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Top cards for travelling abroad
One of the cheapest ways to spend abroad
Updated 19 September 2023
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 way 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.
Alternatives to specialist overseas cards...
Prepaid travel cards have no credit check, plus give you the ability to lock in an exchange rate before you travel.
Top prepaid travel cards
Prefer cash? Useful if card isn't accepted, our tool helps you find the best exchange rates for your holiday money.
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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.
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):
- 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.
The cards with a spending charge
| Debit card | Exchange load (mark-up) | ATM charge (1) | Spending charge (1) |
| TSB (2) | 2.99% | 1.5% (min £2, max £4.50) | £1 |
| Bank of Scotland | 2.99% | £1.50 | 50p |
| Lloyds Bank |
2.99% | £1.50 | 50p (3) |
| Halifax | 2.99% | £1.50 | 50p |
(1) Except on payments in euros within the European Economic Area (EEA). (2) Excludes TSB's Spend & Save Plus account which has no overseas fees. (3) Excludes Lloyds' Platinum, Premier and Mayfair accounts which all have no overseas purchase fees.
Travel card need-to-knows
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).
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Top travel credit and debit cards – what we'd go for
It's a tough call – our top three picks all offer fee-free spending abroad and ATM withdrawals. Which wins depends on your preference.
- Chase is our top-pick debit card – it gives 1% cashback on most spending for at least a year. You do have to open a new bank account, but it's easy to get, only requiring an ID check instead of a full credit-check. Do note, there's a £1,500/month limit on ATM withdrawals. If something goes wrong with something you bought overseas on this card, you may have chargeback protection.
- Barclaycard is our top-pick credit card as it offers interest-free withdrawals, plus gives an ongoing 0.25% cashback. You also get Section 75 protection if you buy something costing more than £100 on it, which is stronger protection than the debit cards give.
- First Direct's boon is that it pays a FREE £175 if you switch over your existing bank account – beating the cards above for all but the biggest spenders. It's also been top or near top of every customer service poll we've ever done. If something goes wrong with something you bought overseas on this card, you may have chargeback protection.
KEY FEATURES |
Mastercard (debit) |
Barclaycard Rewards Visa (credit) |
First Direct Mastercard (debit) |
| Perks | 1% cashback on most UK & overseas spending for at least a year (max £15/month) |
Ongoing 0.25% cashback on most UK & overseas spending |
FREE £175 if you switch, TOP service, 7% regular saver, £250 0% overdraft |
| Easy credit-check? | Yes, just ID check |
No, |
No, full credit-check |
| Fee-free ATM withdrawals? (1) | Yes up to £1,500/month |
Yes up to £500/day |
Yes up to £500/day |
| Interest-free spending? | Yes it's a debit card |
Yes if you repay IN FULL each month (27.9% rep APR) |
Yes it's a debit card |
| Interest-free ATM withdrawals? | Yes it's a debit card |
Yes if you repay IN FULL each month (27.9% if not) |
Yes it's a debit card |
| How to get the card? | Apply* (or read our full review) |
Check eligibility, or apply* |
Apply* (or read our full review) |
(1) These cards won't charge you, but ATMs may. | See all official APR examples.
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.
- New. 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.
- If you want a credit card, the Halifax Clarity Mastercard is a decent alternative to the Barclaycard above. The main difference with this card is that you're charged 23.94% to 28.94% interest on ATM withdrawals, even if repaid in full. So it's best for spending on, rather than withdrawing cash. Halifax has asked us to link only to our eligibility calculator – as it doesn't have this card available to apply for directly.
- New app-only bank Kroo's Visa debit card* is entirely fee-free for overseas spending, and overseas ATM withdrawals are also fee-free until 31 October 2023 – after this date overseas ATM withdrawals are only fee-free up £200/month (there's a 3% fee on anything withdrawn over this limit). It also pays 4.35% AER savings interest on up to £85,000, 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 like 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.
- 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.
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