What is the best credit card for foreign FX spending when someone else is paying?

We write a lot on Head for Points about ways to minimise the 2.99% foreign exchange fee added to most credit and debit card transactions outside the UK.

For personal travel you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.  There are no travel rewards credit cards without a foreign exchange fee globally, although the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are fee-free in the Eurozone.

Another loyalty option for personal use is the new (2024) Hilton Honors debit cards. These charge either a 0.5% FX fee (83% less than most credit cards charge) or 0% FX fee depending on which one you take. You will also earn Hilton Honors points and, depending on the card, receive Silver or Gold status in Hilton Honors. You can find out more about the two Hilton Honors debit cards here and apply here.

If you have a Limited Company, you DO have a credit card which has 0% FX fees, no annual fee and earns 1 Avios per £1 – the Capital on Tap Visa. Our review is here.

You may choose to act differently when travelling for work

When you are travelling for work, however, your credit card bills will be reimbursed by your employer.  There is no incentive for you to get a separate 0% foreign exchange fee card.

I won’t focus on credit card spend bonuses here because those don’t change whether you are spending in the UK or abroad.  I just want to look at cards which increase your earning rate for FX transactions.

Here are your two options for reward cards which have extra bonuses for foreign spending but in return add on an FX fee of around 3%.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold offers double points when you spend abroad, which means 2 Membership Rewards points per £1.

This translates into two Avios or other airline miles, four Hilton Honors points, three Marriott Bonvoy points or six Radisson Rewards points amongst other things.  The card is free for the first year.

Interesting, The Platinum Card from American Express – which has a £650 annual fee – does not offer this benefit.

FX spend may also help you trigger another Amex Gold benefit. You receive 2,500 bonus Membership Rewards points for every cumulative £5,000 you spend, up to a maximum of 12,500 bonus points per year.

This means that a £5,000 spend in a foreign currency would earn 12,500 Membership Rewards points. This is made up of 5,000 base points, 5,000 FX spend bonus points and a 2,500 points bonus for hitting another £5,000 milestone.

Our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review is here. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers.  T&C apply, 18+, subject to status. Click here to apply.

HSBC Premier and HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercards

The two HSBC Premier cards offers bonus points when spending abroad.

On the free card, you are earning 2 HSBC points per £1 on overseas spend. This is worth 1 Avios or other airline mile instead of the standard 0.5 Avios or other miles per £1.

On the World Elite card, which has a £290 annual fee, you would be earning 4 HSBC points per £1 on overseas spend. This means you are getting 2 Avios or other airline miles instead of the standard 1.5 Avios or other miles per £1.

You must have a HSBC Premier current account to apply for either of these cards, which has strict eligibility criteria. HSBC Premier is free, however, so if you do meet the income criteria it isn’t a bad option for your day to day banking and is (just) a step ahead of your average current account.

Our HSBC Premier credit card review is here and our HSBC Premier World Elite card review is here. You can apply here.

Conclusion

As you can see there are a couple of good options here that can get you a return of around 2% on your non-Sterling spending. This assumes that you value an Avios or airline mile at 1p.

That is less than the 3% foreign fee you are incurring, of course, which is why these are not attractive cards for personal spending outside the UK. Save them for business expenditure.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review