Since moving to the UK, I’ve had to rejig my wallet a little bit because the best credit cards to use for different purchases in the US aren’t necessarily the best ones to use while overseas.
We have a good number of Frequent Miler readers who are either expats or who travel frequently overseas, so in this post we wanted to highlight the best US credit cards for expats and other overseas travelers, as well as the cards you might want to avoid.
Best single US credit card for international purchases
If you’d like simplicity for all of your international spending, the best credit card for many people will be the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card. Launched in 2025, it offers 3x on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines purchases, 3x on dining, 1x on other purchases, but – most importantly for this topic – 3x on foreign transactions.
| Card Offer and Details |
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 ⓘ $1047 1st Yr Value Estimate25K Global Companion Fare valued at $250 Click to learn about first year value estimates 100K points + 25K Companion Award Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 100k points + 25K global companion award after $6K spend in the first 90 days $395 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: Atmos points are quite valuable, and this could be a great option for Alaska / Hawaiian customers and those interested in elite status. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 3X Alaska Airlines ✦ 3x dining ✦ 3x foreign transactions ✦ 1X elsewhere Card Info: Visa Infinite issued by BOA. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: 100K global companion award fare after $60K in cardmember year Noteworthy perks: Annual global 25K companion fare (cardmember year) ✦ 10K status points each cardmember anniversary ✦ free same day changes ✦ 2 full-day lounge passes each calendar quarter (includes up to two children) ✦ 2 wifi passes each calendar quarter ✦ Waived partner booking fees ✦ $50 credit for delays or cancellations of over 2 hrs ✦ Free first checked bag on both Hawaiian and Alaska flights (+ up to six companions) ✦ Priority Boarding (up to six companions) ✦ 10% bonus on earned miles with eligible BOA account ✦ Earn 1 status point/$2 spent ✦ $120 TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credit ✦ 2 free signature cocktails/lounge visit |
That’s an excellent return considering this card doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee on those purchases. It’s a Visa card which means you shouldn’t have any issue using it internationally anywhere that accepts credit cards.
You can boost the earnings even higher if you have an eligible Bank of America or Merrill checking/savings account as that gets you an additional 10% (i.e. 3.3x Atmos Rewards points).
In addition to the standard Atmos Rewards points the card earns, you earn 1 Atmos Rewards status point for every $2 you spend on the card. You also get 10,000 status points each cardmember anniversary. That means after your first year you’d need to spend the following on the card in order to earn status exclusively through spend:
- Silver – $20K spend
- Gold – $60K spend
- Platinum – $140K spend
- Titanium – $250K spend
Atmos Rewards status will also get you Oneworld status which could come in handy for your overseas travels on airlines like British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Iberia, Qantas, Qatar Airways, and more. Atmos Silver gets you Oneworld Ruby, Atmos Gold gets you Oneworld Sapphire, while Atmos Platinum and Titanium get you Oneworld Emerald.
If you have high spending overseas and can make use of the card’s other perks, the Atmos Summit card can be a compelling option if you want a catch-all card for all of your spending.
Honorable mention for a single US credit card for international purchases
Seeing as the Alaska Atmos Summit card earns 3x on all foreign transactions, that’s the best catch-all card if you don’t mind the annual fee and can get good value from the Atmos Rewards points.
Outside of other everyday spending cards (like 2x everywhere), the next best one-size-fits-all option for many people will be the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card. That earns:
- 10x on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel℠
- 3x on groceries, dining, gas stations and EV charging, and on flights, hotels, travel agencies
- 1x everywhere else
For expats, groceries, dining, and gas will likely make up a good chunk of your spending, plus you’ll be able to earn 3x or 10x on your paid travel depending on how it’s booked. The Strata Premier card also has a much lower annual fee than the Atmos Summit card which might appeal to people looking for a one card solution.
Best US credit cards for groceries worldwide
Many of the best credit cards for grocery store purchases in the US aren’t the best for grocery store purchases worldwide, usually for one of two key reasons: foreign transaction fees or due to the bonus category being limited to U.S. supermarkets.
