Backpacking europe for 3 months. Would love credit card advice

something that waives an international charge fee as well?
and maybe a card that has a 0% apr for the first year or 6 months so that you dont have to worry about paying your bills overseas...

Chase Sapphire and Venture Card do not charge Foreign Currency Transaction Fees

https://creditcards.chase.com/cre...st=7,23,10

United card is a good choice for you. Consider: https://creditcards.chase.com//cr...OCELL=682W if you'll fly BA but it's likely not worth it since the first annual isn't waived like the united card is.

Before you go, notify all your credit card issuers of your travel plans so your cards don't get shut down for suspected fraud.

The British Airways has no Foreign Currency Transaction Fees . There is an Annual charge after the first year usually for the card. Also some miles deals discussed in here on new accounts.

Debt card at a bank that waves international fees! Or, just open an account with a bank that has local branches where you are headed. HSBC, or one of the other big ones probably (but depends on where your going).

Here is a very helpful guide [clarkhoward.com] to tips on traveling cheaply, safely, and hassle-free.

thank you everyone, I will look into everything you have mentioned.

Quote from roxwella : Debt card at a bank that waves international fees! Or, just open an account with a bank that has local branches where you are headed. HSBC, or one of the other big ones probably (but depends on where your going).

HSBC doesn't waive them unless you are primer with them and even then, some countries don't get waive, very weak.

I've been looking at a credit card to use over in Europe as well. The two I've been looking at is Discover It and Capital One Cash Rewards.

I decided against the Discover card because Discover isn't widely accepted (but it's getting there) throughout Europe compared to Visa/MasterCard.

The Capital One Cash Rewards card offers 1% cash back, $100 cash back sign-up bonus, no foreign transaction fee, 0% APR for 12 months, and no annual fee. It's the best option I've found so far for my needs.

One more thing to consider as smartchip technology becomes more prevalent in Europe, it makes more and more sense to have a credit card with a smartchip in your back pocket. I remember last year it took some convincing of a front desk manager at a hotel in Copenhagen to reluctantly bring out the old credit card machine so I could use any of my cards. I believe this is still very much the exception, not the rule, so no cause for alarm. Just be aware of it.

The chase british airways and chase hyatt cards are two examples of cards with both no foreign transaction fees and smart chip technology. There may be a couple of others. These are smartchip+signature cards, not smartchip+pin cards which are almost non-existant in the USA and still required some places (e.g. Ticket Machine at Copenhagen train station). Maybe the moral of the story is bring cash to Denmark.

Quote from smarmy : One more thing to consider as smartchip technology becomes more prevalent in Europe, it makes more and more sense to have a credit card with a smartchip in your back pocket. I remember last year it took some convincing of a front desk manager at a hotel in Copenhagen to reluctantly bring out the old credit card machine so I could use any of my cards. I believe this is still very much the exception, not the rule, so no cause for alarm. Just be aware of it. The chase british airways and chase hyatt cards are two examples of cards with both no foreign transaction fees and smart chip technology. There may be a couple of others. These are smartchip+signature cards, not smartchip+pin cards which are almost non-existant in the USA and still required some places (e.g. Ticket Machine at Copenhagen train station). Maybe the moral of the story is bring cash to Denmark.

Thank you for this info. I have heard about the smartchip cards. i didn't know there was a difference with the smartchip + signature and the + pin ones. I will most likely go with the chase sapphire preferred as it gives out $500 after 3k spent.