The explicit promise: what Chase advertises
Chase’s marketing message for several travel-branded cards is brief and literal: “No foreign transaction fees.” That phrase appears on Chase’s product pages for travel cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and on a consolidated Chase landing page for credit cards that carry the benefit. Chase — No foreign transaction fee credit cards, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve.
That marketing line is not the entire story. The account and deposit documentation that governs debit activity and ATM use contains different language and explicit fee figures that can apply when transactions are initiated in a non-U.S. currency. Chase’s deposit materials list a “Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment” equal to 3% of the converted withdrawal amount for ATM withdrawals and similar transactions not denominated in U.S. dollars. See Chase’s public fee documents for specifics: Chase Additional Banking Services and Fees (PDF), Chase Total Checking guide (PDF).
Why two cards at the same merchant can post different totals
A cross-border charge typically breaks into two components:
- a currency conversion step that converts the merchant price into U.S. dollars using a network or acquirer rate, and
- one or more surcharge steps added by intermediaries (the card issuer, the ATM owner, or a merchant’s conversion service).
Visa’s consumer guidance on dynamic currency conversion (DCC) explains the consumer choice at the point of sale: “you may receive the option to pay in your home currency, which includes exchange rate and additional fees.” That sentence captures the risk: accept the merchant’s converted price and the merchant’s provider sets the rate and any markup; decline it and the card network/issuer conversion applies instead. Visa — Dynamic Currency Conversion.
Mastercard’s DCC guidance similarly treats the merchant/offered conversion as a separate layer that can include additional fees and prescribes disclosure requirements to merchants and acquirers. The practical implication for consumers is consistent: the conversion source matters as much as whether the issuer charges a foreign-transaction fee. Mastercard — DCC Performance Guide (PDF).
How big are the usual foreign-transaction charges?
Industry consumer guides and issuer education pages converge on a commonly reported range: foreign transaction fees typically fall between 1% and 3% of the transaction amount. Bankrate’s consumer guide states that “Foreign transaction fees generally range from 1 percent to 3 percent and tend to average around 3 percent of each transaction.” Investopedia’s reference entry reports a similar typical range. Those percentages describe issuer or processor surcharges that appear after conversion and can meaningfully increase the cost of purchases made overseas or from foreign merchants. Bankrate — A Guide to Foreign Transaction Fees, Investopedia — Foreign transaction fee.
By contrast, the travel-branded Chase credit cards that show “No foreign transaction fees” do not levy that post-conversion surcharge on card purchases. But cardholders still face potential markups in two circumstances: ATM withdrawals using Chase debit cards or accepting DCC at merchants. Chase’s published checking and deposit guides show that ATM withdrawals at non-Chase ATMs outside the U.S. carry a $5 out-of-network fee and that the Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment of 3% may also apply. Chase — Sapphire Checking — fees, Chase fee PDFs.
Practical numeric comparisons
To illustrate how the pieces stack up, consider three scenarios for the same €100 charge when the network conversion yields a $110 equivalent:
- If an issuer applies a 3% foreign-transaction fee after conversion, the posted amount becomes $110 + $3.30 = $113.30. This represents a conventional issuer surcharge. Bankrate.
- If a merchant offers DCC and uses a marked-up rate that effectively raises the USD equivalent to $118 before any issuer surcharge, the posted amount is $118 — and an issuer that does charge a foreign-transaction fee would add its percentage on top of that; if the card has no foreign transaction fee, the $118 still reflects the merchant markup. Visa and Mastercard guidance warn that DCC “includes exchange rate and additional fees.” Visa — DCC guidance, Mastercard — DCC guide.
- For ATM cash, an account subject to Chase’s published schedule may carry a $5 non-Chase ATM withdrawal fee plus a 3% Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment on the converted amount. On a €100 withdrawal that converts to $110, the 3% adjustment is $3.30 plus the $5 ATM non-Chase fee, producing $118.30 total debited and possibly additional ATM-owner surcharges. Chase Total Checking guide (PDF), Chase Additional Banking Services and Fees (PDF).
