In the past, foreign exchange fees ranging from two to three percent plagued major brand credit cards such as American Express, Visa, and MasterCard.  In fact, the only credit card that does not charge fees for foreign purchases are the Capital One cards. 

CitiBank has introduced a series of credit cards without foreign exchange fees.  Citi released and couple of cards, basic and preferred, in order to simplify its lineup of rewards-based ThankYou credit cards.  All these cards do not charge a foreign currency conversion fee for oversea purchases.  The cards also do not carry an annual fee and conversion rates are lower than those associated with exchanging cash. 

In the previous month, Chase also dropped foreign currency fees on their cobranded cards with Hyatt, Intercontinental Hotels, and British Airways.  Significant annual fees are usually associated to these cards.

Those who do not wish to apply for a new credit can look to credit union debit cards as an alternative.  These debit cards are treated as a Visa card by overseas operators for all purchases and currency exchanges.  Credit union debit cards typically charge one percent for foreign exchange.  Although this may seem like a good deal, a certain reader rightly pointed out, "The only exception is for car rental, where saving the cost of insurance using a regular VISA card far outweighs the 3% transaction charge."