Choose from a selection that includes rewards and intro APRs.
Though you won’t pay a foreign transaction fee, you may have a hard time finding merchants that accept Discover while you’re traveling abroad.
What is a typical Discover foreign transaction fee?
None of Discover’s cards have foreign transaction fees. This is unusual but not unheard of: Capital One also offers no foreign transaction fees across the board.
The typical foreign transaction fee is 3% of any purchase made abroad, and it’s more common in nontravel cards.
Discover credit cards with no foreign transaction fee
How to compare Discover credit cards with no foreign transaction fee
Since none of Discover’s cards have foreign transaction fees, you’re not limited to just the travel products. Here are a few dimensions to consider when picking the winner.
Decide which type of card you want
You can zero in on the right card by starting with a product category. Here’s a quick breakdown of Discover cards:
| Cash back |
|
|---|---|
| Travel | Discover it® Miles Travel Credit Card |
| Secured | Discover it® Secured |
| Student | Discover it® Student Cash Back |
| Business | Discover it® Business Card |
Almost every Discover card offers cash back. Even the Discover it® Miles Travel Credit Card lets you redeem miles for electronic deposits.
Shoot for the best rewards
Look at your spending and decide if it fits one of Discover’s reward structures:
| Reward structure | Cards |
|---|---|
| Flat cash back on every purchase |
|
| Accelerated cash back at gas stations and restaurants with a quarterly cap. Then flat cash back after that and on all other purchases |
|
| Accelerated cash back in quarterly rotating categories on up to a cap. Then flat cash back after that and on all other purchases. |
|
If you’re considering a rotating cashback card, look at Discover’s Cashback Calendar to see if you’ll spend in the bonus categories. These might include grocery stores, gas stations, Uber and Lyft, restaurants and Amazon.com.
Intro APRs as long as 14 months
A few of Discover’s flagship cards offer intro APRs on purchases and balance transfers for 14 months.
The Discover it® Secured and Discover it® Student Cash Back offer intro purchase APRs up to 6 months. That might not sound enticing, but it’s actually a great deal for these types of cards.
Avoid balance transfers for Discover’s secured and student cards
These cards offer balance transfer intro APRs, but the promotional rates are poor. For example, the Discover it® Student Cash Back offers a 10.99% intro balance transfer APR for 6 months, then 15.24% to 24.24% variable.
Consider not making balance transfers at all with these cards.
Other factors: Signup bonus, annual fee and more
All of Discover’s cards have essentially the same signup bonus: The provider matches all the rewards you earn in your first year.
None of the cards have annual fees. And while you won’t find purchase protections or travel insurance like you will with other providers, you’ll get a suite of cardholder-friendly secondary benefits. These include:
- Free monthly FICO score
- No overlimit fees
- No penalty APRs
- Free overnight shipping on card replacements
- Free Social Security number alerts
- Cash at checkout
- Freeze your card account on mobile app or website
Bottom line
Many of Discover’s cards are similar with no foreign transaction fees and rewards. But compare your spending to what they offer to find the best one for you.
If you’re not sure a Discover card is the right fit, consider other no-foreign-transaction-fee credit cards.