Mile and airline credit cards with no foreign transaction fees: fresh list

Most credit cards charge foreign transaction fees of 3% on purchases made outside the United States. These can be nasty surprises when you come back from a vacation and can be easily avoided if you pack the right credit card. In the last year, credit card issuers have paid more attention to the problem, and have more than tripled the number of mile credit cards with no foreign transaction fees in the last year.

Here is the list of mile and airline credit cards we know don’t carry foreign transaction fees…and you’ll notice Chase, Discover, and Capital One dominate the list:

Airlilne mile credit cards

This includes both credit cards from a specific airline and credit cards with points that can be transferred 1:1 into airline mile programs.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95 annual fee, none first year) — transfers 1:1 to United Airlines / Continental Airlines, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Amtrak
• Citi American Airlines Executive AAdvantage ($450 annual fee)
• Chase Continental Presiential Plus MasterCard ($395 annual fee)
• Platinum Card from American Express ($450 annual fee) – transfers 1:1 to Delta, Air France, JetBlue, Singapore, Alitalia, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Hawaiian, Iberia, ElAl
• Chase British Airways Visa ($95 annual fee)

Hotel point credit cards

This includes both credit cards from a specific hotel program and those that transfer points 1:1 into a hotel program.

• Chase Hyatt Visa ($75 annual fee)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95 annual fee, none first year) — transfers 1:1  to Marriott, Hyatt, Priority Club
• Platinum Card from American Express ($450 annual fee) — transfers 1:1 to Hilton, Priority Club, Best Western
• Chase Marriott Rewards Premier ($85 annual fee, none first year)
• Chase Ritz Carlton Rewards ($395 annual fee)
• Chase Priority Club Rewards Signature Visa ($49 annual fee, none first year)

Travel rebate credit cards

These credit cards let you use points as cash toward travel purchases, with the downside being points escalate as the dollar cost of a trip increases, and upside being no capacity controls. This compares to the fixed point levels for miles used directly from most airline and hotel programs, with the downside being capacity controls (though hotel programs largely don’t use capacity controls on reward nights)

• Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95 annual fee, no fee first year)
• Capital One — all cards (some no annual fee)
• Discover – all cards as of 11/6/11 (some no annual fee)
• PenFed Premium Travel American Express (no annual fee)
• Citi ThankYou Premier ($125 annual fee, none first year)
• Platinum Card from American Express ($450 annual fee)