That doesn’t mean you have no good options though. Here are the most rewarding cards for overseas grocery transactions; the exact value will depend on how you value the points/miles when it’s not cashback rewards.
- Bilt Obsidian Card – The Bilt Obsidian card has a 3x Bilt Points earning category. It defaults to dining, but you can select groceries as your 3x earning preference instead which is valid on up to $25,000 spend per year (3x on dining is uncapped).
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card – You’ll see this card appear in a few different categories. It appears in this one as you’ll earn 3x ThankYou points on groceries worldwide.
- Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card – As mentioned earlier, this earns 3x Atmos Rewards on all international transactions (or 3.3x with an eligible Bank of America/Merrill account).
- Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card – This card earns 3% cashback at grocery stores (excluding Walmart and Target) and has no foreign transaction fees. While 3% cashback isn’t as valuable as the other cards on this list due to the value of their miles/points, if you have a Capital One card that earns miles, you can transfer the cashback earned on the Savor Cash to those cards to effectively make it a 3x Capital One miles card on groceries.
- The Aeroplan® Card – This card earns 3x Aeroplan points on grocery spend both in the US and internationally. In addition to that, you earn 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month in any category, capped at 1,500 additional points earned in this way per calendar month.
Another card that might work once it’s launched is the SoFi Smart Card. That’ll have a $10 per month fee, but it’s due to offer uncapped 5% earnings on grocery purchases. I’ve checked the card’s terms and conditions and it’s unclear whether the 5% cashback will be earned on grocery purchases worldwide or only in the US.
Best US credit cards for restaurants/dining worldwide
Eating out while overseas can be one of the most pleasurable parts of traveling or living internationally. Here are the most rewarding cards for restaurant purchases worldwide.
- Citi Prestige Card – It’s no longer available for new applicants nor for product changes, but if you still have a Citi Prestige card you’ll earn 5x ThankYou points for dining.
- American Express® Gold Card – American Express can be a bit of a quirky card issuer for international purchases. The Amex Gold card didn’t appear in the grocery list above as it only awards 4x on up to $25K spend at supermarkets in the US. For the 4x Membership Rewards on dining though, it’s valid worldwide on up to $50K purchases per year.
- Amtrak Guest Rewards® Preferred Mastercard® – This card only earns 2x Amtrak Guest Rewards points on dining, but Amtrak points are much more valuable than most other points/miles, so that can provide good value if you’ll ever travel on Amtrak while back in the US.
- American Express® Green Card – This card awards 3x Membership Rewards points for dining worldwide. Unlike the Amex Gold card, there’s no $50K cap on earnings for restaurant purchases.
- Bilt Obsidian Card – The Bilt Obsidian card lets you choose your 3x earning category – dining or groceries. Groceries has a $25K spending cap per year, but dining offers uncapped 3x Bilt points.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card – This card offers 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining purchases worldwide.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card – Similar to the Sapphire Reserve card, the Sapphire Preferred also awards 3x Ultimate Rewards points when eating out around the world.
- Citi Strata Elite℠ Card – This is an unusual card because it has two different earning rates for dining spend. You’ll earn 6x ThankYou points on dining spend between 6pm and 6am EST Fridays and Saturdays, while earning 3x ThankYou points on dining at all other times. Bear in mind that the timing for 6x points is based on the time in the US, so when traveling internationally you’ll need to account for time zone changes.
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card – This awards 3x ThankYou points on worldwide dining.
- Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card – As mentioned earlier, this earns 3x Atmos Rewards on all international transactions (or 3.3x with an eligible Bank of America/Merrill account).
- Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card – This card earns 3% cashback on dining and has no foreign transaction fees. While 3% cashback isn’t as valuable as the other cards on this list due to the value of their miles/points, if you have a Capital One card that earns miles, you can transfer the cashback earned on the Savor Cash to those cards to effectively make it a 3x Capital One miles card at restaurants.
- The Aeroplan® Card – You’ll earn 3x Aeroplan points for restaurant spend, as well as 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month in any category, capped at 1,500 points earned in this way per calendar month.
- Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card – This card earns 3x points on dining purchases that can be transferred to partners or cashed out as 3% cashback.
- Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card – This card also earns 3x points on dining purchases that can be transferred to partners or cashed out as 3% cashback.
Best US credit cards for gas purchases worldwide
There aren’t many US credit cards that are particularly rewarding when filling your vehicle with gas overseas, either because bonus points are only awarded for gas purchases in the US or because the cards charge a foreign transaction fee.
There are some exceptions though that can still offer decent returns on your gas expenditure:
- Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card – This card earns 8x Wyndham Rewards points worldwide.
- Costco Anywhere Visa – This earns 4% cash back on gas and EV charging worldwide on up to $7,000 spend per year (this cap includes 5% back on Costco gas purchases too). Note that the 4% cash back requires a Costco membership and the cash back can only be redeemed Costco stores in the US and Puerto Rico.
- Costco Anywhere Business Visa – This also earns 4% cash back on gas and EV charging worldwide on up to $7,000 spend per year (this cap includes 5% back on Costco gas purchases too). Note that the 4% cash back requires a Costco membership and the cash back can only be redeemed Costco stores in the US and Puerto Rico.
- USAA Cashback Rewards Plus American Express® Credit Card – This card earns 5% cash back on your first $3,000 in gas station purchases each year.
- Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card – As mentioned earlier, this earns 3x Atmos Rewards on all international transactions (or 3.3x with an eligible Bank of America/Merrill account).
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card – The Strata Premier card earns 3x ThankYou points on gas purchases worldwide.
- AT&T Points Plus Card – This card also earns 3x Citi ThankYou points for gas expenditure both domestically and internationally.
- Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card – Although its earning rate isn’t as high as the Wyndham Rewards Earner Business card, it does still earn a respectable 6x Wyndham Rewards points on gas.
- Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card – You’ll earn 3x points at gas stations around the world with this card.
- U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card – This card awards 4x points (effectively 4% cashback) when filling your tank.
- U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card – This card also awards 4x points (effectively 4% cashback) when filling your tank.
Best US credit cards for everyday purchases worldwide
Groceries, dining, and gas make up much of people’s common spending that occurs in spending categories that frequently get bonused. For other everyday spend, there are all kinds of cards that can be rewarding options.
- Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card – This card earns 3x Atmos Rewards on all international transactions (or 3.3x with an eligible Bank of America/Merrill account).
- Bilt Palladium Card – This card awards 2x Bilt Points on all everyday spend. Spending enough on the card can enable the ability to also earn points on housing spend with the Housing-Only Rewards earning option, or you can choose to earn 4% Bilt Cash in addition to the 2x points.
- Robinhood Gold Card – This card has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, and awards 3% cashback on all spend. However, at the time of publishing this post it’s only available after joining their waitlist.
- Discover It Miles (first year only) – The Miles version of the Discover It card awards 1.5 “miles” (effectively 1.5% cashback) on all spend which is doubled in the first year. That means in the first year all your spend on the card earns 3% cashback. A big catch with this card is that Discover is accepted at even fewer retailers worldwide than Amex is.
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card – This is one of several cards that earns 2x Capital One miles on all everyday spend.
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card – This is another card earning 2x Capital One miles on all everyday spend.
- Capital One Venture X Business Card – The Venture X Business card earns 2x Capital One miles on everyday spend as well.
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business – This card also earns 2x Capital One miles on everyday spend.
- Citi Strata Elite℠ Card – You’ll earn 1.5x ThankYou points for everyday spend on this card.
- U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve – This card is no longer available for new applications. However, if you’re already a cardholder then the ability to earn 3x points on mobile wallet payments could be appealing, especially if U.S. Bank does introduce transfer partners as previously promised.
In addition to all of those cards, the following Bank of America cards have no foreign transaction fees and earn 2.625% cashback if you have Platinum Honors in Preferred Rewards or Preferred Rewards for Business. That’s made up of a 1.5% cashback base earning rate boosted by 75% via Platinum Honors.
- Bank of America Travel Rewards
- Bank of America Premium Rewards
- Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite
- Bank of America Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard
US credit cards to be wary of/avoid for international purchases
There are quite a lot of credit cards that can be very rewarding for spend in the US, but which shouldn’t be used for purchases worldwide for one reason or another.
