Best cards to use while traveling as a Canadian + bonus card safety tips

TL;DR at the end

I've been traveling outside of Canada full-time on and off for the past 11 years and wanted to share (what I believe) to be the best cards, both debit and credit, for international travel.

Note: these are not necessarily cards that will earn you points to be able to travel, but rather, are cards that are the best to use while traveling because they have 0 FX fees and/or other good travel perks. However, if you're looking to earn more points to be able to travel, then the best way to do that is to get into churning.

DEBIT

For me, it's the Wealthsimple Cash card (with the EQ Bank card as a second and the Wise card as a third). Although not technically a debit card (it's a prepaid Mastercard), it essentially acts as one for the purpose of traveling as it lets you withdraw cash from ATMs from your existing balance.

Why do you want to withdraw cash when you travel? Well, it depends on where you're traveling to because some countries are fairly cash-free now, but if you're traveling to a place that isn't or you just want to have some cash on hand just in case, then withdrawing it from ATMs when you're in your destination is the best way to avoid unnecessary fees.

Buying cash from your bank before you leave? Bad rates. Exchanging CAD at an exchange office? Bad rates. Withdrawing cash from ATMs is the ideal way you should be getting cash provided that you find ATMs with low withdrawal fees (use the ATM Fee Saver app for that) and ALWAYS reject/decline the conversion it offers you so that Mastercard does the conversion instead (this is where most people get burned).

Now what's great about the Wealthsimple Cash card (compared to other Canadian debit cards) is that you don't get charged a foreign conversion fee, foreign ATM withdrawal fee, or any monthly/yearly account fees. There are other cards out there with similar offerings (like EQ Bank & Wise for example), but the others either charge foreign conversion fees (like Wise does, albeit modest ones + Wise also has limited withdrawal limits which kinda sucks), or offer lower interest rates on your balance & lower cashback on purchases (like EQ Bank).

Be sure to create more than one Cash account and keep the majority of your money in one that's not connected to your Cash card in case it ever gets stolen or skimmed. This way, you only lose a couple hundred if anything VS a couple thousand. Also recommend getting an EQ Bank card anyway as a backup in case that does happen. Easy to instantly fund both accounts with e-transfers whenever needed.

Also, it's not a bad idea to have a Wise account as well in case you make international friends and need to send them money at any point. Wise has the lowest fees for transferring money to other people so that's a good reason to open an account with them. You can also have multiple different currencies in your account and receive transfers from multiple different countries for free too.

CREDIT

For credit, you have a few options. The best one right now is the Scotiabank Gold American Express. Although their terms state the point multiplier bonuses only apply within Canada, since Oct 2024 many people have been reporting to get the multipliers abroad as well meaning you can earn some good rewards (up to 5% on your purchases abroad). You can also easily redeem your points against travel purchases or do the refundable hotel trick to get cashback instead.

It's a 0 FX card and the first year is free too so it's a no-brainer. And if you want to avoid paying the annual fee for the 2nd year, just cancel the card after 11 months and apply for a new one so you get the first year free again. You'd also get the welcome bonus again by doing this so definitely take advantage of that (again, terms state one thing, but user experience is another).

And speaking of the welcome bonus, they got a good one going on right now where you can get $250 worth of points for spending 1k in 3 months, then another $200 for spending another 6.5k in 12 months so hop on it because it expires Jan 6th.

Now another good card to consider is the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite. This card comes with 6 airport lounge passes (12 if you add a supplementary card for free like I did since Visa Airport Companion registers the supplementary card as a totally different credit card) and 0 FX fees. You can also earn 1-2% back in points on your purchases with it while abroad.

However, I recommend holding out on getting this card until they offer the first year free again because otherwise you're just dropping $150 on 12 lounge passes (which isn't the worst deal tbh, but might as well wait until you can get them for free). The current welcome bonus offering also isn't the best either so best to hold out for now.

There is also one completely free credit card option to consider: the Home Trust Preferred Visa. This card also doesn't charge any foreign conversion fees, but the only problem with the card is that it doesn't have an app or any modern security features (see last section). It also doesn't really offer any cashback options while abroad.

Alternatively, you could also simply use your Wealthsimple Cash (1% cashback), EQ Bank card (0.5% cashback), or Wise card (0% cashback) for foreign currency card purchases in addition to withdrawing cash and avoid having a credit card altogether, but you'd lose out on the insurances and purchase protections that credit cards offer, namely the opportunity to get your money back in case of fraud.

