5 Credit Card Mistakes to Avoid When Traveling Abroad

What better than picking one of the Best Credit Cards for Travel to enjoy an international trip in the best possible way? Right from revelling in the incredible savings on airfare to getting great deals at hotels, from enjoying the freedom of swiping your card at payment terminals, to not paying exorbitant exchange rates, Credit Cards Offer numerous noteworthy benefits when you travel abroad.

That being said, you must note that in order to make the most of your Credit Card, you ought to avoid making some simple mistakes. Not only can these misjudgements keep you from enjoying maximum returns, but can also lead you to shell out more money than you need to. Hence, this time before you step out for that much-awaited vacation, make sure that you don’t end up committing these mistakes.

1. Redeeming Travel Rewards for Cashbacks

Yes, we do understand that a cash reward always seems better than that in kind. However, when it comes to Credit Card rewards, the value that you get in kind is often significantly higher than you can ever imagine getting in cash.

2. Being Careful of the Expiry Dates

More often than not, the rewards on travel Credit Cards come with an expiry date or a precondition due to which they might be deemed invalid. If you are not careful enough, you may lose out on the rewards before you can put them to good use.

To avoid this situation, it is best that you are well-informed about the expiry dates, as well as the Credit Card provider’s policy regarding the same. In some case, all you need to do is charge your card just enough to earn one additional point to keep all the other points safe.

Make sure you know such intricacies to the letter, and use them as and when needed. You can also set up calendar alerts so that it becomes convenient to keep track of your rewards and their expiry.

3. Buying Rewards with Money

Yes, rewards have their own benefits, especially that feeling of saving money on an otherwise expensive vacation. However, paying for getting these rewards doesn’t make any sense, especially because the value you get in return is often much less. You should only use this facility when you are just a few points away from redeeming your existing rewards points for something as significant as a flight ticket.

Simply put, rewards are only great when they are earned, and not when they need to be bought.

4. Benefits on Hotels and Airlines

Whether you are an avid traveller by choice, or due to your work needs, if you don’t have a card that has tie-ups with the best of hotels and airlines, and fails to offer you related rewards, you are at a severe loss.

Then again, even if your card provides the essential benefits, but at hotels or airlines that are either reasonably unpopular or those you just don’t approve of, then you may need to set out on the search for a better card. While this may seem like an unimportant exercise, to begin with, but when you actually come to see the benefits of your new card, you will be in for a treat.

5. Foreign Transaction Fee

This is possibly the costliest mistake that you can make when it comes to using a Credit Card while travelling abroad. One of the most important benefits of an international Credit Card is that you wouldn’t need to carry cash or go to foreign exchange counters to get the local currency. However, if your card charges you a transaction fee every time you swipe it, you lose out on the inherent benefit of owning a card.

What’s worse, is that by the end of your vacation, you would have ended up paying much more than you actually needed to. Hence, make sure only to pick a card which has no transaction fee, and levies the minimum possible exchange rate.

We hope that you are now aware of some of the mistakes you could have been making with respect to your international credit cards, knowingly or unknowingly. To avoid the same, make sure that you chose nothing but the Best Credit Cards for Travel and enjoy the financial freedom you deserve, even when you are on the go!