And I do hope that you take advantage of getting points abroad, but you also need to check if your card has the option to redeem points abroad. It's not easy to notice, but certain credit cards only offer rewards in the United States. For example, the Apple card, it sounds great that you can basically earn 2% or even 3% back if you combine the Apple card and use Apple pay. But most of these merchants where these points redemptions are available have to be within the United States. And there's still a limitation. According to here, there's about an 85% acceptance rate. So there are credit cards on the market that only get you rewards in a certain country. Even the Amex gold, probably most people are not going to be doing a lot of home cooking and buying groceries on vacation. But in case you are, that four times the points on groceries is only available at U.S. supermarkets. So make sure for the cards that you're planning on using, check and see if these rewards are available abroad because that could affect your card spending strategy. Next, let's go over currency conversion with credit cards. So when you use your credit card to pay for a bill at a restaurant abroad, you might notice that the card reader will ask you which currency to select when paying. And the answer to that is always select the local currency. If you choose your home currency, it will have to be converted to the local currency anyway. And that just causes some slight price increases you'll just want to avoid. All right. So we talked a lot about credit cards. Next, let's talk about cash based countries. There are a lot of recommendations you can receive on how to obtain the country's currency. And I'm going to first discuss two points I've heard and why I think they are very good recommendations. Then I'll go over my preferred and suggested method on how you can get cash at the best rate and probably in the most secure way too. First point, ask your local bank to send in the country's currency, pick it up and bring it with you to that country. So I think this can only be a suitable method if ATMs are very limited in that country and it's super remote. Or you can use this method if you want to be super certain that you'll have the currency on hand when you land. But I wouldn't suggest doing this because you're always going to get the best exchange rate in the destination country and banks tend to charge extra fees. Plus you're carrying tons of cash and that's just always risky. Point two, bring your home currency and exchange it abroad. I do admit that I do bring some cash, maybe a hundred dollars for some emergency case if something fails when I land. But I wouldn't suggest carrying all your cash on hand for your entire trip expenses because it can be stolen and there are so many pickpockets out there. Or maybe you just misplaced your bag that is carrying the money. Just avoid that. Plus when you go to exchange houses there are a lot of times scammers there. There is a video that I watched where a scammer was exchanging the money right in front of the foreigner and they gave them the wrong amount without them even noticing. So here is my suggestion for cash-based countries and that is to use a fee-free debit card. With the exception of bringing some cash over for an emergency, most of the time using a debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM is going to be the most secure and trustworthy method to get a good rate. And you'll want to use a debit card that waives fees. And one that I often mention on my channel is the Charles Schwab debit card. I have a video of a full review in the link above but let me quickly go over the card's features. So this is a free debit card and it has unlimited ATM rebates worldwide. So no foreign transaction fees, no service fees, no account minimums, and no withdrawal fee. So that makes it a simple and hassle-free card. I mean even in America if you have a Chase debit card you're searching for a bank so then you don't have to pay extra fees. Well with this Charles Schwab debit card, you don't have to search. You can just pick the closest ATM. The only negative thing about this debit card is you cannot do any cash deposits because it's an online bank. So don't withdraw too much money. Just withdraw a bit at a time and you'll be all set. So the Charles Schwab debit card is what I have been using. So if there is another debit card out there that waives all kinds of fees let me know. But also when you withdraw cash from an ATM you're really getting the best currency rate on the market. Next up let's talk about using digital wallets because they are increasing in popularity. And one really nice feature is having the ability to get a transportation card or even just scan your credit card on your phone when you get to the transit. In Japan you can use this transit card that's already listed in the digital wallet and if you use it to pay you actually get a slight discount on your ride. But mostly this is just for convenience as you can load this card with your credit card and there's no more searching for exact change. Or also in general using digital wallets to pay for things is just so convenient. Finally I have a few travel tips to mention here. So the first one is not exactly about money but it will save you money and that is using eSIM cards for data. And a great one that I use is Airalo. I used to use a physical SIM card a few years ago and that gave me a lot of trouble whenever I went abroad. Or another way you can get data is just to pay with your current phone plan but that's just expensive. With AT&T I think it's like $10 a day. So Airalo is actually an app and it gives you the choices on how much data you need and in which country and it's just a super cost effective and simple to install and it actually works. The data is not laggy and you can use my affiliate link down below to get a discount when you sign up and thanks in advance it really does help the channel. The final tip I have on this list is don't forget about tax-free options. So a lot of countries offer to take the tax off your goods though there are regulations depending on the country and the category of the goods. But if you're buying a lot of souvenirs and expensive items, why pay the tax? You don't live in the country and definitely take advantage of that. You'd usually need to show your passport when purchasing the item and then you get the tax back when you go to the airport and show your receipts. So those are all the tips I have in this video. I hope you'll have fun on your vacation and pay no fees and please subscribe if you're new and thanks so much for watching. I'll see you in another video. Bye!