What is the best credit card for a student to take to Europe for a semester?

Question

How do you find out the rate they will charge?

Answer 1

The credit cards used most often in Europe are MasterCard and Visa.

There are several banks and companies that offer those cards, each with their own rates and charges.

Best to go to the website of each company that offers the credit cards you are interested in, see the info on that site and if that info is not enough, send them an e-mail asking detailed info.

But if you have a running bank account at home, keep money in it and use your bank card to get money out of the ATM. Most likely cheaper, at least more convenient, as most of your spendings will be small amounts, and no bar in Europe will accept a credit card for a couple of beers, of if they do they will charge a high fee.

Answer 2

Most credit cards charge a foreign exchange fee of 3%.  However, Capital One's cards are some of the few that do not; they have a 0% foreign exchange fee.  So I would recommend getting a Capital One Visa or MasterCard.

You can use this rewards calculator to see which Capital One card will pay you the most in rewards for your expected spending profile:

http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/