Travel is escapism, compelling, addictive and expensive! The plastic debit or credit card you rely on to make payments while traveling can incur extra pocket-burning costs, fees and charges faster than a jet.

Flights are booked, transport to the airport sorted, travel insurance bought, but what about your credit card? Depending on the country, using credits cards on an overseas trip can be more cost effective and safer than carrying too much cash or traveller’s cheques. However, it pays to be aware of exactly what types of fees will be charged to your card when you use it overseas and how much they will be. These vary slightly from one financial institution to another, so it pays to shop around – and know what to look for.

What to Expect

You can expect two main charges from almost every type of credit and debit card: an international transaction fee and a currency conversion fee.

Usually these two fees are charged together, with the international transaction fee including the currency conversion fee, which is about 1% of the total amount charged. The rest of the fee very much depends on the financial institution and the type of credit card you choose either VISA, MasterCard, Amex or Diners Club. Generally speaking, the rates vary between 1-3%, which might not sound like much, but these certainly add up the more purchases you make.

Comparison Chart: International Transaction Fees per Bank

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Who’s the Best for Fees?

For Visa, Woolworths offers the cheapest fees at 1.5%, with HSBC coming in second. MasterCards from NAB, Bendigo Bank and Woolworths are also a good deal at 2%. NAB also offer an American Express card at 1.5%.

One of the ways that you can reduce the cost of using your credit card overseas is to avoid making cash advance withdraws from ATMs. These not only incur the overseas transaction charges, but usually also begin to accrue interest charges from the time of the transaction which could lead to some nasty surprises once you return home, as these transactions do not qualify for the interest-free periods that normal purchase transactions do.

Also, note that in some countries, using a credit card to make small purchases or making cash advances is not as easy as it may seem. For example, Japan is a largely cash culture, with ATMs keeping business hours and many supermarkets and shops accepting cash only. In other words, don’t always assume credit cards will be accepted as widely as they are back home, and keep some cash on you, just in case.

Credit cards can be a convenient way to pay for many things as you travel, but it’s important to know exactly how much that convenience is going to cost you. Shopping around and reading the fine print is essential if you want to get the best deal on overseas transaction fees.

What Can You Do to Avoid Overseas Transaction Charges?

• There’s only 1 credit card that charges no overseas transaction charges and that’s the 28 Degrees Card
• Just because a card may have a lower overseas transaction charge doesn’t mean you dodge surcharges that retailers whack you with.
• Make fewer transactions. Easy!
• Think about loading up currency onto a prepaid travel card. But this requires a fair bit of planning to order & receive the card ahead of your departure date, load it up with enough money and logging to see how much you’ve got on the card can be a chore.
• Good ole cash ordered from a bank or post office before you leave. But then there’s no recourse if you have it stolen or lose it.
• Traveller’s cheques: here’s our blog post comparing traveller’s cheques to credit cards
• For expats going home, use a bank account with debit card in your native country.

Image: Glenn Loos-Austin

This is another post from Credit Card Compare Blog - The Credit Letter, a creative personal finance blog where we love to share money saving tips and credit card reviews to optimise your wallet!

Pinch, punch, its first of the month and all that. Most Australian families don’t eat much kangaroo meat. Tourists find it surprising that we eat it. The truth is that the kangaroo is ubiquitous in supermarkets, it’s the nation’s iconic animal yet negative ideas towards eating kangaroo meat persist. Some farmers think ‘roos’ to be somewhat of a pest. Some experts claim that kangaroo meat is not only tasty (it’s similar to lamb in flavour but a bit more gamey), but may also be a better alternative to other red meats for several reasons. So before you turn your nose at a roo strew, check out why kangaroo meat should end up on your family dinner table.

1. High in Protein, Low in Fat

Naturally, kangaroos provide a low fat, high protein meat because they are free-range, which means that they get plenty of exercise to build lean meat. They also aren’t stuffed with fatty grains like other livestock — they’re grass-fed, which means that they have the appropriate “healthy-fat” ratio. In fact, nutritionists say that Kangaroo meat is 98% fat free. Thus this high protein, low-fat meat has tons of benefits that can lead to lower cholesterol levels and reduce chances of getting cardiovascular diseases. Not to mention kangaroo is a great source of omega-3s, which is needed to promote healthy cell growth.