Foreign transaction fees
One of the main reasons to avoid certain credit cards is that they charge foreign transaction fees. The fees can vary from card to card, but you’re often looking at 3% fees which would wipe out much or all of the value from the rewards you’d earn.
Notable cards that have foreign transaction fees include:
- U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card – This card offers up to 4% cashback with enough money on deposit with U.S. Bank, but the foreign transaction fees eat up much of those earnings.
- Chase Freedom Flex® – This card earns 3x on dining, 3x at drugstores, and 5x in rotating categories each quarter. Those Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to travel partners with a premium Ultimate Rewards-earning credit card, but the foreign transaction fee makes this a much less worthwhile option.
- Citi Custom Cash® Card – You can earn 5x ThankYou points on up to $500 spend that occurs in your top-spending category each billing cycle on this card. Again, the foreign transaction fees make that less rewarding overall.
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express – This is a popular card for everyday spend in the US due to it having no annual fee and it awarding 2x Membership Rewards points on up to $50K spend per year. It does charge foreign transaction fees though.
- Citi Double Cash® Card – This is another popular card for its 2x earnings on everyday spend, but purchases outside of the US are subject to foreign transaction fees.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited® – This no annual fee card offers 3x Ultimate Rewards on dining, 3x at drugstores and 1.5x on everyday spend. That makes it a good option for people wanting to rack up Ultimate Rewards points, but only for purchases in the US.
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card – Similar to the Freedom Unlimited card, the Ink Business Unlimited is a no annual fee card that earns 1.5x Ultimate Rewards on everyday spend. Also similar to the Freedom Unlimited, it charges foreign transaction fees.
Category bonus quirks
Although foreign transaction fees are the primary reason not to use certain credit cards for overseas purchases, there are some other cards that aren’t good for one or more bonus categories internationally. Examples include:
- American Express® Gold Card – This card earns 4x Membership Rewards points on up to $25K of supermarket purchases each year and up to $50K of restaurant spending. The thing is, 4x at supermarkets is only valid at U.S. supermarkets, so using this card for overseas groceries will only earn you 1 point per dollar. As mentioned earlier in this post though, it is a good card for dining expenditure as 4x is earned at restaurants worldwide.
- Discover it® – The Discover It card has rotating 5% spending categories every quarter and it doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. However, the 5% spending categories are only valid for purchases in the US, so all spend overseas will only ever earn 1% cashback (which is doubled in your first year of card membership).
- American Express® Business Gold Card – This card offers 4x Membership Rewards points on your top two spending categories every billing cycle from a selection of different categories. That includes restaurants, gas, electronics stores, and more. The problem is that only the “Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways” category is valid for purchases worldwide; the other categories are only valid for purchases in the US.
Why travel bonus categories aren’t listed
US expats and those who travel a lot internationally often spend a lot on flights and/or hotels. I was considering adding sections to highlight the best cards in those categories, but the best card can vary a lot, even for just one specific flight.
For example, let’s say you want to book a flight with United. Some might want to book directly and pay with an American Express Platinum Card® to earn 5x Membership Rewards. Others might prefer the earnings from and better travel protections offered by booking directly with a Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. Others might prefer to book through a bank’s travel portal for 8x, 10x, or 12x earnings despite that potentially causing headaches in the event of irregular operations. Others might want to pay with a premium United credit card in order to get a free checked bag – a card benefit that’s not received if you don’t pay for your flight with your United card. Amex Business Platinum cardholders who have United selected for their airline fee credits can get a 35% rebate by paying for their flight with Membership Rewards points. There are at least a dozen different cards that could arguably be the best option for United flights, not to mention other options for Delta, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, etc.
Similarly for hotel stays, the best card could be one that offers high bonus points for direct hotel bookings. A hotel’s credit card will be a preferable option for some, while some might prefer to book through a transferable points currency’s travel portal for high earnings. Others might forgo bonused spend opportunities in favor of card-linked offers like Amex Offers, Chase Offers, etc.
There are therefore so many permutations for flights and hotels that it would be too lengthy to get into here.
