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Top cards for travelling abroad
One of the cheapest ways to spend abroad
Updated 14 March 2025
If you're planning an overseas trip, or regularly buy from overseas websites, a specialist travel credit or debit card is one of the cheapest ways to spend as it gives near-perfect exchange rates worldwide. This guide includes the top-pick travel cards, the cards to avoid, and how to check what your card's charging you.
First, a quick overview of travel cards for spending abroad..
Travel cards are credit and debit cards that don't charge fees for overseas spending or ATM withdrawals (some ATMs will charge their own fees). The top ones use a near-perfect exchange rate and come with a variety of perks...
- Travel credit cards: These give you powerful Section 75 protection, though require a full credit check to open so go via an eligibility calculator to check your acceptance odds. You get interest-free spending, but only if you repay IN FULL each month.
- Travel debit cards: These offer the less powerful Chargeback protection, but can sometimes be opened with just an ID check instead of a full credit check.
Top-pick newbies' travel debit and credit cards |
|
Barclaycard Reward Visa credit card Link goes via eligibility or read full Barclaycard review |
- 0.25% cashback - No fees or interest on spending or withdrawals (i) |
First Direct Mastercard debit card* Link goes to First Direct or read full First Direct review |
- FREE £175 if you switch - No fees or interest on spending or withdrawals |
| NatWest Travel Reward Visa credit card Link goes via eligibility or read full NatWest review |
- Cashback: 1% on travel OR 0.1% elsewhere - No fees or interest on spending, 3% fee (min £3) + 29.94% interest on withdrawals |
| (i) You won't be charged interest if you repay IN FULL each month. | |
- If you do get a card, ALWAYS follow the Credit Card Golden Rules:
a) Repay your balance IN FULL every month, preferably by Direct Debit.
b) If you can't fully repay, never miss the minimum monthly repayment.
c) Always pay in the local currency, not pounds, if given the option.
The full cards for travelling abroad guide...
Now we've given you a brief overview and you understand the basics, let's take you through cards for travelling abroad in more detail...
How do travel credit and debit cards work?
Most credit and debit cards let you spend abroad, but will charge you for the privilege. Although your card provider gets near-perfect rates, it usually adds a foreign transaction fees (officially called 'non-sterling transaction fees') of about 3% – so £100 worth of foreign currency costs you £103.
On top of this, some debit cards charge a flat fee (typically 50p-£1.50) each and every time you spend overseas, regardless of the amount. Withdrawing cash usually attracts fees and unavoidable interest on credit cards. See hidden holiday spending charges for full details.
The good news? There are specialist travel cards that don't charge these fees, so you get the same near-perfect rate the bank does. When we say 'near-perfect', we're talking about the Mastercard and Visa exchange rates, which aren't quite as good as the perfect interbanking rate (though they're both usually very close – less than a pound worse per £100 exchanged).
Something to note is that when spending abroad on a credit or debit card, you'll get the exchange rate from the time your transaction was processed which may not be the same as the rate when the transaction was made. If you want to lock in a guaranteed, interbanking rate ahead of time, check out our Top pre-paid travel cards guide.
A specialist card can save you over £100 per holiday
Here's how much spending $1,000 can cost in pounds (we assumed five $100 cash withdrawals and 20 transactions of $25 each on the cards). This was done when the exchange rate was around $1.28 to £1 but – whatever the exchange rate is today – the point still stands about the cheapest ways to pay:
- Top specialist credit/debit card repaid in full: £779
- Top prepaid card: £779
- Cash via cheapest bureau (pick up in London): £786
- Cash from M&S on the high street (non-cardholders): £792
- Using a debit card with a spending charge: £833
- Changing cash at airport (not pre-ordered): £909
As you can see, the differences can be sizeable, yet the winners are simple. Apply for a specialist overseas card, then use it every time you go.
Check if your card charges foreign transaction fees
Never just blindly spend abroad with ANY card, use our tool to find out what it'd cost you to pay with your existing plastic before slipping it into your suitcase. Then compare that to our top-pick travel cards which don't charge, so you're armed with the cheapest way to spend.
