Quick question about credit cards

The Visa (charge) fees at Chase end up costing me $167, not $50 like I claimed in that other thread.
Is there any charge card out there that isn't an American Express where the sign-up fee is under $167?

P.S. Don't think for a second I'm planning on going into overdraft. 🤣

Susan Ward4 said:The Visa (charge) fees at Chase end up costing me $167, not $50 like I claimed in that other thread.
Is there any charge card out there that isn't an American Express where the sign-up fee is under $167?

P.S. Don't think for a second I'm planning on going into overdraft. 🤣

Where are you getting that from? 😲
enrollment fee $33
annual fee $50

http://www.chase.com/download/2009/03/0..._march_09.pdf

The customer service rep told me getting an extra card in my sweetheart's name costs slightly less than $167 since we're technically issuing it to someone else.
That way, we both walk around with our own cards—my American Express and his Visa—so I don't have to deal with any of the heavy lifting.
The only catch is that both cards are legally under my name.

Enrollment fee $33
Annual fee $50
Fee for the additional card $16
Annual fee for the primary user $33

Total amount $132

I just don't see why you'd even need two cards 🤷

We can't even book a hotel online because they don't take American Express.
Some plane tickets too.
Using Amex outside the US sucks.

I picked up some Euros at $2.50, and since I’m planning on furnishing an apartment, I’ll likely need USD soon. However, I haven't made a final decision yet, and I really want to avoid the hassle of converting them back to USD at $2.50 only to realize I don't need the renovation and have to buy more Euros later if the dollar drops. From what I understand about foreign currency accounts, I'll get a new Visa card that lets me shop based on whatever balance I have available. Is there a limit on how much I can purchase, or does it just depend on my balance? Also, it seems like there aren't fees for depositing cash into a foreign currency account or for making purchases at stores, but banks aren't exactly charities, so I need to know what kind of commission they're going to hit me with. I saw a few bucks a month for account maintenance, which is fine, but I don't want to be blindsided by a 2% fee for converting Euros to USD or for using the card at checkout. 🙂 Which card would you recommend for someone who will only be making one or two transactions a year—does it even matter?

Susan Ward4 said:We can't even book a hotel online because they don't take American Express.
Some plane tickets too.
Using Amex outside the US sucks.

Sorry, I think you misunderstood me. I meant that whether you get a basic or premium Visa or Mastercard, it’ll run you about 400 dollars. $167.
Just pick one—doesn't matter which—pay the enrollment fee $33, the annual fee $50, and you're all set.

darkraven10 said:I picked up some Euros at $2.50, and since I’m planning on furnishing an apartment, I’ll likely need USD soon. However, I haven't made a final decision yet, and I really want to avoid the hassle of converting them back to USD at $2.50 only to realize I don't need the renovation and have to buy more Euros later if the dollar drops. From what I understand about foreign currency accounts, I'll get a new Visa card that lets me shop based on whatever balance I have available. Is there a limit on how much I can purchase, or does it just depend on my balance? Also, it seems like there aren't fees for depositing cash into a foreign currency account or for making purchases at stores, but banks aren't exactly charities, so I need to know what kind of commission they're going to hit me with. I saw a few bucks a month for account maintenance, which is fine, but I don't want to be blindsided by a 2% fee for converting Euros to USD or for using the card at checkout. 🙂 Which card would you recommend for someone who will only be making one or two transactions a year—does it even matter?

Why a foreign currency checking account? 😕You probably mean a standard foreign currency account, right?
I have a Visa card linked to my foreign currency account, and I've had a Mastercard for the same account before. I didn't use them much, but as I recall, there aren't any extra conversion fees. Everything just goes through at the current market exchange rate.
If that Visa works for you, there's really no point in getting anything else.

Susan Ward4 said:We can't even book a hotel online because they don't take American Express.
Some plane tickets too.
Using Amex outside the US sucks.

Hmm... Most decent airlines take Amex. I just booked through Lufthansa and Southwest Airlines—no issues at all.
If a hotel doesn't take every type of card, I'm not staying there. 🤷
Still, gotta admit, I carry basically every card in existence... just in case. 🙈
If you want to be certain you can pay anywhere, you unfortunately just have to carry a bunch of different ones.
😬

Charles Ramos7 said:Why a foreign currency checking account? 😕You probably mean a standard foreign currency account, right?
I have a Visa card linked to my foreign currency account, and I've had a Mastercard for the same account before. I didn't use them much, but as I recall, there aren't any extra conversion fees. Everything just goes through at the current market exchange rate.
If that Visa works for you, there's really no point in getting anything else.

