How can you avoid credit card fees? When you use a prepaid card for travel like the EQ Bank Card, there’s no extra foreign exchange (FX) fee or international ATM withdrawal fee added by EQ Bank, helping more of your budget go towards travel instead of bank fees. To discover how much more money you could put towards your trips, take this travel challenge: can you reclaim $100 in wasted fees? (And what will you buy with this extra cash?) Let’s get started.
Fees to watch out for while travelling
Here are some of the top money traps where using your credit card will cost you—and how to avoid them.
Online bookings
When you use a regular credit card to book a flight, accommodations or a tour in a foreign currency, you might have to pay an additional foreign exchange fee (FX fee), usually 2.5% on top of the purchase price. This includes purchases made online and in advance. On a hotel booking of $500 for two or three nights, for example, 2.5% amounts to $12.50 in extra FX fees—maybe enough for an extra appetizer at dinner.
Cheat code: The EQ Bank Card does not charge extra FX fees—just the Mastercard exchange rate—and gives you 0.5% cash back on every purchase.
Airport currency booths
The first thing you’ll need when you land at your destination is local cash, so you might head to an airport currency exchange kiosk. Tourist, beware: you might end up paying hidden fees and lose money on the exchange. As a general rule, airport kiosks tend to offer poor exchange rates and extra FX fees. And, if you use your regular credit card at an airport kiosk for the purchase, you’ll likely be on the hook for an extra 2.5% FX fee on top of everything else.
Cheat code: Instead of airport currency booths or a regular credit card, consider loading your spending money onto a prepaid card. With the EQ Bank Card, your currency exchange is always at the standard Mastercard rate, and there are no extra FX fees when you make a purchase.
Automated bank machines
At smaller businesses, at the market or in remote locations, you might have to pay with cash. The problem is, when you use foreign ATMs to withdraw funds with a debit card, you can get hit with a bunch of fees. There may be a 2.5% FX fee, plus a service fee from the foreign bank or ATM network, and potentially even a service fee from your home bank. Together, these fees can stack up significantly, depending on how much you take out.
Cheat code: EQ Bank does not charge you an added service fee to use an ATM internationally. Even better, it will reimburse you for any ATM service charge added by other banks within Canada—perfect for staycationers.
