The Best Credit Cards for Frequent Travelers

Many people now travel abroad with credit cards as they are so useful due to their wide acceptance and their ability to easily convert foreign currency purchases into dollars.  If the card is chosen carefully it can be cheaper to use the credit card abroad than it can be to withdraw money abroad.

Credit cards have other advantages as well as price.  It is easier to replace a lost credit card than it is to replace lost cash.  Credit cards are a very convenient way to be used without interruption when going through a succession of countries.  There is also no lost currency as a credit card uses just enough money to buy goods without having to have a large amount of cash on hand.

Credit cards are mostly covered by zero liability guarantees which mean that unauthorized amounts that turn up on a credit card do not get charged to a card holder.  This applies as long as the card holder has nothing to do with the transaction and the credit card provider finds out about it as soon as is practical.

A large and growing number of credit cards offer complimentary travel insurance. Although it was offered only with gold cards, a wide range of credit cards now offer this.  The travel insurance will cover tickets and sometimes hotel rooms bought on the credit card.  There is often a minimum amount that has to be charged on before the insurance will activate.

Credit cards can incur some charges when they are used abroad.  Firstly they can often invoke an overseas use charge.  Cards used in overseas ATMs will be paying the higher interest of cash advances without any grace period.

Some credit cards are advertised as being well suited for overseas travel and offer features designed to appeal to frequent travellers.   Frequent travellers should particularly look at overseas transaction fees which can add up for frequent travellers.

Other features that should be looked at are travel insurance and worldwide purchase insurance.  Most rewards programs work in Australia, but there are also some that will operate accelerated or instant rewards even outside Australia.  These can include upgrades to flights and hotels.  If these programs are available around the world then this can mean a lot of comfort for a traveller, although they may find themselves tied to certain brands.