I Made This Silly Financial Mistake on an International Trip. Here's How You Can Avoid It

A couple years ago, I was putting together a vacation to Montreal. It was going to be my first big trip since COVID-19, and I was so excited to head out of the country and visit a city I'd never been to before. My husband and I had a full itinerary of foods we wanted to try, sights we wanted to see, and restaurants we wanted to visit.

We had our flights booked, our apartment rental confirmed, and our bags packed. The only thing I forgot to consider was what credit card I'd use during the trip. Here's how that little oversight ended up costing me.

Foreign transaction fees can add up

Stop one: poutine. Stop two: Montreal-style bagels. Stop three: soup dumplings. Stop four: coffee and pastries. (Funny how so much of a vacation can be based around food, isn't it?) At each business we visited, I handed over my Chase Freedom Unlimited® card for the cashier to swipe. I'd recently signed up for the card before the trip and was happy with the 3x points it earned on all dining spending, so I wanted to rack up plenty of rewards while we were away.

The only problem was, I forgot that despite all the benefits that this card offers, waiving foreign transaction fees is not one of them. As a result, each swipe of my card included a 3% fee tacked on, making my snack tour across Montreal 3% more expensive than it should have been.

If I'd been paying closer attention to my wallet rather than my stomach, I would have remembered I had another card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, that does waive foreign transaction fees. It was a silly mistake that ended up costing me extra money on that trip.

Don't make your vacations more expensive than necessary

Traveling is a pricey activity in the best of circumstances, and sometimes a very expensive splurge. It's important to assess your personal finances when putting a trip together and to make plans based on what you can afford. It's a good idea to save up for a trip well in advance and put money into a high-yield savings account so you don't have to take on debt to pay for your travels. But it's also important to make smart choices in how you pay for your vacation spending.

Travel credit cards are an excellent option when paying for a vacation because they can provide perks and rewards that make your trip better, be it free checked bags or bonus airline miles. As long as you can pay off your credit card in full before the bill is due each month, you won't pay any interest on your balance, and you'll still get to enjoy the perks your card affords. Just make sure that if you're visiting an international destination, the card you use waives foreign transaction fees.

Imagine you're taking a 10-day tour around Iceland. According to Trip.Com, the average trip will cost $150 to $300 per day. If you add a 3% foreign transaction fee to your vacation budget, you're paying up to an additional $90 just for using the wrong credit card.

Whether you plan to travel a lot in 2024 or you've been saving up for one trip of a lifetime, don't pay more for it than you need to. Make sure you use a card that covers foreign transaction fees while you're abroad so you're spending money on memories, not fees.