Finding a credit card for a Real Person

[indigo_rose99]

I am having trouble finding a credit card.   I realize that my needs are not typical, but feel that they are perfectly reasonable.

Must have:

• No annual fee
• Car rental insurance in every country, INCLUDING Ireland (Ireland is specifically excluded by all my current credit cards)
• No more than 3% international currency transaction fee
• A simple no-hassle process when a charge on my statement is dubious.  Five minutes on the phone counts, with them stating "No worries, Ms. Rose,  we will take care of it."  Anything that involves me writing and signing a snailmail letter does NOT count as no-hassle.

Would really, really like:

• Less than 3% international currency transaction fee.  1% would be terrific.
• Visa or Mastercard.  These are the two most commonly accepted worldwide.  Discover is not accepted outside of the US and American Express is only accepted by big businesses.

Would be nice if it had:

• Some other perk. For example, airline miles.
• A user-friendly website.  Being able to print individual charges as a reciept would be very cool.  Good for filling out an expense report.

It would be vaguely cool if it had:

• Minimum ATM fees, especially in other countries.

I do not care about:

• Late fees. I am never late.
• Fees for not paying my monthly bill in full.  I always pay in full.
• Interest rates.

This does not seem like too much to ask!  But it is.  I have been searching for years.   My current AmEx card will have an annual fee in mid-2009 and has never provided car insurance in Ireland.  It is the closest I have ever found. 

Yes, yes, I realize There Is A Financial Crisis In The US.  That will not change the crazy credit card offers out there or have been out there, it will just change whether people like me actually GET the credit cards.  Take my complaint in the bigger context of belonging to any point in the last few years, not just in today's economy.

Comments

[sclatter.livejournal.com]

Quick google found a web site that claimed that Capitol One cards have no foreign transaction fee, and all other US issuers have 3%.

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Looking into it...

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... Their website is less hopeful. No mention of their foreign currency transaction fees. No mention of foreign ATM fee policy. No mention of car insurance coverage. No mention of their policy on dealing with possibly fraudulent charges.

In the past, when Capital One was on my list of possible offers to accept, they could not answer my question about their foreign currency transaction fee. Hopefully that ignorance has changed, but I suspect that my other questions will be met with similar clueless answers. Ah, well. Perhaps if I escalate to a manager.

Worth calling about when I get back to the US. Thanks!

[ovrclokd.livejournal.com]

i think you're categorically screwed on the ireland insurance. according to this article, visa, mastercard, and amex all specifically exclude ireland. ireland apparently requires travelers to buy supplemental car insurance, which might explain the exclusion... but at least this might help broaden your search. *hug*

[aurienne.livejournal.com]

Capital One kept sending me "balance transfer" checks, even after I asked them not to (huge security risk), so I finally cancelled them completely.