2. It’s the Cheaper Alternative

Here’s a money saving tip for your kitchen! Kangaroo meat costs less. While a recent increase in demand for Kangaroo meat has prompted the meat industry to slightly increase its prices for this leaner meat, it’s still relatively cheap, at about $18 per kilogram. You can get some yummy roo steaks compared to $30 a kilo for beef steaks and $23 a kilo for lamb.

3. Easier On the Land

Last but certainly not least, many environmentalists claim that eating kangaroo meat is a much better alternative than beef and other “organic” harvested animals because unlike other meat sources, Kangaroo can actually help sustain Australia’s biodiversity, which has been in a dire crisis for several years. How so? These soft-footed mammals require relatively low amounts of water and food to live and do not require large quantities of land to be cleared for grazing purposes, which means Australia’s grasslands and water source can stay intact.

In Conclusion

While it may seem strange to eat kangaroo, it’s important to know that by law the government requires a select number of kangaroos to be exterminated every so often to avoid an over population of the species. Thus, by adding some kangaroo meat to your weekly shop you’ll actually be doing a favor to society.

This is a guest post by Eliza Morgan who is a full time blogger. She specialises in writing about business credit cards. You can reach her at: elizamorgan856 at gmail dot com.

This is another post from Credit Card Compare Blog - The Credit Letter, a creative personal finance blog where we love to share money saving tips and credit card reviews to optimise your wallet!

We’ve all been there – on those travel ‘adventures’ we would rather not have had, when everything starts to go just a little bit pear-shaped. From lost luggage to lost family, we give you the top ten list of things you would rather not have happen, and some pointers that might help if they ever (unfortunately) do.

1. Lurking lurgies and occasional accidents

There’s simply nothing worse than getting sick while travelling, which is why this has made the top of the list. From stomach complaints to malaria, the health risks to travellers are very real and can be life threatening. Many countries simply don’t have the health services that you might need, and your life might depend upon being evacuated to another country for medical attention. It goes without saying that this is when a comprehensive travel insurance plan really pays for itself. Don’t leave home without one!

2. Thievery

Having your money, passport and other valuable items stolen makes it to number to on the list because it is, hands down, one of the most inconvenient things to happen while travelling. Having to spend days getting a new passport instead of sightseeing can simply ruin any adventure. You can fasten up the process of replacing tickets and passports by leaving a copy of them back at home with family or friends. It’s also a good idea to keep copies of any visas you might need to replace, in case you need to prove you actually have one. Also, make sure you don’t keep all of your money and credit cards in one place, so you have a back up if need be. Again, a travel insurance plan can save you a bundle, not only in terms of replacing stolen cash or valuable items, but also the costly fees for replacing important documents.

3. Lost Luggage

While most luggage turns up (eventually), it often takes time, time that you have to spend without your essentials. That’s why it’s always a good idea to carry a few spare items of clothing in your carry-on luggage. Airlines sometimes payout for lost luggage, but making sure your lost luggage is covered by insurance is an essential back-up plan.

4. The less-than-ideal neighbour

You’ve just settled yourself into seat 38A, when a screaming kid is plopped down next to you. Whether it’s them, a snoring businessman or other, less-than-ideal neighbours, you can ask to be re-seated if your flight is not too full. Unfortunately, if your flight is full, there’s not much you can do except grin and stick in some headphones.

5. The Credit Crunch

There’s nothing worse than getting back home and discovering your credit card has been charged an extra 2-3% for every charge you made while overseas. Before you head off, be sure you know exactly what your credit company charges for overseas purchases, as well as cash advances taken from overseas ATMs. If you’re not happy, shop around for the best deal well before leaving home.

6. Being hassled at airport security

As the rules relating to airport security gets stricter by the day, it’s all too common for delays to be caused by over-zealous security staff. You can get through security faster by making sure you remove coins from your pockets and take off your belt or other metal items on clothing. Try to avoid taking any liquids over 50ml in your hand luggage, putting them only in your check in baggage, or you might end up having to pay a lot for a little bag to put it in, or have to throw it away.

