Worst Travel Scams

When you pay with plastic overseas, your credit card used to dock you anywhere from 1 to 3 percent of the purchase price as an exchange fee, even though the switch costs the company practically nothing. But that wasn't enough. Recently, cards have imposed foreign-transaction fees on any purchase made with a foreign company, even if it's done online in your country and in your native currency. Ridiculous? Totally. Often, when a credit card is challenged on this absurd new fee, it backs down and refunds its ill-gotten gains. If you do a lot of travel, you might want to consider a bank that doesn't charge a transaction fee, like Capital One, or take your business to a credit union.