By Keph Senett on July 18, 2025 Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Credit cards are convenient at home and abroad, but Canadians often waste money on unnecessary fees. Here’s what to watch for on your next vacation.
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Image by garetsvisual from Freepik
It’s summertime, and that means break time for many Canadians. If you’ve been using a credit card to book your holiday and spending while on vacation, you might be paying more than you think. While travel credit cards often offer perks or rewards, they can often come with expensive upfront annual fees, and more importantly, other hidden costs you may not know about.
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Here are some ways that credit card fees make your trip more expensive—and how you can avoid some of them by using an EQ Bank Card.
How fees add up when you use a travel credit card
If you’re an avid traveller, you may have a travel credit card. They offer convenience and perks. But those benefits often come with a cost, and the fees can start racking up even before the vacation begins.
Before you travel
Most travel credit cards carry hefty annual fees ranging from around $120 per year up to $799 for cards with the most premium benefits. That’s a lot of money to pay just for opening an account.
That’s not all. When you’re ready to plan a trip, you might use an online reservation engine to book flights, accommodations or excursions. For reservations outside Canada, you’ll likely pay an extra foreign transaction (FX) fee when you hit “Book,” with most credit cards adding around 2.5% to each expense.
Tip: You might think you can get around this by opting to pay in Canadian dollars, but if you do, you’ll pay a dynamic currency conversion fee instead, which adds a surcharge to the currency exchange rate. Ouch!
At your destination
Image by pressfoto from Freepik
The fees don’t stop once you land at the airport, either. Typically, the first thing you’ll want to do is get local currency. You might think hitting up a bank machine is the easiest option, but it can cost you.
When you use your debit card abroad to withdraw cash, not only is there an extra FX fee usually, but some debit cards charge as much as 3.5% for currency conversion. Even bringing cash to exchange at the airport gets costly. As a general rule, airport kiosks tend to offer poor exchange rates and—you guessed it—extra FX fees.
Eventually, you’ll leave the airport and embark on the best part of your vacation, but if you use your credit card, you’ll pay for the privilege. Each and every foreign currency purchase—that means taxis, dining, entertainment and shopping—is subject to at least the extra 2.5% FX fee with most regular credit cards.
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Your vacation is a chance to treat yourself, but when you use a credit card for your expenses, you’re paying a premium.
When travelling, save on credit card fees with the EQ Bank Card
Canadian travellers looking to avoid the annual fees, high interest rates and extra charges for foreign currency exchange need look no further than the EQ Bank Card by EQ Bank. It’s a prepaid reloadable Mastercard, and it’s incredibly well suited for travel. Here’s why:
No extra foreign exchange fees All purchases made in a foreign currency are calculated at Mastercard’s currency conversion rate, with no extra FX fee. That’s like saving 2.5% every time you spend.
No monthly or annual fees Unlike many travel credit cards, the EQ Bank Card has no monthly or annual fees.
No added international ATM withdrawal fees from EQ Bank Unlike many other banks, EQ Bank does not charge any added international ATM withdrawal fees. (Tip: the local bank or ATM provider may still charge a fee, so keep that in mind.) And, there’s great news for staycationers: when you withdraw from any ATM in Canada, EQ Bank will reimburse the third-party fees.
With the EQ Bank Card, not only do you save on budget-busting fees, but you can also earn:
Cash back You’ll get 0.5% cash back on every purchase.
High interest rate Any money you put on your card earns the same high interest as it would in your EQ Bank Personal Account. That’s 1.25% on every dollar, or 3.5% if you set up direct deposit for your paycheques (minimum of $2,000 per month).
Interest is calculated daily on the total closing balance and paid monthly. For the EQ Bank Card, interest is paid into the linked Personal Account. Rates are per annum and subject to change without notice. For the Personal Account, Joint Account and EQ Bank Card, the current base interest rate is 1.25% (the “Base Rate”). Customers who add and maintain qualifying recurring direct deposits of at least $2,000/month to a Personal Account or Joint Account are eligible to earn a bonus interest rate of 3.50% (the Base Rate plus an additional 2.25%) for the eligible accounts (the Personal Account, Joint Account, and the EQ Bank Card balance). Conditions apply. Please review the EQ Bank Bonus Interest Offer Terms and Conditions for details.
Unlike some debit cards, it’s also accepted everywhere that takes Mastercard.
Here’s how to set up the EQ Bank Card for your next vacation.
Open and fund a Personal Account at EQ Bank.
Order a free card in a few quick taps.
Once you receive and activate your card, add money to your card from your Personal Account.
Use your card for purchases during your travels, and keep more money in your pocket.
Sign up for a Personal Account at EQ Bank to get your EQ Bank Card, and experience what travelling like a local can feel like.
This is a paid post that is informative but also may feature a client’s product or service. These posts are written, edited and produced by MoneySense with assigned freelancers and approved by the client.
