List Of Credit Card Foreign Currency Transaction Fees

By MoneyBlueBook

Not too long ago I went on vacation in East Asia. While I was there I had the fortune to be accompanied by local friends who could spot me so I didn't need to convert my American dollars into local currency. However there were at least two occasions when I glanced upon several beautiful small wooden art pieces that I wanted to buy. While I had a few local currency bills on me, it wasn't enough to buy the slightly expensive art pieces. So I had to resort to what I ordinarily would do back home in the United States - pull out my trusty cash back credit card. Fortunately, I had the foresight prior to traveling to another country, to research and familiarize myself with credit card foreign currency exchange fees.

Watch Out For Hidden International Credit Card Foreign Currency Exchange Charges

While foreign currency exchange fees are now generally listed and disclosed by credit card companies, card issuers rarely publicize these hidden charges, preferring to leave them in the fine print. While some complain that the majority of these interchange fees are not used to process the actual currency exchange, but rather used to fund credit card reward programs and other direct advertising campaigns, the real concern is the lack of education when it comes to incurring these fees. Frequently, consumers who use their credit cards overseas come home to the unwelcome surprise of costly fees on their billing statement.

The foreign currency transaction fee for credit card purchases is comprised of two parts -

By MoneyBlueBook

Well a year has passed since I started earning and accumulating Citi Thank You Reward Points using my squadron of Citibank credit cards, and now it's time to redeem them for some well deserved purchase rewards. I own three of them myself, but here are 5 of the top Citibank cards when it comes to earning ThankYou reward points:

ThankYou Citi Credit Cards Offering At Least 5% Back For Purchases - With Current Thank You Promotions

By MoneyBlueBook

Updated List Of The Best Airline Miles Credit Card Offers (Free Miles For Free Flights)

One of the simplest ways to save money on airline tickets is to take advantage of free frequent flyer mile offers - namely the credit card bonus rewards and free miles that many airline miles credit card issuers promote to attract new customers. Most of the time, the instant bonus miles are enough for a free domestic roundtrip flight or at least enough to tip you over the mileage limit if you are just short. For those interested in earning free frequent flier miles with each card purchase, please view my list of the best airline miles credit cards.

Over the years, I've taken advantage of free frequent flyer mile bonuses and airline credit cards to earn free flights and air travel tickets. A while back I needed to book a flight but was just shy of the free flight limit. Rather than going ahead and paying the $200-$300 for the ticket, I decided to apply for the airline's own branded credit card to take advantage of the free mileage offers. While some of these airline credit cards have an annual fee, their introductory sign-up terms usually waive the fee for the first year. If you aren't looking to get a free domestic ticket but instead are trying to save up for an expensive international flight, be sure to keep track of your frequent flyer miles expiration dates.

Here, I've gathered a list of all the airline mile credit card

By MoneyBlueBook

I'm a frequent road warrior. I don't fly that often, but I do take frequent long road trips out of state for personal and business purposes. Every time I travel I frequently spend a few nights at a hotel. It doesn't matter whether I stay at an inexpensive motel or whether I stay at a higher end place, I always make sure I maximize my money by earning reward points for every night's stay. If you travel a lot, being a member of multiple hotel reward programs can help you save money and earn reward points for wherever you may choose to stay on a whim.

Joining hotel reward clubs and programs is one of the easiest way to effortlessly accumulate loyalty points for complimentary stays in the future. Many programs even offer frequent flyer miles as a reward option in addition to hotel points. The overwhelming majority of programs are free to join with easy online enrollment and management. Each hotel reward program covers a family line ranging from low cost budget chains to more expensive luxury brands. Many programs also offer upgrade opportunities and additional perks like complimentary newspapers, drinks, and meals. Just register via the program's website and report your assigned membership number everytime you book a hotel stay. Even if you forget to use your membership card at the time of reservation, you can always go back later to report the missing hotel stay. I've done it a few times myself.

Here Are The Most Popular Hotel Reward Programs (Sorted Alphabetically):

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By MoneyBlueBook

I think I am secretly a big government, socialist type person (go communism...just kidding). I like freedom of choice but sometimes having too many options can get cumbersome and mind boggling. Frequently, it's good to just have a handful of recommended choices.

When it comes to picking the best travel website to do your airfare or hotel research, there are so many to choose from it can be overwhelming. Many popular news sites like CNN have provided their own top travel website lists, but I think they list way too many. I love lists but I'm not a fan of long lists containing too many choices. Too many choices means I need to take extra time to sort the diamonds from the rough. Just give me the best choice I always say. So that's what I'll do.

Bottom line, after comparing ease of use and prices among the numerous travel websites, my overall favorite is SideStep. The site consistently gave me the most competitive search results. I use it in conjunction with my other two favorites, Expediaand Travelocity. These three sites will give you the best search and pricing results.

Compare Prices Using Sidestep With Expedia and Travelocity

SideStep is what they call a meta search engine because it aggregates and consolidates search results from a wide variety of travel sites. The service pulls airfare and hotel information from more than 150,000 hotels and 600 airlines to give you pricing information based on your search criteria.

By MoneyBlueBook

I used to fly a lot and racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles over the years, but now I have to be extra careful. Airline travelers who don't use their frequent flyer miles...well, frequently, may soon discover that their miles have expired. It is a growing trend, but airlines have shortened the time period that an account can remain inactive before miles expire. In most cases that time period ranges between 1 to 2 years.

Here Are the Expiration Policies For Some of the Biggest Airlines:

How You Can Easily Prevent Mileage Expiration

The way to prevent your miles from lapsing due to inactivity is to simply generate miles-earning activity for each airline that you have an account with. Other using than using a specialized miles-generating credit card rewards like