That doesn't mean you can't get it back with a prepaid card (I've actually done so in the past with Wise), but there's just a higher risk involved since it's your own money you're losing if someone malicious ends up getting a hold of it. Better to keep your withdrawals on the prepaid card and your purchases on the credit card as a rule of thumb.

Note: the same trick that foreign ATMs will pull with regards to offering to convert the transaction for you at a higher rate is often pulled by merchant payment terminals as well so keep an eye out for that too when buying something or paying a bill with your card. ALWAYS pay in the the local currency, never in CAD.

CARD SAFETY

Some people will say to simply never use your card while abroad (unless it's to withdraw cash) and to only make payments in cash to avoid any potential issues, but I'm personally not a fan of carrying that much cash on me + I like collecting cashback/points + I take the following security precautions to prevent getting scammed anyway:

~ When using an ATM, give the card slot a tug. If it seems loose or comes off, you're dealing with an ATM skimmer. Avoid that ATM and find another one.

~ Keep your card locked when not in use. Most banks (including Wealthsimple, EQ, Wise, & Scotiabank - not sure about Home Trust) offer the ability to instantly lock and unlock your card as long as you're connected to the internet so make use of it. This prevents anyone who may have skimmed or found/stolen your card from actually using it for anything.

Note: this requires you to have an internet connection on your phone. In the past, this used to be more complicated since it meant either paying expensive roaming fees or figuring out how to get a local SIM card, but these days it's much easier since you can just buy and install a cheap data-only eSIM (provided your phone is compatible with them) in minutes before your trip which gives you internet access while traveling. Check esimdb.com to compare your options.

~ Always double check the payment terminal amount before inputting your PIN and approving the transaction to make sure the correct amount was entered. Watch for taxi drivers and other shady characters who might try to hide or cover it in front of you.

~ Consider adding your cards to your mobile wallet instead of carrying them in your pocket, safer in case you get robbed since they are impossible to skim or copy that way.

~ Assuming you have internet access while traveling, another good feature to make use of is instant alerts sent from your bank in the form of a push notification, text, or email anytime your card is used. Most banks (including all the ones mentioned in this post) offer this feature as well so be sure to have it activated as it will notify you instantly if your card has been comprimised as well as whether a merchant has pulled any funny business when you make a payment since you can instantly see how much you were charged in that notification/text/email and/or in your banking app and address it with them in person in real time.

~ If you do notice that you were overcharged in that notification/text/email, then be sure to ask for your copy of the receipt so that you can dispute it later as needed. You could also simply get into the habit of always asking for the receipt after every card payment anyway, but if you use the instant alert strategy above and double check every transaction you make, you don't really need receipts unless you get overcharged.

~ If you want to be extra safe (and your bank has this feature, I only know of Wise offering it out of the banks mentioned in this post), set a transaction limit for your card too. This prevents any potential fraud since the transaction would be declined before it has any chance of going through thanks to the limit you set for that card.

That's all I can think of right now, hopefully this post was useful to someone about to travel! One bonus tip for Wealthsimple, EQ, & Wise is to use a friend's invite code (or mine if you want, just reach out) so that you get a sign-up bonus when you create an account.

TL;DR - Wealthsimple Cash card for ATM withdrawals (& purchases if you don't want to get a credit card), Scotiabank Gold American Express (or Home Trust Preferred Visa if you don't want to pay an annual fee) for credit card purchases, and Wise for international transfers.

Bonus credit card tip: if you often fly with Air Canada, then another good credit card to get is the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite which gives you free checked bags on Air Canada flights, handy now that they're going to start charging for carry-ons in January. It does charge a 2.5% FX fee so I wouldn't recommend it for purchases while abroad, but you could keep it for the checked bag perk (and NEXUS rebate), utilizing the 11 month trick to never pay the annual fee since the first year is free. Its welcome bonus is also pretty decent too (if you've never had an intermediate tier Aeroplan card before).

Edit: looks like Wealthsimple is launching a new 0 FX credit card in Q1 of 2025 that gives 2% on everything and has no annual fee if you're a premium client (or get a monthly 2k direct deposit to your account), otherwise it's $10 a month. Not sure if it's worth a $120 annual fee, but if you got 100k in the bank or get 2k direct deposits, could be worth it for sure.