Charges for using cards abroad?

[katealpha]

Call me old-fashioned but I seem to remember being able to use my debit and credit cards abroad to get local currency from cash machines and also pay for items without excessive charges. Am I imagining this?

However, my most recent holiday (just got back last week) I discovered that my credit card (Morgan Stanley) was charging a 3% transaction fee on any transactions outside the country, and my bank debit card charging £1 per transaction plus 2.5% .

The saviour of the situation was having a Nationwide account, with the charges on foreign transactions being nil so I put my holiday money in here and have had a great holiday but having spent near on £2,000 while we were away (hotels, car hire, petrol, meals and drinks out etc etc), if I'd had to pay 3% on that, it would have been another £60 - so £60 just for using my card abroad! Not happy about this and thinking of ditching my credit card now.

Anyone know what their credit card charges? I'd like to get a card with no fees on foreign transactions.

[Tony]

I am pretty sure you won't be able to find a credit card with zero transaction fees for foreign withdrawals. Compare Virgin, Halifax & Tesco credit card interest rates | moneysupermarket UK

The best option would be to use a debit card such as the one provided by Nationwide or exchange cash as Catriona recommends in her guide to holiday cash - Getting Holiday Cash Without Paying a Fortune | Consumer Information