Your suggestions
Are there any other cards that I’ve missed here that you think should be added to one or more of the lists above? Are you an expat or frequent overseas traveler who has a different kind of card setup? Let us know in the comments below.
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When Discover has 5% category often worth using it as well
I figured out following merchants will accept Discover in the UK:
Groceries: Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer, Tesco (new card machines). Off-licenses with DOJO machines work as well. Doesn’t work at Waitrose, Asda or Co-op 🙁
Restaurants: Any restaurants with DOJO machines. Doesn’t work with Zettle, Square, Sumup machines:(
Drugstores: Boots
Discover only awards 5% for purchases in the US, not overseas
I am using it for past 8 years in Japan and UK and it awards 5% on foreign spend without any issues (unlike Amex).
Interesting, their website said it’s only for US spend, so that’s good to know – thanks!
I don’t recommend BofA Atmos Summit. I’m still trying to get a nearly $1,000 fraudulent charge covered. Clearly fraudulent, I was not in said city, and provided documentation I flew elsewhere, hotel receipts, car rental, etc…already reconsideration denied, so have to open it again. I have request to show me what documents they are relying on. Have yet to receive them.
Basically, I don’t recommend BofA if you think you will be in high fraud places.
Maybe if you restrict to online foreign purchase, but I would never use it for in person transactions – where it could be cloned (What happened to me).
Even if I eventually get BofA to accept – it’s been quite an ordeal.
Stick with Amex or Chase.
use ChatGPT and you’ll learn which banks have best fraud detection. Bank of America is like nearly the weakest of the majors.
Thanks for this post, Stephen. I’d be interested to learn more about your use of points while living in Europe – which transferable currencies you find most useful in Europe and how you use them, for example. With a family and kids in Europe, it’s challenging to use hotel chains to get good value due to room occupancy limits.
Recently I have been using:
– Citi Strata Premier for 3x groceries and gas
– Sapphire Preferred for restaurants and sometimes travel for travel protections (also consider the Ritz card for travel protections but don’t like the earnings)
– C1 Venture X for 2X
– Atmos Summit for international 3X categories
Now that I have the Atmos Summit, there is overlap there that doesn’t justify all the annual fees. The Atmos 3x earnings for all international spend could be great, but I want to see if we’re able to make good use of the 25K companion certificate. If not, the fee won’t be worth it.
It’s only me, my wife, and our pup, so thankfully we don’t have any issues with room occupancy limits, although it does mean we have to find pet-friendly properties in the UK and then pay the associated pet fees.
For stays in the UK, it’s worth checking the Premier Inn chain as quite a few of their properties can accommodate four people fairly comfortably.
With regards to transferable currencies, most of the award flights we’ve booked this past year have used Avios, so pretty much any transferable currency is good for that. I did speculatively transfer using Capital One miles when there was a transfer bonus a few months ago and did the same with Virgin Atlantic with the Amex transfer bonus a month or two ago as that was a 40% bonus.
Thanks, Stephen. I’ll have to check out Premier Inn next time we go to the UK. That wasn’t on my radar.
Virgin points have been solid for various European/Middle East routes, Flying Blue as well.
The AFs are so high on these cards that there’s no way the cashback/points earned will ever offset the AF. Not like you’re going to be spending $10k/month on groceries and food. And there’s no way to manufacture spend overseas like you can very easily do in the US.
We’ve lived in Japan for 5 years now and groceries are maybe $300/month for 2 people and eating out 2x a week is under $100 a month easily. Most places are a lot cheaper to live in compared to the US, especially post covid’s inflation nonsense. Even with Amex Gold’s 4x on food you’d have to be spending a ton to offset the sky high AF that’s going up again. Shocker, I know, but banks are greedy AF these days.
I think you should point out that Bilt Palladium can also earn 3X on the first $25K spent each year if you elect to use $200 Bilt Cash on the accelerator up to five uses. Since U.S. rent/mortgage payments will be a non issue for most full-blown expats, the Bilt Cash can be used for the accelerators and transfer bonus boosts with no opportunity cost.
Perhaps also add a disclaimer about coupon heavy cards like the Amex Gold/Platinum/CSR that their true value is diminished for those living abroad that have irregular/infrequent travel to the U.S. In my eyes, that makes the $95 Strata Premier a wiser choice than Amex Gold, for example.
