Pro tip: check your credit card's foreign transaction fee before booking a trip to Canada

I found out last week my bank charges 3% on every purchase made outside the US. Nobody told me when I opened the account. Learned it the hard way after a weekend in Toronto - cost me an extra $47 on meals and gas. Caught it when I checked my statement Monday morning. Has anyone else gotten hit by surprise fees like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

stella_baker22d ago

Learned that lesson back in 2017 when my "no fee" card secretly charged me for a week in Vancouver. Felt pretty smart watching that $80 surprise pop up on my statement.

ben66221d ago

Right? It's like the banks are playing a game of "find the hidden fee" and we're all losing. I felt like a genius using my "travel card" until I checked my statement and saw a list of tiny charges I didn't expect. Lesson learned the hard way, now I always google my card's fee schedule before I even think about crossing a state line. My wallet has officially decided it's too old for Canadian adventures unless I switch to a simpler card first.

kim19122d ago

$47 doesn't seem that bad for a lesson learned... I mean you drove up to Toronto and back, the gas alone probably cost more than that. These banks always find a way to tack on little fees but at least it wasn't hundreds of dollars. Most people blow way more than $47 on dumb stuff every month like coffee runs or parking tickets without thinking twice.