Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards in Canada for 2021

With a generous rewards rate of 5 points per dollar on gas, groceries, restaurants and entertainment, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card will help make your travel plans a reality. Plus, with a flexible points program, you can book you flights on your own schedule.

• Generous sign-up bonus -The Scotiabank Gold American Express® offers a way for new cardholders to quickly stockpile points. It lets you earn up to 50,000 bonus Scotia Rewards points in your first year (that’s up to $500 towards travel) Plus, no annual fee in the first year, including on supplementary cards.  
• Flexible redemption options - With the Scotia Rewards Program, you can book your travel with any airline or hotel through its full-service travel agency. You can use your points to cover the whole cost of the trip, including taxes and fees, or combine your points and a charge to your card. Points can also be used to book hotels and rental cars.
• Travel convenience - Added features such as rental car discounts and hotel room upgrades are designed to make travel as convenient and comfortable as possible.
• Additional protection - This Amex credit card provides has one of the most comprehensive travel protection benefits with insurance against flight delays and lost baggage even insurance against burglaries.

With a generous rewards rate of 5 points per dollar on gas, groceries, restaurants and entertainment, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card will help make your travel plans a reality. Plus, with a flexible points program, you can book you flights on your own schedule.Excellent credit card with 7 types of travel coverage and great reward earn rates.

• Generous sign-up bonus -The Scotiabank Gold American Express offers a way for new cardholders to quickly stockpile points. It lets you earn 50,000 bonus points in your first year. 
• Flexible redemption options - With the Scotia Rewards Program, you can book your travel with any airline or hotel through its full-service travel agency. You can use your points to cover the whole cost of the trip, including taxes and fees, or combine your points and a charge to your card. Points can also be used to book hotels and rental cars.
• Travel convenience - Added features such as rental car discounts and hotel room upgrades are designed to make travel as convenient and comfortable as possible.
• Additional protection - This Amex credit card provides has one of the most comprehensive travel protection benefits with insurance against flight delays and lost baggage even insurance against burglaries.

With no foreign transaction fee and no annual fee in one credit card, what’s not to like about the Home Trust Preferred Visa? And because this is a no fee credit card, all benefits come free.

Why We Like It:

• No annual fee – You can try it for free.

• No foreign exchange fees – 0% foreign currency conversion charge when shopping abroad. It’s perfect for online and cross-border purchases – saving you 2.5% of the total cost.

• 1% Cash back rewards – Regardless of the category, this credit card gives 1% cash back on all eligible purchases. The total cash back balance is credited to your account at the start of each year.

One of the most attractive features of the Home Trust Preferred Visa is the cash back rewards. Cash can be earned on all eligible purchases and there is no limit on how much cash you can earn. Your rewards are paid as a credit to your credit card statement annually (every January).

In addition to the lucrative cash back rewards, there is no annual fee for this card. There are also secondary benefits that card holders are eligible for including no foreign exchange fees.

The most notable of this list is the lack of foreign exchange fees. If you’re an avid traveler or do a lot of online shopping in foreign currencies, the Home Trust Preferred Visa is an excellent choice. Foreign transaction fees might seem like nothing, but they add up, especially when you factor in foreign exchange rates. 

Not only is the Home Trust Preferred Visa great from a financial aspect, the bank itself has stellar ideals and makes it their mission to cater to their customers. They aim to provide financial services to individuals who don’t have a typical credit background and can’t reach their financial goals with traditional banks. 

There are some drawbacks to using this credit card and working with Home Trust. For one, this card is not accessible in Quebec. In addition, the amount of transactions the cardholder can incur per day is ten. Most credit card users won’t exceed this limit, but it’s a hassle to always have it on your mind. The card also does not allow for tap payments and customer service is not available 24/7, only during business hours.

Overall, the Home Trust Preferred Visa is a phenomenal choice. If you’re an individual who travels a lot, this card is especially beneficial considering how rare no foreign transaction fees are in combination with no annual fee. Home Trust is a small, yet effective, bank that delivers to their customers. 

This credit card has a close cousin which is the Home Trust Secured Visa.To get more information read our review on the Home Trust Secured Visa.

Earn 3% in travel rewards on all eligible travel purchases(6 Points per $1) and 1.5% in travel rewards on all other eligible purchases(3 Points per $1).

This card comes with no foreign transaction fees, 31-day emergency travel medical insurance coverage, a 10% discount on hotel bookings, unlimited Wifi through Boingo, extended warranty, purchase assurance, and $100 travel enhancement credit.

The HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® is a modern rewards card that is quite useful for any clients who are using their credit cards for any type of purchase. With this card, you can get 6 points for every $1 you spend on eligible travel purchases, 3 points per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases. 

This card also comes with no foreign transaction fees, 31-day emergency travel medical insurance coverage, a 10% discount on hotel bookings, unlimited Wifi through Boingo, extended warranty, purchase assurance, and $100 travel enhancement credit. 

The HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® costs $149 a year and comes with a standard interest on purchases of 19.9% and interest on balance transfers and cash advances of 22.9%.The current Welcome Bonus is 20,000 Points ($100 travel value) PLUS apply by January 31, 2022  and get an additional 50,000 Points ($250 travel value) when you spend $6,000 in the first 180 days of account opening*, and get a 1st Year annual fee rebate for Primary Cardholder*($149 value), earn 10,000 Points ($50 travel value) for adding your 1st Authorized User*, and receive an additional 20,000 Points ($100 travel value) as an Anniversary Bonus* 

You can use all points accumulated on this card to purchase airplane tickets to the airline partners of HSBC, which are British Airways, Singapore Miles and Asia Miles. As for medical travel insurance, this card is one of the absolute best, coming with $1 million in medical insurance, $500,000 in common carrier travel insurance, $750 for lost or delayed baggage, $5,000 trip cancellation in total, and another $65,000 in auto rental collision insurance.

You can track your rewards and make a redemption by logging into HSBC’s website or by calling 1-866-611-4722. HSBC rewards points can be redeemed for travel, experiences, merchandise or personal finances. A breakdown of each category can be found below.

• Travel and experiences. Use your points to purchase airline tickets, vacation packages, car rentals, hotels, cruises, train tickets or tours. There are no blackout dates or seat restrictions. If you prefer to book through a travel agent other than HSBC, you can complete the purchase and have the amount refunded via HSBC points. However, you must make the claim within 60 days of the purchase date and you must secure the booking using your HSBC credit card.
• From products to charitable donations to gift cards, the HSBC rewards catalogue has something for everyone.
• Personal finances. Put your points towards your finances to reduce the burden. Rewards can be used to pay down your mortgage, add to your savings account or pay down your credit card balance.

The value of a HSBC point varies immensely depending on what you choose to make a redemption for. The value of each point is estimated below based on rewards type.

• 57 cents per point for experiences
• 5 cents per point for travel
• 47 cents per point for gift cards
• 42 cents per point for merchandise
• 3 cents per point for statement credits

As you can see, members obtain the most financial value when redeeming on travel and experiences. The least financial value is obtained when using points for personal finance purposes.

Keep in mind that qualitative aspects of the loyalty program should be considered when making a redemption too. If you receive the greatest intrinsic value when redeeming for merchandise, then you should use your points for that. After all, the program is for your personal benefit, use it for that purpose!

So long as your account is in good standing, your points will never expire. Keep in mind that HSBC, like many other loyalty program hosts, have the right to cancel your rewards at any time. A common reason they would cancel your rewards is if you continuously failed to make payments on your account.

It is possible to transfer HSBC rewards to another loyalty program. However, you must have an eligible credit card and the program you want to transfer to must be affiliated with HSBC.

Only the World Elite Mastercard, Premier World Elite Mastercard and Premier World Mastercard allow for point transfers. Asia Miles, KrisFlyer Miles and British Airway Executive Club are affiliated frequent flyer programs. Unfortunately, popular travel loyalty programs, such as Aeroplan and WestJet Rewards, are not compatible. The rate of transfer is as follows:

• 25,000 HSBC points to 8,000 Asia Miles
• 25,000 HSBC points to 9,000 Singapore Krisflyer Miles
• 25,000 HSBC points to 10,000 British Airways Avios

You can check your HSBC points balance using one of the following options:

• Check your monthly statement.
• Log into HSBC’s Personal Internet Banking portal (if you’re registered)
• Log into HSBC’s Mastercard Online Access portal (if you’re registered)
• Call HSBC at 1-866-688-4722 and inquire about your balance.

The answer is likely yes. It does not say anywhere in the terms and conditions that points cannot be used to cover taxes and fees. This communicates that points can be put towards taxes and fees. In addition, members can make a travel-based purchase and have the full amount, which would include taxes and fees, refunded using HSBC points.

No, there are no blackout dates or seat restrictions.

You can earn HSBC rewards faster by spending more on your HSBC credit card or by upgrading to a credit card that earns points at an accelerated rate.