I also think Amex Hilton Surpass should be an honorable mention for everyday spend since you’d be earning 3X Hilton (let’s call it 1.25-1.5%) and then a free night certificate after hitting $15K, which could conceivably be redeemed at properties that cost another $350+ a night, bringing the return on spend to 3.5%+.
Oh look, another silly American leaving the promised land. So MAGA isn’t working out for you? Honestly if any Americans want to leave the US I would make them sign a declaration stating “America is NOT the greatest country in the World and our freedom and democracy is a joke!”
…Stephen is of British descent…
Glad that the Wells Fargo Autograph is getting some love. The Wells Fargo travel partners lack, but there is still good upside there.
And on top of all that, it’s free even with all of its fantastic bonus categories. If I wanted a simple travel card setup, I would choose it any day over Amex Green or the Ink Preferred.
What’s funny was it was my first card back when it was the Propel, totally an accident that I have it. But, it’s in my passport holder because it’s my go to international travel card when I’m not working on a bonus. I’ve canceled a Green Card and a Business Gold card when annual fees came due. But this one is a staple.
I applied and got approved for the Summit card the first day it launched in addition to scoring the 5000 pre-registration bonus with 3x for foreign transactions being top of mind for a trip to Japan. Little did I know at the time that cash is still king (along with Suica) in the country so I won’t be earning as much on the trip as I hoped for but 3x on all foreign spend is an awesome feature.
So far I’m finding the Summit card very valuable for me on AA flights in particular and earning status with Alaska is super easy when flying international due to the earning structure. It’s going to be a keeper card for me (at least one more year anyway).
idk if you already went to Japan, but they are extremely CC friendly now. I was there in July, 2025, and was surprised that places accepted not only Visa/MC, but also tons of places accept Amex (found out later that it was due to Amex’s partnership with Japan Bank). There’s a few places that would prefer cash, but I wouldn’t be too worried about cash being king there, I did not go to an ATM once.
If you’re using Suica on iPhone, loading up on it allows you to use apple pay to pay with cc.
Trip planned for this April. Was your trip mainly along the golden route? My travels will take me off the beaten path a bit to the mountains so I’m assuming cash will be a necessity. Android user so no apple pay for me.
How do y’all justify the $400 annual fee of Atmos? Only thing I can think of is the 25K global companion pass, but it means that you need to have like 50k miles every year to use the pass (assuming one way reasonable intl rate of 30-35k + companion 10-15k). Only Bilt has Alaska as transfer partner and Alaska miles are hard to collect .
There are other benefits that might be useful for some people (but certainly not everyone):
If you book a lot of award flights with partner airlines using Atmos points, the money saved on the waived partner booking fees can certainly mount up.
Another benefit is pooling of points.
Thus said, I got the card for SUB, but haven’t decided if it is a keeper or not. I like getting 3x everywhere overseas. And I have a stash of Alaska points that used to be Amex points. I suspect I will keep it for at least a couple of years to keep earning Alaska points and for the 25k companion pass. But it isn’t clear that it makes sense long term. Maybe I am thinking about this wrong.
I think it makes sense if you have a stash of points with Alaska – the companion pass gives you at least $375 in value (assuming $1.5 x 25k). I travel as a family of four, so the sign up bonus is usually all gone in one trip – after that I just can’t justify to keep it. Lounges also come from other cards, I never check bags, etc. so it is hard to make those extra perks make up the annual fee.
Yeah, that makes sense. Just two retirees traveling for us, so I imagine I’ll hold onto it until my stash from Amex runs out. I do like the simplicity of 3x everywhere international, but by itself that doesn’t make it a keeper.
Obviously, everyone has a different situation, but for me, the 25K companion cert would easily justify the fee. I transferred a hefty chunk of Amex Membership Rewards when Hawaiian was still a transfer partner. I also earn a lot of points through Rakuten, which for the November payout, this month’s payout, and the next Rakuten payout are all 1:1 even without Bilt status. I’ll probably transfer most of that to Alaska.