7. Missing your flight

Missing a flight can be extremely costly and annoying, especially if it also means you miss a connecting flight. If it is your fault and you don’t have travel insurance, unfortunately you either have to stay home or fork out for a new ticket. If, however, the airline is at fault, they will book you onto a new flight and pay for a hotel if that means staying overnight. Note this usually does not include adverse weather, which airlines generally do not hold themselves accountable for.

8. Cultural Faux Pas

It’s easy enough to do, but making a cultural faux pas can see you end up in a world of trouble, possibly even in trouble with the law. While this is sometimes unavoidable, it’s a good idea to get as familiar with your destination’s culture before you travel, and while you’re there, don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something.

9. Crimes and misdemeanours

All too often unsuspecting travelers get themselves into trouble because they are not aware of the local laws. What is seen as a misdemeanour in one country can see you get jail time in others. If you do land yourself in hot water, be sure to contact your embassy immediately.

10. Getting lost

It might seem like a trivial point, but actually, getting lost can be frustrating, costly and even dangerous. Many global roaming mobile phones can access GPS mapping, but if you’re travelling light, don’t forget a paper map of the local area is not too heavy.

This was a guest post from World Nomads.

This is another post from Credit Card Compare Blog - The Credit Letter, a creative personal finance blog where we love to share money saving tips and credit card reviews to optimise your wallet!

Have you heard of Lusha? Lusha, a Moscow resident, put together a stock portfolio that beat 94% of all of Russia’s mutual fund managers. That’s an impressive feat for anybody and in the investing world, when you’re successful everybody wants to know how you did it. Lusha is certainly the Russian equivalent of an Ivy League educated financial graduate who has worked for all of the biggest investment firms in the world. She was probably hand picked to be the next greatest investor and making big money with each of her equally brilliant stock picks.

Would you be surprised to know that Lusha has no formal investment training? Lusha has never been to college and knows nothing about investing. Lusha is a chimpanzee who makes a living riding a scooter in a Russian circus yet she beat 94% of Russia’s brightest investing minds. All she did was pick six random stocks from a list.

Is investing really that easy? Anybody who has been in the market for any period of time knows that making money in the stock market is far from easy but that might be because they don’t follow some basic, time tested rules.

Hold On

There are two types of investors: traders and investors. Investors understand that true wealth comes with time. Numerous studies have found that beating the market is an impossible task for anything more than a short term win. The only way to truly make money over the long term is to stay invested. Hold on to your stocks and let them appreciate in value over time.

The second type of player in the market is the trader. Traders are becoming the new normal in stock exchanges around the world and financial television would have you believe that the only way to make money is to make short term trades where profits are realized quickly. It might be more thrilling but for most, it isn’t profitable over the multi decade timeframe that people need to build wealth.

Diversity

Every investor has seen a big win from time to time. A stock suddenly rises 10% or 20% in one day giving the impression that more money should be poured in to that stock or sector. A professional golfer doesn’t practice for holes in one. They know that those events are more a function of good luck than skill. Instead, golfers practice skills that will put them in the best position to maximize success. Getting it close to the hole is more important than trying to land the hole in one.

Investing is the same way. When you don’t diversify your portfolio, you’re trying to land the hole in one. Spreading your money across asset classes, specific stocks and even different investment products puts you in the best position to see those steady gains. You’ll certainly have those days when a stock is up 10% but you’ll have equal amount of days where a stock is down the same amount.

Dividends

The stock market doesn’t give you much for free but dividends are the closest thing to free money. Although dividends aren’t completely safe, they tend to be much less volatile than growth stocks. If you could almost guarantee that you would receive a 6% return this year just from holding on to the stock, wouldn’t that be more attractive than holding a non dividend paying stock that might see an 8% gain?

If you’re looking to make a lot of money in the stock market, you have a much better chance of doing it with dividends than you do with growth stocks. If your money is going to be tied up, get paid for that. Limit the amount of growth stocks in your portfolio. Diversify your growth stocks with dividend stocks.

