What's in your wallet?

Regardless of the trip, I always bring the following: 

• 2 debit cards
• 2 credit cards
• 2 forms of international ID (passport + global entry card) 
• License
• Priority pass card
• 2+ copies of the passport page, global entry card, and license
• $100 in small US bills  

YES! A good card these days has 1) No international fees and 2) ATM Fee reimbursement 3) Zero balance. 

Why? You want to land at your destination with little cash, walk up to the first ATM you see and withdraw however much you need for a couple days. You avoid the risk of carrying lots of cash, losing money on the exchange rate, or exchanging too much cash and being stuck with excess foreign currency at the end of your trip. 

My go-to debit card is the Schwab Investor Checking Debit Card. Zero balance, no international fees, and all ATM fees are reimbursed. I've sometimes been credited $50+ in ATM fees. 

My backup card is the Capital One 360 card. Zero balance, no international fees, lots of free ATMs, but ATMs not within their network will cost you.  

For more, The Points Guy has a great writeup on checking account comparisons. 

Much has been written about this topic, particularly by The Points Guy. So check out their detailed analysis (Photo credit: The Points Guy).  

For years I scoffed and resisted getting a premium credit card because of the annual fee. What am I made of, oil money? Then I discovered that those cards usually come with a Priority Pass membership, which is the second best thing since sliced bread. 

A Priority Pass membership gives you free access to airport lounges within the network around the globe. Most of the time this means at least 1 lounge option, especially if flying international. The lounges are stocked with food, drinks, and a more comfortable quiet atmosphere. Actual mileage varies depending on the lounge and the clientele, but generally I've never walked out of a lounge ahead of schedule because being amongst the huddled germy masses with sniffly children was more appealing. 

For several years I was a loyal holder of the Chase Sapphire Reserve. But Chase decided to increase the fee and add very questionable benefits like a Peloton discount (Cycle in place? With a wedgie? For fun? No).  

Capital One decided to get in on the premium travel card action, undercutting the fees and offering the same benefits on their new Venture X card and I jumped ship. Here was the analysis by The Points Guy that convinced me to change.  

A few of the reasons I am bullish on the value of the Venture X card: 

• $300 annual travel statement credit - this bring down the card fee effectively to $95
• Priority Pass membership - you deserve to not feel like cattle class for even a brief hour before the flight
• Sign up bonus - when I signed up I got a 100,000 mile signup bonus, essentially $1,000
• 10,000 bonus miles on every anniversary - that's the equivalent of $100 in flight credits 
• Free authorized users (+ their own priority pass membership)
• Travel & rental car insurance - all travel purchases made on the card are covered by the built in travel insurance

A few other perks I've found: 

• The capital one travel center is actually pretty decent and user friendly, and flight purchases get 5x miles (all other purchases earn 2x miles)
• All flights purchased come with automatic price drop protection - if the price drops, they will automatically refund you the difference. 
• All flights purchased also have price match protection - if you find a cheaper price elsewhere, call them and submit a claim. I recently got $40 back when I found the same exact fare on a sketchy travel agent website. I booked the flight on the portal, then called them and reported the other fare, receiving the credit on my account a few days later 

You may notice I made no mention of the AMEX cards, like the Platinum card that gets you into all those oh-so-sweet Delta lounges. That's because I've found AMEX to not be as universally accepted abroad for purchases, which I find frustrating. However if most of your travel is domestic, that card may be your better value, though with the steep annual fee and confusing benefits thresholds you'll really have to do some math to ensure you're getting enough value.