THE BEST CREDIT CARD FOR TRAVELING
- riffelchristine
- Aug 23, 2024
- 6 min read
One of the most important aspects when preparing to travel (around the world) is choosing a good credit card. Unfortunately, you can't get very far without money. Luckily, there are several providers that offer a free or low-cost credit card that allows you to avoid high fees when withdrawing cash or making card payments abroad. First of all: We recommend having at least 2-3 cards with you when traveling. It can always happen that a card is stolen, blocked or lost.
To make the search for suitable debit and credit cards easier, we have compiled the most important information for you here and compare the top providers with each other.
WHY DO I NEED A CREDIT CARD?
Spätestens nach der Coronapandemie ist die Bezahlung mittels EC-Karten/ Kreditkarten Gang und Gebe. Ob für Einkäufe im Supermarkt, Buchungen von Unterkünften oder Flügen sowie viele weitere Zahlungen im Internet. Dabei ist zu beachten, dass eine übliche EC-Karte bzw. Girokarte oft für die Nutzung im Ausland nicht geeignet ist. Es können hohe Gebühren anfallen, die deine Hausbank und/oder die Bank im Ausland erhebt. Hier kommt eine gute, kostenlose Debit- oder Kreditkarte ins Spiel. Diese ermöglichen es dir kostenlos weltweit Bargeld abzuheben, direkt im Geschäft per Karte zu bezahlen, Flüge und Mietwagen zu buchen und vieles mehr. In einigen Ländern, wie z.B. den USA sind sogar oft Kartenzahlungen als einziges Zahlungsmittel möglich.
CREDIT CARD VS. DEBIT CAR
Im weiteren Verlauf wollen wir die Top Debit- und Kreditkarten vorstellen. Daher gehen wir zunächst ein mal darauf ein, was die beiden Karten voneinander unterscheidet:
Debitkarte: Debitkarten ähneln den gängigen Girokarten in fast allen Funktionen. Bei Nutzung der Karte wird das Geld direkt vom Konto abgebucht und es kann nur über den Betrag auf dem Konto verfügt werden. Allerdings werden Debitkarten international nur eingeschränkt akzeptiert. Besonders Mietwagenfirmen verlangen meist Kreditkarten, um eine Kaution zu hinterlegen.
Kreditkarte: Kreditkarten bieten wie der Name schon verrät einen kurzfristigen Kredit, über einen gewissen Verfügungsrahmen. Der ausgegebene Betrag wird erst zeitversetzt mit dem Konto verrechnet. Man kann allerdings auch Geld auf das Konto überweisen und somit das Guthaben “erweitern”. Kreditkarten bieten eine breite internationale Akzeptanz.
WORLWIDE FREE WITHDRAWALS AND PAYMENTS
There are a few factors that are important when choosing a debit/credit card so that it can be used free of charge or only with low fees.
Credit card payments: Perhaps you already have a credit card and are wondering whether it really makes sense to switch. Then find out whether your bank charges fees for foreign use. Foreign transaction fees are any credit card transactions that are made in a foreign currency. These fees are usually a certain percentage set by the bank. This can result in unnecessarily high expenses, especially for large expenses such as flight tickets or accommodation.
Cash withdrawals: Withdrawing cash from an ATM can also be subject to fees charged by your bank in your home country. Therefore, opt for a debit or credit card that allows free withdrawals worldwide.
Foreign currency fees: Unfortunately, so-called foreign currency fees may still be charged abroad. These fees are charged by the ATM or the foreign bank. Whether fees are charged and, if so, how high they are, depends on the country and/or the ATM in question. The fees are not a percentage, but a fixed amount of money per withdrawal. For example, in Thailand we paid around €6 per cash withdrawal (regardless of the ATM), while in the USA we paid between €3-5, depending on which ATM we withdrew money from. Your home bank therefore has no influence on how high the foreign currency fees are. However, the ATM will usually show you how much this fee actually is so that you are informed in advance and don't get a surprise on your bank account.
So make sure that your bank generally offers free cash withdrawals and card payments worldwide. You're on the safe side with the debit and credit cards we're about to show you.
COMPARISON OF DEBIT- AND CREDIT CARDS
DKB | Awa7 | Barclays | C24 Bank | TF Bank | |
Tariff | Active customer (u. 28 years or 700€ cash inflow per month) | Awa7 Visa card | Barclays Visa | C24 Smart Mastercard | Mastercard Gold |
Debit-/ Credit card | Debit card/ credit card | credit card | credit card | debit card | credit card |
Fees | 0 € Debit card/ 2,49 € Credit card | 0 € | 0 € | 0 € | 0 € |
Cash withdrawal | free | free | free | 4x free per month | free |
Card payment | free | free | free | free | free |
Link to apply |
*Affiliate-Link: We receive a small commission when you purchase via the link. Important: The price remains the same for you!
(Table as of 07/24)
OUR PERSONAL RECOMMENDATION
As mentioned at the beginning, we recommend having at least 2-3 cards with you when traveling. It has already happened to us that a debit card was blocked and a new card could only be sent to our home address in Germany. So here's our tip on what your travel set-up could look like:
1 DKB Debit card: The free DKB debit card is the perfect all-rounder for everyday life at home and for traveling abroad. We've never had any problems using the debit card to withdraw money or make payments free of charge anywhere in the world.
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1 DKB Credit card: If we do need a credit card (e.g. car rental), we use the DKB credit card. Although it costs €2.49 per month, it offers the advantage of getting everything from a single source. You always have a good overview of your spending and can quickly move money between accounts if in doubt.
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1 awa7 or Barclays credit card (as backup): If there are any problems with the DKB debit or credit card, we recommend having a free credit card from another bank with you. Since the card is free, it doesn't hurt to have it with you in case of an emergency.
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Emergency Euro & Dollar: If it is not possible to withdraw cash (e.g. very rural area, machine at the airport does not work etc.) or in the worst case your wallet is stolen, we recommend that you take some cash with you. Keep this in a different place other than your wallet. Dollars and euros in particular are often accepted worldwide or can be exchanged into the local currency at a relatively good rate.
OTHER HELPFUL TIPS
Withdrawing cash in the destination country or changing cash?
It is usually much cheaper to withdraw money free of charge from an ATM in your destination country (and only pay any foreign currency fees) than to change money at an exchange office at the airport. These do not always offer the most favorable exchange rate and usually charge a small fee. We therefore recommend only using an exchange office if you have too much cash left over at the end of your trip.
Currency conversion at ATMs:
The next cost trap awaits when withdrawing cash from foreign ATMs. After you have entered the desired amount at the ATM, you will be asked whether you want to withdraw with or without currency conversion. The specified exchange rate is usually displayed as being more attractive, so you would intuitively choose this. However, banks often display a significantly higher exchange rate in order to make additional profit at the ATM. So make sure you select the option without currency conversion at the ATM. This allows your bank to do the conversion at a lower rate.
Withdrawal minimum:
You're only abroad for a few days and want to withdraw less than €50 from an ATM, but the machine tells you that the transaction is not possible? The worst thought immediately pops into your head... your account has been emptied. But don't panic. As a rule, banks require a withdrawal minimum of €50. So when you withdraw money from an ATM, make sure that the local currency is converted to at least this amount.
RFID protection for your wallet:
While contactless payment is a real convenience, it unfortunately also carries the risk that unauthorized persons could read your data unnoticed. This doesn't happen very often in Europe, but it does in other parts of the world such as Asia. We have therefore opted for RFID protection for our wallets. Many manufacturers are now already sewing this protection into wallets. Otherwise, we can recommend this flexible RFID protection.