Let's make this plain: don't use the cards in this section for spending overseas. Unless you're spending euros in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, the cards below charge 50p to £1.50 for transactions on top of their normal exchange-rate charge.
Imagine you buy something for the equivalent of £5 in a shop in the USA. With the worst of these cards, it can end up costing £6.60 with the fee and charges.
Note: the fees and charges in the table apply to the standard current accounts offered by the banks and building societies mentioned below. TSB, Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Halifax offer premium current accounts, which are fee-free to spend and withdraw from abroad but which charge a flat monthly fee instead.
The cards with a spending charge
| Debit card | Exchange load (mark-up) | ATM charge (1) | Spending charge (1) |
| TSB | 2.99% | 1.5% (min £2, max £4.50) | £1 |
| Bank of Scotland | 2.99% | £1.50 | 50p (2) |
| Lloyds Bank |
2.99% | £1.50 | 50p (2) |
| Halifax | 2.99% | £1.50 | 50p (2) |
(1) Except on payments in euros within the European Economic Area (EEA). (2) No spending charge with any of the following accounts: Lloyds Platinum, Lloyds Silver, Bank of Scotland Platinum, Halifax Ultimate Reward
Travel card need-to-knows
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Top travel credit and debit cards
These are the best cards to use abroad – all have no exchange fee when you spend, and the very top picks also have fee-free and interest-free overseas cash withdrawals.
We've marked whether each card's a Mastercard or a Visa as it does make a slight difference to their exchange rates (Visa tends to be a touch better – see Mastercard vs Visa rates).
Top travel credit and debit cards – what we'd go for
All of our top picks offer fee-free spending abroad and ATM withdrawals, yet they each come with different perks. Which wins for you will depend on what you value the most.
It's worth noting that, should things go wrong with something you buy overseas, credit cards offer stronger protection than debit cards – credit cards give Section 75 protection, whereas debit cards give the lesser, but still useful, chargeback protection.
- Barclaycard is our top pick credit card. It gives an ongoing 0.25% cashback on most spending both in the UK and overseas, and has no fees or interest on spending & cash withdrawals abroad as long as you pay them off IN FULL each month. You'll need to pass a full credit check, but you'll also get credit card protection.
- First Direct's boon is that it pays a FREE £175 cash if you switch over your existing bank account – beating the card above for all but the biggest spenders. It's also been top or near top of every customer service poll we've ever done. The card is fee-free for overseas spending and ATM withdrawals, comes with a regular saver you can put up to £300/month in, plus many get a £250 0% overdraft too. If something goes wrong with something you bought overseas on this card, you may have chargeback protection.
- NatWest's credit card is a decent option if you want a credit card and aren't eligible for the Barclaycard above. You can choose to receive 1% cashback on certain travel-related spending (including planes, trains, car rentals, ferries, buses, hotels, travel agents, cruises, campsites and more) OR 0.1% cashback on spending elsewhere.
However, you'll be charged a 3% fee (min £3) plus 29.94% interest on ATM withdrawals, so it's best for spending on, rather than withdrawing cash. Again, you'll need to pass a full credit check, and you'll get credit card protection.
KEY FEATURES |
|||
| Perks | Ongoing 0.25% cashback, on almost all UK & overseas spends | FREE £175 cash if you switch, TOP service, 7% regular saver, £250 0% overdraft | 1% cashback on certain travel spend (eg planes, trains, car hire etc), OR 0.1% cashback elsewhere |
| Easy credit-check? | No full credit check |
No full credit check |
No full credit check |
| Fee-free ATM withdrawals? (i) | Yes up to £500/day |
Yes up to £500/day |
No 3% fee (min £3) |
| Interest-free spending? | Yes if you repay IN FULL each month (28.9% rep APR) |
Yes it's a debit card |
Yes if you repay IN FULL each month (27.9% rep APR) |
| Interest-free ATM withdrawals? | Yes if you repay IN FULL each month (28.9% if not) |
Yes it's a debit card |
No 29.94% even if repaid in full |
| How to get the card? | CHECK ELIGIBILITY |
|
CHECK ELIGIBILITY |
(i) These cards won't charge you, but ATMs may. | See all official APR examples.
