Travelling abroad can be pretty expensive sometimes, compared to visiting places in your own country. Even though you pay everything before departure, like plane tickets (maybe with a nice discount, using a travel rewards credit card) and the hotel room, a big part of money is spent in the country you’re visiting. And you’re tempted to use your credit card, right?
Of course, you can exchange some cash and use it over there, but it’s way simpler to rely on your card. Also, let’s not forget that this is safer, since you can’t lose money or have it stolen, since a credit card can quickly be blocked, in case of an unfortunate event.
However, in order to make the most out of your card, you should keep the following aspects in mind:
Make sure your card can be used abroad!
This is basically the first thing you need to do. Most cards are accepted in all countries, but just make sure yours can be as well, before leaving. After all, you don’t want to arrive at your destination and see that your transactions are declined, right?
Set some spending limits
We all end up buying some of the most useless stuff when we’re on holidays and wonder where all the money went, but you can avoid such situations if you set some spending limits before leaving.
If international transactions are expensive where you are going, consider increasing the spending limit. Otherwise, stick to a decent amount of money and make sure you won’t surpass it, so your transactions won’t be declined.
Be informed about additional charges
Some credit cards, when used abroad, come with specific charges. For example, there is a foreign transaction fee some banks have, for every transaction you make in another country, usually between 2.5% and 3.5% per transaction. It’s recommended to opt for a no foreign transaction fee credit card, if possible!
Watch out for frauds!
Finally, you should never withdraw money from shady, suspicious ATMs. There are a lot of places where thieves install cloning devices, able to read all the data on your card, so they can replicate them.
Ask locals about trustworthy places from where you can withdraw money or search the Internet for them.