Do Your Research

Lusha didn’t have to do any research but she didn’t pick stocks that she expected to hold for many years. If the experiment would have gone on much longer, Lusha’s performance would probably end up the same or slightly lower than the 94% of people she beat. Random stock picking doesn’t work. You have to know what you own and why you own it. There might come a time where you have to sell the stock based on your research.

Finally

Don’t fall in to the trap of, “things are different now.” The markets still rewards the patient and punish the greedy. If you want to gamble, play the slot machines but if you want to make money over time, the stock market is the place for your money.

photo credit: etsy

This is another post from Credit Card Compare Blog - The Credit Letter, a creative personal finance blog where we love to share money saving tips and credit card reviews to optimise your wallet!

Christmas is the biggest time of year for every retailer out there. John Lewis from the UK have produced a TVC which is genuinely touching and (dare I say it) profound. In the words of Christ himself,

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

This is another post from Credit Card Compare Blog - The Credit Letter, a creative personal finance blog where we love to share money saving tips and credit card reviews to optimise your wallet!

This is a guest post from Jason Crosland, a Queenland-based commerce student who spends way too much time procrastinating. He can be found very occasionally on Twitter.

Studies consistently show that though the average Australian has a decent knowledge on the basics of their finances, they have trouble with the more complicated aspects of the world of finance. Unfortunately, this area of interest is plagued with the dual image of being both monotonously boring and incredibly complex, a stereotype that has been ingrained in our subconscious for years through depictions of accountants, stockbrokers and economists across a variety of media.

So with people, particularly Gen Y becoming more concerned with how finance affects their lives, how can members of the finance community teach more about the world of finance, be it about personal finance matters like this site is dedicated to, or to make people more understanding of the complexities of the stock markets and superannuation. There is now an opportunity to capitalise on this new interest and build the community. But how can we capture peoples’ attention?

Perhaps we can take notes from a similar industry that has recently changed its public perception. Advertising, which was once seen as only an annoyance, harassments from our TVs, newspapers and online to try and convince us to part with our cash. A stronger presence in popular culture has helped propel advertising into the mainstream view. Shows like The Gruen Transfer in Australia, which maintains a balance of entertainment, education and intelligent discussion and has gathered strong ratings and even two spin-offs extending the concept into politics and public relations is an excellent example of this. Despite the absurdity of a programme dedicated to ads, it’s an undeniable success at making viewers more comfortable with a complicated topic they are not fully familiar with. Heck it’s even helped inspire people to study advertising and enter the industry.

Would it work for finance?

It’s a way to communicate the subject that differs radically from the normal method of a suited professional giving a dry account of the facts that doesn’t involve tacky “making finance fun” schemes or rapping economists.

An American show in a completely different genre has helped grow a similar interest in advertising. AMC’s Mad Men is set in a New York advertising agency during the 1960s and actually contains a decent amount of advertising in-between the affairs, smoking and drinking that the characters indulge themselves in. While The Gruen Transfer focuses on intellectually stimulating discussion in an entertaining fashion, Mad Man instead has scenes of the characters performing their work weaved throughout each episode, and helps the viewer gain an understanding of the industry, terminology and processes. The success of the show has elevated the show’s protagonist to something of a pop culture icon, with Donald Draper being awarded the number 1 spot in the 2009 Askmens’ Top 49 Influential Men beating out Usain Bolt, Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama. The show, like Gruen has even created a new wave of interest in advertising careers.

So could finance do something similar? It’s possible, but it would to be designed well enough to not look like a blatant copy and is of high enough quality to keep watchers interested.

If these shows prove anything it’s that it is possible to gain a wider audience and break down previous misconceptions if you approach the subject matter in the right way. Maybe if finance can bring out something that can increase knowledge and awareness we can avoid some previous mistakes and help educate people to make the right decisions. Taking lessons from advertising is just the tip of the iceberg, there are bound to be other ways to encourage people to explore the world of finance more.

This is another post from Credit Card Compare Blog - The Credit Letter, a creative personal finance blog where we love to share money saving tips and credit card reviews to optimise your wallet!