best credit card to use when traveling abroad

[bigdadis_girl]

ang hsbc b ok din abroad mastercard?

[depp]

I regret cutting my HSBC card because it had the best rates. I now use Metrobank as rates aren't as bad as what Citibank charges.

[vhanya]

metrobank or bpi for me =)

[Water and Wine]

Any philippine issued international credit card is fine, just make sure you inform the bank that you're going to travel before leaving the country.  Some banks kasi, when you try to use your cc abroad, a note saying "Call Bank" will appear instead of the approval code.  It happened to us so many times, especially with the AIG credit card (now East West Bank, who fortunately doesn't have that issue anymore).  They have different security measures kasi.  In the case of AIG cards, they won't let you use your card unless you inform them prior to your trip.  We've actually argued with them a lot of times about it.

With the other cards, it has then become our habit to inform them the dates and countries we are visiting.  That way, we avoid receiving incoming calls (on roaming) just to confirm if we are really abroad and if we made the purchase (especially for huge amounts).

In most countries now, they give you the option to convert your purchase in pesos right away, and we usually do that because at least we already know the exact amount charged to our card. =)

[marbleslice]

share ko lang mga sis. mas ok nga yata iinform mo yung bank na mag abroad ka and what dates para in case nasa ibang bansa ka, they can closely monitor the transactions and pag nakita nila na nagtransact yung card abroad, they would know na valid. Kakatawag ko lang sa BPI e, mag abroad din ako.

Thanks mga sis at nashare niyo itong tip! 

[Mrs_H]

BDO for me cos may option if Peso or USD

[naughtybrat]

BPi Metrobank and EWB 

[quian]

[textspeak!] hsbc red mastercard ba puwede?

[jenny_syngkit]

BDO maganda ang exchange rate. Citibank in my experience has the highest conversion rate, lugi sobra.

[fibia]

^ sinabi mo pa, sorbang laki ng conversion rate ng citibank. P2 difference!! sobra! php to sgd at that time was like sgd=P34.5, then nung niconvert nila ang ginamit nila was 1sgd=P36.5

as to hsbc parang malapit lang yung conversion nila (hkd=php). bpi maayos din (usd=php)

[melodymedley]

Question: How do you inform your bank? Particularly BPI? I will just call 89-100??

[Water and Wine]

^^ Yes just call the hotline and give them the dates and cities you're visiting =)

[moonstar_004]

in my experience, hindi pareho lang ang charges ng citibank and bpi. the difference is negligible siguro if you're spending a small amount lang, but like before, when i purchased a mulberry bag, i made a mistake in using my citibank card. more than P2 difference when i compared it to my other charges with my bpi card. i'm talking about US dollar here.

with SGD naman, comparing my purchases this past weekend, bpi's conversion was 35.73 while citibank's conversion was 36.44. small difference, but again, if you'll be charging a big amount to your card, malaki din yung magiging difference in peso. i just used my citibank that time kasi we'll get a freebie with our meal if that's the card i use.

[fibia]

^agree with that. Pag malakihang pyrchase abroad mararamdaman mo talaga yung taas ng conversion ng citibank. Lesson learned: dont use my citibank abroad hehe

[foruiz]

Its BPI MC for me....I think the rates are ok..

[gorgeousmama]

do you have to notify  bpi , if your using it abroad, coz in my case i did not inform them since international naman yung cc ko

yup mganda nga ang  bpi card when it comes to dollar conversion,mas mababa nga kasi i charged my airplane fare through mastercard when i purchased it online going to Malaysia and yun nga mababa conversion

 

[vhanya]

^ i do not. since i travel abroad almost every 3months, alam na ng bank yung history ng card ko.

[gorgeousmama]

ngtaka lang ako why you have to inform the bank kasi as far as i know if international naman ang cc mo you dont have to notify the bank

yun nga in my case di na ko ngsabi sa bank since yung bpi mastercard ko is international and local card 

[Water and Wine]

^^ that was my argument with AIG Credit Card before.  I asked them what's the point of issuing an international credit card if I have to notify them every time I leave the country.  I was so annoyed that time because the message "Call bank" appears everytime I use the card.  That's their security measure daw talaga.   

With other credit cards I never had problems like that, especially BPI.  They don't even confirm transactions.  Same with vhanya, we travel almost every month.

Except for RCBC Bankard and Metrobank, who calls my mobile phone/send an SMS and ask for a confirmation every time I make big purchases.  That's why I call them beforehand especially when going to countries with ridiculous roaming charges (hehe). 

[moonstar_004]

ako din i've never informed my bank if i plan to use my card abroad.