Debit and credit cards

  If you’re from the US, I found Charles Schwab to have an account that does not charge foreign transaction fees and reimburses you for all ATM fees at the end of the month. I also have a travel rewards credit card with Bank of America that charges no foreign transaction fees. This combination allows me use my money anywhere in the world without paying fees. In the long run this will save me well over 1,000USD. Depending where you are from, you will have to do your own research to find similar accounts. This is a crucial money saving tip that many travelers don’t address.

When I first set off on my trip I thought I was smart having my travel rewards credit card from Bank of America which does not charge foreign transaction fees and gives 1.5 points for ever dollar spent. I quickly realized that almost nowhere excepted credit cards and if they did they charged their own 3% fee. My current debit card was charging me the larger of either 5USD or 3% of the amount that I was withdrawing. While I did find a way to avoid ATM fees most of the time by going directly to a bank with my passport and debit card, I found sometimes the timing was not right. My average spending had been about 1,500USD a month and given the 3% charge and ATM fee, I had been spending about 60USD a month on fees. Extrapolating this for two more years and this would run 1,440USD (another month or two of traveling depending on where). This was more than enough to motivate me to find a solution. I asked Google and found Charles Schwab has a checking linked to brokerage account that not only has no foreign transaction fees for withdrawing money, but it also reimburses all ATM fee’s at the end of the month. This was too good to be true and after talking to them on the phone they assured me that “they do everything they can for their customers”. I opened an account while in Thailand and had a debit card sent to my friends place. They also have an 800 number that can be called 24 hours a day with almost zero wait time to talk to very helpful customer service. I no longer have to think twice about taking money out.