Yeah, just a standard foreign currency account. I need to get a card based on that account, and apparently, I can't use the ones I already have—I have to request a new one. From what I've heard and read, there shouldn't be any cost involved. There’s some kind of deposit setup (like a charge card tied to a deposit) that costs $40 or $23 a month depending on the package, but I don't need that. Thnx. 👍

Just some first-hand intel—H&M in Denver won't touch an American Express. They’re strictly Visa or Maestro here—I nearly made a total fool of myself 🙈

frozenwalker4 said:Hmm... Most decent airlines take Amex. I just booked through Lufthansa and Southwest Airlines—no issues at all.
If a hotel doesn't take every type of card, I'm not staying there. 🤷
Still, gotta admit, I carry basically every card in existence... just in case. 🙈
If you want to be certain you can pay anywhere, you unfortunately just have to carry a bunch of different ones.
😬

Ryan is a standard airline in this industry, maybe even more well-known than Southwest Airlines, yet they don't take American Express.
Sometimes the issue with hotels isn't that they won't accept certain cards, but that some just don't go through. It probably depends on which bank they’re partnered with.
By the way, you really can't go wrong with Visa or Mastercard; they're much easier to get, too.
Unfortunately, you really do need to have a few different kinds.😢

Steven Reed said:Just some first-hand intel—H&M in Denver won't touch an American Express. They’re strictly Visa or Maestro here—I nearly made a total fool of myself 🙈

Hardly think you would've been embarrassed; everyone carries a Maestro card by default these days. 🙂

but you actually need funds on your Maestro account 🙈 😍

Steven Reed said:Just some first-hand intel—H&M in Denver won't touch an American Express. They’re strictly Visa or Maestro here—I nearly made a total fool of myself 🙈

Nah, you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself. That's just standard procedure. You would've just put back whatever you intended to buy and move on. It isn't on you—it's on H&M in Denver. They're running things like some small-town corner store out in the middle of nowhere.

Steven Reed said:Just some first-hand intel—H&M in Denver won't touch an American Express. They’re strictly Visa or Maestro here—I nearly made a total fool of myself 🙈

Wait, how does that work? I know Gap takes it back home in the States, shouldn't their policy be the same everywhere instead of changing from one city to the next? 🤷

Alright, enough about Gap... let's get back to talking about credit cards...

thanks 😁

Not sure about you guys, but I just heard the most ridiculous thing at Chase... basically, I have one of their credit cards, paid the annual fee $50 last year, and haven't even touched it since because I don't need it. Zero balance, zero debt. Then this recent bill for the annual fee shows up, so I head down to the bank to just cancel the damn thing. The teller tells me she can close it, but only *after* I pay the fee and then cut it up. Wait, what? So the logic is I have to pay for something I'm not even going to use? It’s like if I worked in insurance and a client wanted to switch providers or skip coverage entirely, and I told them they still had to pay me anyway just to leave. Like, seriously? It's not even about the $50... it's the principle of it all. $50

Jason Cooper50 said:Not sure about you guys, but I just heard the most ridiculous thing at Chase... basically, I have one of their credit cards, paid the annual fee $50 last year, and haven't even touched it since because I don't need it. Zero balance, zero debt. Then this recent bill for the annual fee shows up, so I head down to the bank to just cancel the damn thing. The teller tells me she can close it, but only *after* I pay the fee and then cut it up. Wait, what? So the logic is I have to pay for something I'm not even going to use? It’s like if I worked in insurance and a client wanted to switch providers or skip coverage entirely, and I told them they still had to pay me anyway just to leave. Like, seriously? It's not even about the $50... it's the principle of it all. $50

Well, what exactly did you expect from a teller?? When I went into Chase, the lady told me that if I wanted to get a security token that wasn't part of a specific bundle, I had to make a one-time payment of $67 🙂

Maybe try talking to the branch manager and ask them to point out the exact clause in the contract that says you're obligated to pay that...

neonhound10 said:Well, what exactly did you expect from a teller?? When I went into Chase, the lady told me that if I wanted to get a security token that wasn't part of a specific bundle, I had to make a one-time payment of $67 🙂

Maybe try talking to the branch manager and ask them to point out the exact clause in the contract that says you're obligated to pay that...

And it’s not just that. Not trying to derail the thread, but I’m honestly livid... basically, I took out a loan at this same bank and paid it off early, even putting an extra $14 on top of it... that was about a month ago, but things got crazy here and I couldn't make it into the branch to collect the balance. So I went in today for a card issue and asked about it, only for her to tell me I had a single dollar sitting there... they're just holding my money without any explanation. I don't get it, it's ridiculous. And what happens if I don't pick up that dollar since they can't do it at this branch? Am I supposed to end up owing *them* money even though I overpaid? Anyway, rambling, but I had to vent.