I don’t know how you came to your math about needing 50K miles to maximize use of the 25K companion cert — all you’d need is 25K or more. That works on a one-way, round-trip, partner award, whatever. Getting maximum value out of it does require having a least 25K Alaska miles, and if you’re starting each year at zero Alaska miles and you don’t earn a lot of miles, then I can’t imagine the card would be a fit. On the other hand, I think there are likely some folks who easily spend north of $8,000 per year abroad and would thus earn the ~25K Alaska miles they would need to book something and get full value out of the companion cert, though I think the Summit card is probably mostly aimed at people who naturally earn a lot of Alaska miles, whether by crediting paid oneworld flights to Alaska, using Alaska’s shopping portal, earning points also through Rakuten/Bilt, or spending a lot on the Summit card (perhaps in excess of $60K). I have met enough people in this hobby who have more than a million Alaska miles that I think there is a significant crowd for whom the 25K cert would be easy to use.
Again, that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy for you to use or that you should value it. Not every card is a fit for everyone. It goes without saying that every card has its target market, and that target market often isn’t “everyone”.
Great article, Stephen. I moved from the States to Canada three months ago. When I got here, I used every card I had for a few weeks and saved all my receipts in CAD to track the exchange rate each bank used vs. the day’s actual rate. I was concerned that the 3x on the Atmos Summit card was too good to be true, and BofA must be making up for it with an unfavorable FX rate. But, lo and behold, all of the banks I checked (Chase, Amex, BofA, Citi) were all tracking very close to the day’s FX rate. So there was no funny business with the FX rate.
Now I’m using my Atmos Summit everywhere, but I worry it’s too good to be true. On one of the podcasts, I think Nick mentioned that BofA seems really intent on winning the expat user, which sounds hopeful. Just curious if you think the Atmos Summit 3x earning rate on Foreign Transactions will last?
Thanks for doing this research. I proposed (or maybe maybe to propose) that the FM team do the same thing when they were ask traveling together — doing the same credit card transactions and debit card withdrawals at the same time to collect like-for-like data across large number of cards.
FYI, I think the conversion is handled by the card network so there might be a different rear for Visa and MasterCard, but probably not within Visa cards.
I don’t think the Summit is too good to be true. But it might be too good to last.
I’m fairly hopeful the 3x earnings will stick around. I can’t imagine there are so many people who can get US credit cards who also have so much overseas spend that they’d have to cancel that earning rate due to how unprofitable it becomes for them. If there were to be a change, I imagine it’d be more likely that they place a cap on 3x earnings for overseas transactions – perhaps something like $100K spend.
Alaska is clearly trying to keep people engaged in the Atmos Rewards program who might otherwise have very few opportunities to fly Alaska/Hawaiian due to living outside of the US, so this is a great way for them to do that.
I’m one of those people, pushing large amounts in foreign spend and an associated BofA account for 3.3X total. I recall an interview with an Alaskan executive in which she claimed they are fine with it and it’s actually a core part of their strategy. I do throw them some occasional U.S. spend for only 1.1X to help not be one of those “this is why we can’t have nice things” people
As others have pointed out, it would be helpful to add some info on which issuers freeze or cancel your account if they think you don’t live in the U.S. anymore.
I don’t have any details on that I’m afraid. I’ve not encountered any issues yet.
Citi, if you tell them you moved, is an outstanding example. The rest are fine, Chase/BofA will even let you foreign address as a mailing one and send renewal cards overseas.
Thank you for writing this. I moved to the UK recently and have been trying to find a balance. My Venture X is the easiest transferable points everyday card, but the Atmos Summit is obviously the best return on every foreign transaction. However, I currently have lots of points that are good for flights and a lot fewer points that are good for hotels. And I need fewer points for intra-Europe flights than I did for US international flights. In short, clearly it’s different for everyone, but you did a great job outlining the basics.
Sad there was no mention of which bank was easiest to deal with when your overseas phone number is different from the number they have on file. For example, during a very long stay in Italy, I had an Italian SIM card so to have an Italian number. A few banks, when contacting only gave an opportunity to verify through a phone and not using email. Calling can be expensive and some banks and companies still needed me to have the USA number in my phone. It can be problematic and this is something I rarely see addressed and wish it would be.