Those examples show why card selection and checkout behavior can change the final consumer cost by several percentage points.
Rules of thumb for minimizing expense
A small set of behaviors and product choices eliminates or reduces the main sources of incremental cost:
- Use a Chase credit card that explicitly displays “No foreign transaction fees” for purchases; these cards remove the issuer surcharge on purchases denominated in foreign currency. Chase lists those cards on a dedicated page and labels Sapphire products with the same wording. Chase — no foreign transaction fee cards, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve.
- Never accept merchant currency conversion options (DCC). Visa’s consumer guidance states that accepting the merchant’s home-currency option “includes exchange rate and additional fees.” Decline the conversion and pay in the local currency so the network conversion applies. Visa — DCC guidance, Mastercard — DCC guide.
- For cash needs, avoid using a standard Chase debit card at non-Chase ATMs abroad unless the account specifically waives ATM fees; Chase’s checking materials list $5 per withdrawal outside the U.S. for non-Chase ATMs and a 3% Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment on non-USD withdrawals. Chase — Sapphire Checking — fees, Chase fee PDFs.
- Consolidate withdrawals to reduce fixed per-transaction fees. Fewer, larger ATM withdrawals reduce the relative impact of a fixed $3–$5 ATM charge. Consumer advisors recommend balancing cash availability against fees. Bankrate.
- Consider a travel-oriented checking or debit product (including specialist fintech multisystem accounts) that reimburses ATM fees or uses more favorable exchange margins; third-party comparisons and travel-fintech guides document material savings for heavy users of cross-border cash. Wise — guide.
These steps remove the main exposures that produce Chase card overseas charges and reduce the practical impact of Chase currency conversion fee practices.
How to compare Chase card overseas charges before a trip
A short checklist reduces ambiguity when comparing cards:
- Confirm whether the card’s product page states “No foreign transaction fees.” If it does not, consult the cardmember agreement for precise language and any exceptions. Chase product list.
- For debit accounts, open the deposit-account fee PDF and search for “Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment” and for “ATM fees at non-Chase ATMs.” That wording contains the concrete percentages and fixed fees that matter. Chase’s published PDFs carry the precise phrasing. Chase fee PDF, Chase Total Checking guide.
- Evaluate likely spend and ATM needs. A consumer spending $5,000 in foreign purchases at a 3% foreign transaction fee would pay $150 in extra fees; by contrast, a card with no foreign transaction fee would remove that surcharge entirely. Use published product language to estimate savings. Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Consumer-facing warnings from industry experts
Travel commentators have emphasized the DCC trap for years. The Points Guy and other travel experts have documented examples where accepting merchant-offered conversion produced a worse out-of-pocket result than letting the card convert at the network rate. That anecdotal reporting mirrors official network warnings that merchant conversions “include exchange rate and additional fees.” The Points Guy — Avoid dynamic currency conversion, Visa — DCC guidance.
Final Considerations
Chase card products separate clearly on the issuer fee question: several branded travel cards carry Chase no foreign transaction fee protections for purchases, while deposit-linked products can impose both fixed non-Chase ATM fees and a 3% Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment. For travelers and international buyers the cheapest path is a combination of a no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card for point-of-sale purchases plus a careful ATM strategy that avoids DCC and minimizes non-Chase ATM usage. Compare published Chase product pages and the deposit-account fee PDFs before travel, decline merchant currency conversions at the point of sale, and use consolidated cash withdrawals only when necessary to reduce the aggregate cost of Chase ATM fees abroad and conversion adjustments. Chase — No foreign transaction fee cards, Chase fee PDFs, Visa — DCC.
Key sources cited: Chase product pages and deposit PDFs (Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve and Additional Banking Services and Fees), Visa dynamic currency conversion guidance, Mastercard DCC performance guide, Bankrate and Investopedia consumer guides, The Points Guy coverage, and Wise’s consumer guide. Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Additional Banking Services and Fees (PDF), Chase Total Checking guide (PDF), Visa — Dynamic Currency Conversion, Mastercard — DCC guide (PDF), Bankrate, Investopedia, The Points Guy, Wise.