I cannot believe that it has been 3 and a half years since I last wrote a post about credit cards for backpackers. As you probably know, quite a bit has changed in the industry since then. There is no question that I am way overdue for a update on this post.

There are many reasons to go backpacking, but I think that we can mostly agree that part of the reason is to keep costs down so that we can travel for a more extended period of time. But just because we want to keep costs down, does not mean that we cannot also earn rewards along the way.

Your best bet is to look for a credit card that reduces your foreign transaction fees, whether by waiving the fee or giving you an extra earning ratio.

Home Trust Preferred Visa

• No annual fee
• Earn 1% cash back on all purchases
• No foreign transaction fees

Unfortunately, this is not available to Quebec residents.

Rogers Bank Fido MasterCard

• No annual fee
• Earn $50 cash back sign up bonus (earn $25 after your first purchase and earn $25 when you register your Fido bill for pre-authorized payments both within the first 3 months)
• Earn 4% cash back on foreign exchange purchases
• Earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases

This card would only make sense if you can take advantage of their specific reward options.

Brim MasterCard (see comments below: not live yet)

• No annual fee
• Earn 1 points for every $1 spent
• Receive a Boingo membership
• No foreign transaction fees

This is probably a better option than the Home Trust card due to the Boingo membership.

Rogers Bank Platinum MasterCard

• $29 annual fee (waived the first year or waived so long as you have pre-authorized Rogers payments set up)
• Earn $25 cash back sign up bonus
• Earn 4% cash back on foreign exchange purchases
• Earn 1.75% cash back on all purchases

This would only make sense if you can get you annual fee waived, otherwise, I would recommend going for one of the no annual fee cards instead.

There are other credit cards that have no foreign transaction fees, but in the spirit of keeping costs down for a backpacking trip, I would recommend the above cards.

If you are making significant foreign purchases, you can consider the other options, which I will have an updated post in the coming weeks.

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