Get a Google Voice number and port it to your overseas number.
Since all the companies I deal with have my current number (a cellphone, I don’t have a landline) would that not mean I would have to change the number on record with the various companies? I am not clear on how Google Voice works so maybe I need to learn about that?
No landline needed. Check it out.
I shall do so. Thank you
Agreed that Google Voice is the easy (free) answer for that.
Get a JMP Chat account, and use it on your existing phone (or computer), and you’ll have an additional U.S. or Canada number that works over the internet from anywhere. US$4.99 per month gets you 2 hours of US/Canada calls (reloadable), and unlimited international text/picture messages. Calls to international numbers cost extra, but are reasonable. (You provide a separate internet connection, either with another SIM/eSIM, or WiFi.)
I have a Pixel 8 phone. We still have Google Fi service from the US (albeit without international data) and an eSIM with a UK provider. We have it set up so that all outgoing calls and texts go on the UK eSIM and data is through that one too, but I’m still able to receive calls and texts on my Google Fi number.
For the odd occasion I need to make a call using my Fi number, I have my phone set up to use Wi-Fi for calling, so I believe that means we’re not charged for it as an international call.
I think many smartphones nowadays allow you to have two SIMs (some only allow one physical and one eSIM), but that’s a workaround to still get calls and texts on your US number.
There are also “eSIM adapters” – a physical SIM card that multiple eSIMs can be written to, in case your phone doesn’t natively do eSIMs.
Those also make it super easy to switch your eSIM(s) back and forth between different phones.
Does this mean I use the Google Fi but keep the phone number I currently have? That’s the one that Banks and such send to and recognize as the number on record. I’m going to investigate this Google Fi and the other suggestions as this was a problem during my last long visit to Italy after Skype got killed.
Thanks to all for the help.
You’d switch your number to Google Fi. If all you need your US number for is to receive an occasional text or phone call, it might make more sense to switch the number to something like Airalo or Tello as those are much lower cost; there are also sometimes Chase Offers and Citi Offers for Airalo I believe.
We’re with Google Fi right now as we’re getting credits for buying our phones in August 2024. When those credits end this summer, we’ll probably switch to a cheaper provider.
Wow, so I can keep the same number then. I have never even heard of Tello or Airalo. I got some researching to do! I appreciate the help from you and everyone that has responded. Thanks!
Go with Tello. It’s recognized in most cases as a true legitimate U.S. cell number (as opposed to a VOIP/Google Voice number) and can even be activated abroad via eSIM. It works with every single issuer and bank I use: Chase, Discover, Citi, BofA, WF, Amex. And if you’re connected to Wifi for Wifi Calling, you will pay zero roaming fees! And when not, the prices are extremely reasonable for both data and voice/text (pennies for calls/texts and $10/GB data).
I was looking at the services Stephen mentioned and that is the one I am leaning towards using when I travel. Gotta study it some more to understand how it all works but this looks like the trick for me. Thanks so much for the info and recommendation!
The other article that you meant to write was “Acceptance of Credit Cards versus Cash Worldwide”.
Ignore Jimmy, he is just here until his parents pick him up.
No, I don’t think that’s what he meant to write at all. The article you have is what you get.
Sorry, I would have responded earlier but I was waiting for my parents to pick me up.
Uninterrupted. regular use outside the US *might* precipitate the bank questioning whether you are a US resident. I know of it happening in spite of having a US address of record. It is safer to have multiple cards and rotate them. (Just trying to help.)
Obvious issue of Amex acceptance outside the US.
While Alaska’s 3X is a great earn rate, are Alaska’s partners convenient for your travel needs? If you live in central or eastern Europe or south Asia and predominantly fly short hops, is that the best card? Apply that question to any card you’re thinking about.
It would be great to have data points on this, pro and con. I was using the dearly departed X1 card about 3 times per day for several years in Europe and never had any issue. I have used Chase Sapphire and Amex Platinum routinely as well when they were good options.
Anybody have good or bad experiences with B of A or any of the other issuers of the cards Stephen listed?