Capital One Credit Card Recommendation

[OnMyWay]

Several have posted positively about Capital One Credit Cards and I wanted to share my positive recent experience.   It is not often we can have something positive to say about credit card companies or big banks.  I put this under exchanging money because that is a great benefit of the card and it is important to all expats.

 

Capital One Mastercard continues to give me a great exchange rate on purchases I make in the Philippines.  I am going to use it when possible for larger purchases, as it is the most cost effective way to exchange USD for a purchase.  I am going to be buying a lot of furniture soon so I hope I can use the card for some purchases.  Of course, it has limited acceptance here, but many major stores are accepting credit cards now.

 

Yesterday I purchased a Uratex mattress at their outlet in Manila, and the Cap One exchange rate was 40.53.  The exchange rate on XE.com was only 40.52.   Capital One does not charge any other transaction fees such as a foreign transaction fee.

 

Key points:

 

-  It is a Rewards card so I get points for purchases.  They did reduce the way you accumulate a few years ago but it is still not bad.

-  I pay $19 a year currently for the annual fee.

-  The interest rate on the card is 13.99%, but that does not matter to me because I always pay it off every month.

-  You get the float when you use it.  I do not have to pay for the mentioned mattress until May 6th.

 

  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

[MikeB]

I have had Cap 1 cards for years. I'm not paying an annual fee for the credit card, it depends on the deal they were offering when you signed up. My opinion of them is not as high as it was because their online banking website was down for about 2 weeks after some upgrade. I am finally able to access since 2 days ago. Some very angry people - http://www.isitdownrightnow.com/capitalone.com.html

[Call me bubba]

and the Cap One exchange rate was 40.53

 

the exchange rate is set my MASTERCARD not CAPITAL ONE.

if i am wrong i please correct me,

but this has been based 1. contacted the master card assist "CUSTOMER service

2.over 13yrs experience using my CC outside/away from the USA and from my usage of USAA credit card

yes I do pay a 1% fee(standard by most banks if not higher),,

 

off topic

USAA online services rarely has it been down or issues using it, and they have mailed me my "new" cards where-ever I have been .low apr 7.75%. yes i do not always pay in full so this has been helpful.

No ANNUAL FEE either

Edited March 16, 2013 by Pittman apartments Sgn

[Mike S]

I also use Capital One but I believe the bank exchange rate for mine is the rate charged by the bank doing the clearing here in the Phils (think it is BDO but could be wrong) but I am charged a fee for foreign transactions .... not sure just what the rate is but my last one was for $9.75 ..... I don't use it that much and only buy stuff to keep it active .... and because of that they dropped my limit from $20,000 to $5000 ..... :hystery: :hystery: ...... but then my purchases never go over $200-300 so I guess it's fair and I pay them off with-in 7 days of when they appear on line .... :cheersty:

[OnMyWay]

I believe Pittman is correct in that Mastercard sets the exchange rate.  I always forget that but I am happy with it either way.

 

That is strange about the website.  I never knew.  I scheduled my bill payment online about a week ago.  However, I may have experienced the problem but wrote it off as an internet connection problem because my internet is so bad!

[earthdome]

I use my Capital One MC a great deal. The FX rate is good and Capital One doesn't charge any extra fees. I check my account online at least once a week and use online bill paying. I have never had a problem using their website. There are no annual fees with my card and I always pay it in full each month.

 

Once in the last 3 months I had a charge denied, it may have been the dollar amount when I bought the air conditioner. I had to use my fallback credit card (VISA) and got hit with a 2% transaction fee of $8 USD on a $400 USD purchase.

 

Overall I have been very pleased with the Capital One card and it is my first card of choice to use outside the USA.

[Mike S]

Once in the last 3 months I had a charge denied

 

I've had purchases denied by them in the past but do to my 90 day overseas security deadline being longer than 90 days .... I have to renew my trip extension every 90 days or they will freeze my account ..... until recently I had to call them every 90 days and renew my extension ..... which by the way I had to call the US only to be transferred back to a Philippine call center .... mostly Manila and Cebu ..... the last time I called the young man in Cebu asked why I didn't use the on-line extension feature in my on-line account .... he said it is very easy to do ..... so this time I'm gonna try it ..... you just have to be sure and cancel the old extension before it expires and enter your new date ..... sure will make it a heap easier .... :dance: :thumbsup:      :cheersty:

[earthdome]

Once in the last 3 months I had a charge denied

 

I've had purchases denied by them in the past but do to my 90 day overseas security deadline being longer than 90 days .... I have to renew my trip extension every 90 days or they will freeze my account ..... until recently I had to call them every 90 days and renew my extension ..... which by the way I had to call the US only to be transferred back to a Philippine call center .... mostly Manila and Cebu ..... the last time I called the young man in Cebu asked why I didn't use the on-line extension feature in my on-line account .... he said it is very easy to do ..... so this time I'm gonna try it ..... you just have to be sure and cancel the old extension before it expires and enter your new date ..... sure will make it a heap easier .... :dance: :thumbsup:      :cheersty:

 

I have been able to extend my international travel notification using the Capital One website.

[OnMyWay]

Once in the last 3 months I had a charge denied

 

I've had purchases denied by them in the past but do to my 90 day overseas security deadline being longer than 90 days .... I have to renew my trip extension every 90 days or they will freeze my account ..... until recently I had to call them every 90 days and renew my extension ..... which by the way I had to call the US only to be transferred back to a Philippine call center .... mostly Manila and Cebu ..... the last time I called the young man in Cebu asked why I didn't use the on-line extension feature in my on-line account .... he said it is very easy to do ..... so this time I'm gonna try it ..... you just have to be sure and cancel the old extension before it expires and enter your new date ..... sure will make it a heap easier .... :dance: :thumbsup:      :cheersty:

 

Yup, I do it online and you reminded me that I needed to renew it, so I just did.  It had expired and I'm surprised that my mattress purchase went through because they are quick to flag for fraud.

 

Mike S., they only allow me 60 days online.  Let me know if you have a different experience.

[MikeB]

I don't have the online option to set the travel notification, they must have me in a different User Group.