Top alternative credit & debit travel cards
We've more choices below if none of the above suit – all are decent picks in their own right and are fee-free to spend on abroad, though some charge interest or have ATM fees/limits.
- Chase's Mastercard debit card offers fee-free and interest-free overseas spending and ATM withdrawals (max £1,500/month). You'll need to open its current account, but it only requires an ID check instead of a full credit-check. It currently pays 1% cashback on almost all normal daily spending up to a max £15/month (after year one, you need to pay in £1,500/month to get this). See our full Chase review.
Update from 7 April. It'll only pay cashback on UK spend on groceries, transport (buses, trains, ferries; NOT flights & taxis) and fuel (petrol stations and EV charging points; not home chargers). You'll no longer earn cashback on overseas spending.
- The Halifax Clarity credit card offers near-perfect rates and fee-free spending overseas. However, it charges 29.94% interest on cash withdrawals, even if you pay it off in full, so it's better for spending on rather than withdrawing cash while you're abroad.
- Via our link, Currensea Mastercard debit card newbies get £10 cashback when spending £100+ in any foreign currency within the first six months. The Currensea card works a little differently to the other credit and debit cards featured here, as you link it to your existing bank account via Open Banking. Then, when you spend or withdraw on the Currensea card, it charges your linked current account in pounds (via Direct Debit), neatly avoiding the non-sterling transaction fees and ATM fees that most banks charge.
Rates for popular currencies like euros and US dollars can be slightly worse than the above cards, though there's not much in it. And if you prefer the idea of something that's linked to an existing account, the cashback is a bonus. Full info in our Currensea review.
- With Starling's Mastercard debit card, all overseas spending and ATM withdrawals are fee-free and interest-free (max six withdrawals/day, max £300/day), and like Chase above it only requires an ID check instead of a full credit-check. Full info in our Starling review.
- New app-only bank Kroo's Visa debit card is entirely fee-free for overseas spending. However, overseas ATM withdrawals are only fee-free up £200/month (there's a 3% fee on anything withdrawn over this limit), and its website indicates that there will be ATM withdrawal fees from 30 April 2025. It also pays 3.4% savings interest on up to £500,000, and only requires an ID check to open. Read our full Kroo review.
Looking for a card that children can use abroad?
Our top-pick cards for under-18s offer near perfect exchange rates, plus most let you set spending limits and monitor via apps.
What are the alternatives to travel credit and debit cards?
If you don't want a new credit or debit card, but you still want to be able to maximise the bang for your buck (or euro, or dong) there are a couple of other ways to spend that you can look at...
- Prepaid travel cards. These let you load them up and lock in a rate in advance. Some charge huge fees or take a cut of the exchange rate, but cards such as Revolut and Wise tend to offer a decent deal, often rivalling the cards above. See full information and our current top picks in prepaid travel cards. They don't expire, but you can be charged fees if you don't use them within a set period of time (usually one or two years of inactivity). And many do have ongoing monthly fees and/or card delivery fees, though the ones in our guide don't have ongoing monthly fees or inactivity fees, but some do have card delivery fees.
- Prefer cash? Useful if card isn't accepted, our TravelMoneyMax travel money comparison tool helps you find the best exchange rates for your holiday money.
Want to complain about your card provider?
If your card company has charged you the wrong amount, charged interest when it shouldn't have or its service has been atrocious, then you don't have to suffer in silence.
It's always worth trying to call the provider first to see if it can help, but if not, you can use free complaints tool Resolver. The tool helps you manage your complaint, and if the company doesn't play ball, it also helps you escalate your complaint to the free Financial Ombudsman Service.
Sorting travel insurance once you've chosen a top card for travelling abroad? Read our guide to Cheap travel insurance which has all the need-to-knows, including how to claim if you need to.
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