MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
I landed in Brazil a few minutes ago to see the World Cup in person. It’s a short trip, so I packed lightly including when it came to which cards to bring.
I only brought four cards:
- Two credit cards
- One debit card
- One membership card
The cards are going to earn me miles, get me lounge access, and save me ATM fees in order to make my trip cheaper and more comfortable.
- Which cards do I carry for international travel?
- Why did I bring each one?
The four cards I brought were:
- Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM World Elite MasterCard®
- Citi Executive AAdvantage World MasterCard
- Platinum Debit Card from Charles Schwab Bank
- Priority Pass Select Membership Card
Arrival Plus
I brought the Arrival Plus to put all my spending on the card. Of my no-foreign-transaction fee cards, the Arrival Plus has the highest return at 2.28% back toward travel on all purchases.
This is a must-have card for more reasons than just the 40,000 mile sign up bonus after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days.
Learn more about the card in “Why I Got the Arrival Plus.”
Application Link: Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM World Elite MasterCard®
Citi Executive AAdvantage World MasterCard
I brought the Executive AA card because I am meeting its minimum spending requirement, and it gives me free lounge access to American Airlines Admirals Clubs.
The card has foreign transaction fees The card does NOT have foreign transaction fees (thanks, commenters), so I will not be using it in Brazil, and I used it on my all-day layover in Washington DC.
I also used the card to get into the Admirals Club in Honolulu on the day of my departure. Flying United Global First gave me free access to United lounges, but I needed to hang out in an area of the airport nearer to the Admirals Club, so free access there was nice.
I wrote about this card in “100,000 Mile Sign Up Bonus.”
Charles Schwab Debit Card
I opened a Charles Schwab bank account to get free ATM withdrawals worldwide. Not only does Schwab not charge a fee, but it refunds me the ATM owner’s fee.
I wrote about how and why to open the account in How to Pay Zero ATM Fees Worldwide.
Priority Pass Select Membership Card
Priority Pass Select membership comes free with all Platinum cards–I have the Business Platinum Card.
Priority Pass Select gives me free access to airport lounges worldwide. There are three affiliated lounges at Sao Paulo (GRU), and possibly more at the domestic Sao Paulo (CGH) and Rio de Janeiro (SDU) airports I’ll be using. I always carry this card when I travel.
Learn more from “Get the Most Out of Your American Express Platinum Card.”
What cards do you carry internationally?
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
The 100k miles Citi Exec card does not have foreign transaction fees. I took my first card to Japan and Europe in April, so I am 100% sure of this.
Excellent. Thanks to everyone who pointed out my error. This is great news, since I can use it in Brazil and work on my $10k requirement.
No matter from which bank, I always try to travel with a Visa card. I’ve found that in some places, Mastercard isn’t as accepted everywhere. This is the case of Brazil, by the way. However, if you stay in big cities I think you’ll be fine with just Mastercard.
Good luck!
PS: will you be supporting USA or Messi?? 😉
USA of course!
But when we aren’t playing, Argentina is my #2 favorite. And when Brazil is playing, I will be wearing green and yellow because it is way more fun to root for the home team.
No priority pass lounges at CGH, sorry. There is an AmEx members lounge at CGH that foreigners can get into with their AmEx platinum cards.
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
Headed to Paris in a week.
1) Schwab Debit – there can be only one!
2) Arrival+ for real Chip and PIN – gotta have it in Europe, they don’t like that Chip/Sig. Don’t try and buy a subway ticket in Amsterdam with a credit card. But, I will avoid using in favor of…
3) Sapphire for everything I can.
4) Amex in case I rent a car, (you can always pay at return with a fee free card).
I almost spit out my coffee when I read this as I probably spent $3000 on my Citi Executive Card in Paris a few months ago. I just checked and there is no foreign transaction fees. By the way. I would never only bring one debit card, especially in Brazil. Last time I was in Rio my main debit card would not work in any ATMs, no matter what. If I didn’t have a backup I would have been in dire straits.
A debit card using the Visa network should be the only one you need. What network were you on?
I recently got the Barclay arrival card. Met the spend and got the bonus . Would like the arrival Plus for upcoming foreign trips. Can I get the bonus on the plus if I recently got it on the Arrival?
You got the no-annual-fee card or the Arrival Plus back when it had a different name?
Got the annual fee waived, so I guess the old name and without the chip. Dies that mean I already have the Plus card?
Yes. They will send you the new card art/chip soon. I don’t know whether you can get the no-annual-fee version. I probably wouldn’t waste a Barclaycard app trying since they have several other better bonuses at the moment like Lufthansa 50k, US Airways 40k, Hawaiian 35k. I would just downgrade to no-annual-fee card as the annual fee came due while confirming that the points were safe that way.
I called to request it.
Readers are correct. There are NO foreign transaction fees:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/beyondTravel/creditDebit/citi-executive.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=citiexecutive