Despite environmental factors, supposedly warmer British summers and the rising cost of mortgages, many of us will still travel abroad for our holidays this summer. If you do, then be sure to have the best credit card for your needs.

Be aware that nearly all credit card providers charge an additional fee if you use the card overseas, or if you use it to buy goods or services from foreign websites. This fee is called is ‘overseas–usage fee’ or a ‘foreign currency loading’, and it can increase the cost of foreign purchases by 3%. So, if you spent £1,000 on your card on holiday, you would pay an extra £30 to the card provider.

The worst is the buy and fly! Mastercard from Goldfish/ Morgan Stanley with a 3% charge. It may be no surprise that the card’s name appears to encourage you to go abroad where you can spend more and make more money for them!

Loads of cards charge this fee at a rate of 2.75%, including AA, Alliance & Leicester, Bank of Scotland, Barclaycard, Capital One, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Marks & Spencer, MBNA, NatWest, Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tesco and Virgin Money.

Slightly better are this range of cards:
American Express, including BMW/Mini, British Airways and Nectar (all Amex branded) at 2.73%.
Egg has a charge of 2.65%.
These have a fee of 2.5%: Clydesdale bank, Hoare & Co, Yorkshire Bank.
Leeds Building Society has a fee of 2%.

There are some cards that have no charge for overseas of foreign website usage. Nationwide Building Society and the Post Office are the best bets. The i24 from Goldfish/ Morgan Stanley has no overseas–usage fee, but does have an annual fee of £275.

The Saga Visa card only charges 1%. Liverpool Victoria friendly society’s cards (CSMA, Liverpool Victoria and Saga Visa) have no usage fee for any spending in EU countries.