Just wanting to see people's view on which credit card company gives the best exchange rate? I used my Citibank Mastercard on Wednesday and at the time the headline exchange rate was 105.2 to the US Dollar. I now see that Citibank gave me an exchange rate of 101.5 or thereabouts. I understand that like spot silver, you can never buy from a dealer silver at spot price, you cant get the advertised headline exchange rate with a credit card. But I thought the Citibank rate was pretty low. So interested to hear if people have found a credit card that gives a good exchange rate ?
My credit union VISA debit card uses the VISA rate shown here: http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp?src=ex_rez with no bank fees (either % or $).
I personally am a big fan of the "28 degrees mastercard" http://www.28degreescard.com.au/campaign/travel.html/?gemid1=May11-28deg-SEM its a GE money product. I used it for travel through europe and asia and it was the best product i could find for use as a straight piece of plastic to stick in ATM's and vendor sales points with good rates and no charges. You can also charge this puppy up and effectively use it as a debit card.
I'm with Willow - have used the 28 Degrees Mastercard a LOT around the world - have had it for about 3 years now (Used to be Wizard Clear Advantage). No fees if you preload it with cash, and always seems to be a competitive exchange rate.
I knew this young lady who is a serial online shopaholic, for buying in USD she swears by the GE Money 28 MasterCard. I've seen her monthly statements (I used to pay them), the FX rates they offer is within 0.5% of spot overnight FX. No 'Overseas Transaction' charges. Yes, she was worth every dollar I spent on her .
