Real world experience of using Indian credit cards abroad

[0b110]

I am planning a trip abroad and don't want a hassle of a forex card. Assuming I will spend close to 200k inr, and I have an Axis magnus cc (2% forex markup fee) should I just swipe my Magnus, choose the txn currency as local currency and go about the shopping?
How do banks (axis or others) calculate the bill for forex txns? Assuming Exchange rates as 60 inr per aud, my 10 aud txn would be approx how much inr in the cc bill??

 

[ak93]

I am planning a trip abroad and don't want a hassle of a forex card. Assuming I will spend close to 200k inr, and I have an Axis magnus cc (2% forex markup fee) should I just swipe my Magnus, choose the txn currency as local currency and go about the shopping?
How do banks (axis or others) calculate the bill for forex txns? Assuming Exchange rates as 60 inr per aud, my 10 aud txn would be approx how much inr in the cc bill??

I have used hdfc regalia card in UK. The conversion rate was always greater than the one you see in Google. Ex: if the rate was 60 INR per aud, I used to get rates of ₹60.5 to ₹61 per aud. So you would get charged around ₹610 + ₹13 markup fee. Don't remember if they added GST on the markup as well.

 

[anirban.choudhuryanirban.choudhury is verified member.]

I have used hdfc regalia card in UK. The conversion rate was always greater than the one you see in Google. Ex: if the rate was 60 INR per aud, I used to get rates of ₹60.5 to ₹61 per aud. So you would get charged around ₹610 + ₹13 markup fee. Don't remember if they added GST on the markup as well.

Yes there is a gst of 18% on markup always .

 

[anirban.choudhuryanirban.choudhury is verified member.]

I am planning a trip abroad and don't want a hassle of a forex card. Assuming I will spend close to 200k inr, and I have an Axis magnus cc (2% forex markup fee) should I just swipe my Magnus, choose the txn currency as local currency and go about the shopping?
How do banks (axis or others) calculate the bill for forex txns? Assuming Exchange rates as 60 inr per aud, my 10 aud txn would be approx how much inr in the cc bill??

On your 2 lakh spend on Magnus , you will pay close to 5k Rs extra . On the other hand you won’t get any accelerated ER , just the base ER. Better usage will be to try to book some fixed spends like hotel , airfare using MMT or axis edge , might be this are all already done , out of those 200k, if you are going to spend some on experiences then you can also pre-book the same on travel edge , to earn 5x ER. And for spends there , you can carry some cash ( use bookmyforex to get best rates ) , some in debit card like IndusInd exclusive with 0% forex markup charge, and rest in credit card with the least forex markup like Rbl world safari offering 0 forex , IndusInd legend 1.8% etc , if those cards are not there then you can go on with Magnus 2% .
As per me it’s always good to spend with 0% forex markup debit/credit card , and for street shopping , cash is the king in any country

 

[0b110]

On your 2 lakh spend on Magnus , you will pay close to 5k Rs extra . On the other hand you won’t get any accelerated ER , just the base ER. Better usage will be to try to book some fixed spends like hotel , airfare using MMT or axis edge , might be this are all already done , out of those 200k, if you are going to spend some on experiences then you can also pre-book the same on travel edge , to earn 5x ER. And for spends there , you can carry some cash ( use bookmyforex to get best rates ) , some in debit card like IndusInd exclusive with 0% forex markup charge, and rest in credit card with the least forex markup like Rbl world safari offering 0 forex , IndusInd legend 1.8% etc , if those cards are not there then you can go on with Magnus 2% .
As per me it’s always good to spend with 0% forex markup debit/credit card , and for street shopping , cash is the king in any country

Thanks for the detailed reply.
I have already booked all I could anticipate. Only local shopping, day to day expenses remain.

I am only thinking about using the credit card for the milestone benefit magnus offers for reaching 100k spend per month. 5k Rs for 50k edge points seems like a reasonable deal.

 

[anirban.choudhuryanirban.choudhury is verified member.]

Thanks for the detailed reply.
I have already booked all I could anticipate. Only local shopping, day to day expenses remain.

I am only thinking about using the credit card for the milestone benefit magnus offers for reaching 100k spend per month. 5k Rs for 50k edge points seems like a reasonable deal.

Is the trip spread across 2 months .
But how will you time the 1 lakh milestone for 2 months in this expenses ?
If you can manage then it’s a good deal , but don’t overspend for the milestone benefits .
That will be my suggestion

 

[0b110]

Is the trip spread across 2 months .
But how will you time the 1 lakh milestone for 2 months in this expenses ?
If you can manage then it’s a good deal , but don’t overspend for the milestone benefits .
That will be my suggestion

Thanks for the concern man. I totally agree spending for the sake of spending is not a good idea.

Yes, the trip spans across 2 calendar months. However right now I am just understanding how things work so I can optimize the spends.

Niyo global card looks good as well no markup fee but yet another acct to open.

 

[hariselio]

I am planning a trip abroad and don't want a hassle of a forex card. Assuming I will spend close to 200k inr, and I have an Axis magnus cc (2% forex markup fee) should I just swipe my Magnus, choose the txn currency as local currency and go about the shopping?
How do banks (axis or others) calculate the bill for forex txns? Assuming Exchange rates as 60 inr per aud, my 10 aud txn would be approx how much inr in the cc bill??

Ok, here is the real experience 🤣

On 24th January, magnus card usage for 3.25 AUD on a local store in Sydney which resulted 186.52 INR + GST 0.67 INR + Foreign Currency Transaction Fee 3.73 INR.

 

[Copycat]

https://www.rblbank.com/convenience-banking/cards/debit-cards/signature-plus-debit-card

Unless you are going to the UAE, get this card instead of the IndusInd one. 0% forex markup. Plus 1% RP per month on spends. Details here (read the whole thread for multiple POVs and experiences): https://www.technofino.in/community...card-benefits-best-debit-card-ever-seen.4476/

 

[0b110]

Ok, here is the real experience 🤣

On 24th January, magnus card usage for 3.25 AUD on a local store in Sydney which resulted 186.52 INR + GST 0.67 INR + Foreign Currency Transaction Fee 3.73 INR.

Thanks, these allay a lot of my fears.. did you use magnus as your primary mode of payment? If so, any final thoughts?

 

[Dr. Drake]

Let me suggest a very unpopular card I don't know if you have but if you hold magnus you can easily get it. ONECARD
1% forex markup. Just need to spend on 3 different categories & you will get 5x rewards on top 2 categories which compensates the 1% charge

So basically zero fee forex. I recently started shopping heavily on this for same reason

 

[hariselio]

Thanks, these allay a lot of my fears.. did you use magnus as your primary mode of payment? If so, any final thoughts?

I was there only for about three weeks and all my expenses were taken care by my Australian host. So personally i really did not had much expense over there. Overall expense around 25K INR were done on my magnus card.

And except in sydney airport duty free shop, i've not noticed/given option of paying in INR, all were in AUD.

 

[isatyajeet]

I was wondering the same. I am planning a trip in coming months, which will be my first trip abroad. I have a Regalia, Legend and Magnus. I am not sure if I should get a Forex Card. I mean it make sense for people who don't have a premium card, who won't earn any rewards, like students, to get a separate prepaid Forex Card. If someone has Magnus, doesn't the rewards of the card outweighs the forex markup? Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[0b110]

. If someone has Magnus, doesn't the rewards of the card outweighs the forex markup? Please correct me if I am wrong.

My thoughts too and hence this post. So far haven't heard anything that contradicts this assumption.

 

[Shadow747]

If you can reach 1 lac on magnus then you should use magnus as milestone benefit is a good bonus. Recently used magnus in Aus trip and magnus visa card was used every where without any issue. As your trip will be over 2 month period you can even buy gift cards from shops to be used later if required to cross over the milestone criteria but don't over spend and keep within your trip budget.

 

[0b110]

If you can reach 1 lac on magnus then you should use magnus as milestone benefit is a good bonus. Recently used magnus in Aus trip and magnus visa card was used every where without any issue. As your trip will be over 2 month period you can even buy gift cards from shops to be used later if required to cross over the milestone criteria but don't over spend and keep within your trip budget.

Thank you for confirming. Cheers!

 

[Vikas09]

Just used Magnus card on aus trip last month , didn’t face any problem actually it even worked good in those places where hdfc infinia card rejected (apple showroom and various shops)
Do take one thing in mind recently axis devalues Magnus specially for foreign transactions (starting from march)which can effect your overall return.

 

[gurbina]

I was there only for about three weeks and all my expenses were taken care by my Australian host. So personally i really did not had much expense over there. Overall expense around 25K INR were done on my magnus card.

And except in sydney airport duty free shop, i've not noticed/given option of paying in INR, all were in AUD.

Even if you have the option to pay in INR you might still need to pay a fee if the merchant is registered overseas. It has happened to me on online commerce.

 

[gurbina]

Just used Magnus card on aus trip last month , didn’t face any problem actually it even worked good in those places where hdfc infinia card rejected (apple showroom and various shops)
Do take one thing in mind recently axis devalues Magnus specially for foreign transactions (starting from march)which can effect your overall return.

What devaluation is this on foreign transactions?

 

[Shadow747]

Just used Magnus card on aus trip last month , didn’t face any problem actually it even worked good in those places where hdfc infinia card rejected (apple showroom and various shops)
Do take one thing in mind recently axis devalues Magnus specially for foreign transactions (starting from march)which can effect your overall return.

Axis is adding 1% extra charge to transactions happening in india in INR with foreign registered payment gateway. This no way affects transactions happening directly in foreign currency.