Picture this. You’re on a Greek island, enjoying a mouthwatering gyro. You swipe your credit card to pay for your delicious snack but unbeknownst to you, the bank charges you an additional 2.5% in foreign exchange (FX) fees. That’s $25 CAD in FX fees for every $1,000 you spend! By the time your trip of a lifetime is over, after paying for hotels, meals, museum and ferry tickets, you’ve handed over a stack of cash to the bank – cash that could have gone towards an extra glass of Assyrtiko while you take in breathtaking views of the caldera at sunset.
Luckily, there are now 5 Visas, 2 American Express, and 2 Prepaid Mastercards that charge Canadians zero FX fees while traveling abroad. Let’s review the contenders and choose the best travel card for our 2026 travel adventures!
If you’re simply looking to avoid paying FX fees, any of these cards will do the trick. That said, they each differ in the benefits they offer like travel emergency medical and trip cancellation (always read the insurance policy carefully), points, cash-back, and lounge passes. Here they are, in fancy chart form.
| 1. Scotia Passport Visa Infinite | |
| Travel Insurance | Travel Emergency Medical: 25 days for cardholders 64 and under, 3 days for cardholders 65 and over up to $2,000,000 per person (pp) Trip cancellation: up to $1,500 pp Trip interruption: up to $2,500 pp |
| Additional benefits | 6 complimentary lounge passes in the Visa Airport companion program |
| Points/cash-back | 3x Scene+ points on certain grocery stores (Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo), 2x points on dining & transportation, 1x points on everything else. Scene+ points are worth $0.01 each and can be applied to previous travel charges. For example, 1,000 Scene+ points can be used to deduct $10 from your statement. |
| Cost | $150/year |
| Notes | I like this card for its robust travel insurance, complimentary lounge passes and the ability to earn Scene+ points, especially if you shop at Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo etc. While lounge access is typically included with business class flights, if you’re flying economy or premium economy it’s always nice to start the trip off with free lounge access, particularly in Europe where the lounges feature local wines and cheese. |
| 2. Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Privilege | |
| Travel Insurance | Travel Emergency Medical: 31 days for cardholders 64 and under, 10 days for cardholders 65 and over, up to $5,000,000 pp Trip cancellation: up to $2,500 pp Trip interruption: up to $5,000 pp |
| Additional benefits | 10 complimentary lounge passes in the Visa Airport companion program Priority airport security at Montreal-Trudeau Int’l Airport (all check-points), Ottawa Int’l Airport (Int’l and domestic), Toronto City Airport (not YYZ, and domestic/trans-border) |
| Points/cash-back | 3x Scene+ points on travel, 2x points dining/entertainment, and 1x points on everything else. |
| Cost | $599/year |
| Notes | This card is pricier than the Scotia Visa Infinite card above, but it does offer longer travel medical coverage particularly for seniors 65 and over, as well as better trip cancellation/interruption. If you’re flying out of Montreal, Ottawa or Billy Bishop airport the priority security might appeal to you. The extra lounge passes are nice if you travel a lot. |
| 3. Scotiabank Gold American Express Card | |
| Travel Insurance | Travel Emergency Medical: 25 days for cardholders 64 and under, 3 days for cardholders 65 and over up to $1,000,000 pp Trip cancellation: up to $1,500 pp Trip interruption: up to $1,500 pp |
| Additional benefits | Discount on Priority Pass membership Front of the line concert tickets |
| Points/cash-back | 6x Scene+ points on eligible grocery stores (Sobeys), 5x points on all other grocery, dining, entertainment, 3x points for gas, public transit, some streaming services, 1x points for everything else, including foreign purchases. 1x points on everything after 50k spend. |
| Cost | $120/year |
| Notes | This card has good travel insurance and the ability to earn 5-6x the points should give cardholders a high return on purchases. However, American Express is not always accepted everywhere, especially when traveling. |
| 4. Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card | |
| Travel Insurance | Travel Emergency Medical: 31 days for cardholders 64 and under, 10 days for cardholders 65 and over, up to $2,000,000 pp Trip cancellation: $2,500 pp Trip interruption: $5,000 pp |
| Additional benefits | 10 complimentary lounge passes with Priority Pass Front of the line concert tickets |
| Points/cash-back | 2x Scene+ points on all eligible purchases |
| Cost | $399/year |
| Notes | This card has great travel insurance, and I like how it gives 2x points for all eligible purchase, even outside of Canada. The airport lounge passes are a nice touch as well. However, American Express is not always accepted everywhere, especially when traveling. |
| 5. Wealthsimple Visa Infinite and Visa Infinite Privilege credit cards (launching soon) | |
| Travel Insurance | Travel Emergency Medical (Visa Infinite): 14 days for cardholders 65 and under, up to $1,000,000 pp Trip cancellation & interruption up to $1,000 pp Travel Emergency Medical (Visa Infinite Privilege): 14 days for cardholders 65 and under up to $2,000,000 pp Trip cancellation & interruption of up to $1,500 pp |
| Additional benefits | 6 complimentary lounge passes in the Visa Airport companion program (Privilege cardholders only) |
| Points/cash-back | 2% cash-back on everything |
| Cost | $240/year but waived if you have 100k in assets or direct deposit set up with Wealthsimple |
| Notes | Quebec residents will want to steer clear of this card as travel insurance is not available to them. However, this could be a good card for everyone else for its decent travel insurance, lounge passes, 2% cash-back on everything and option to wave the annual fee. Finally, Premium clients (100k in assets with Wealthsimple) get a metal card – how cool is that? |
| 6. Home Trust Preferred Visa | |
| Travel Insurance | No travel insurance, so you’ll want to purchase Emergency Travel Medical separately before your trip |
| Additional benefits | None |
| Points/cash-back | 1% cash-back on all eligible purchases |
| Cost | No annual fee |
| Notes | This is a basic card, offering 1% cash-back and no annual fee, but does not include travel insurance or any other perks. |
| 7. Koho Prepaid travel Mastercard (Extra version) | |
| Travel Insurance | Does not come with travel insurance, but you can add insurance through Koho for an additional cost |
| Additional benefits | Higher tier plans offer eSim card option |
| Points/cash-back | 1.5% cash-back on groceries, dining and transportation, and 2.5% earned interest on the balance in your account |
| Cost | $240/year, plus additional cost for travel insurance |
| Notes | Decent interest and cash-back, eSim offer is nice, but need to pay extra for travel insurance |
| 8. Wealthsimple Prepaid Mastercard | |
| Travel Insurance | Does not come with travel insurance |
| Additional benefits | As of October 1st 2025 Wealthsimple will refund unlimited ATM fees worldwide regardless of the fee, and up to $5 in Canada. The card is accepted in almost all countries with some exceptions like Cuba. |
| Points/cash-back | Pays 1.25% for the first $100k that you hold in your chequing account, and 1.75% after |
| Cost | No annual fee |
| Notes | I recently used this card in Aruba and boy was I impressed! I took out a few hundred dollars in USDs three times at three different ATMs that each charged $10 USD, or $13.80 CAD at the time of conversion. I simply paid the ATM fee up front and sure enough, a few days later once the transaction settled, Wealthsimple reimbursed me the full $13.80, for a total of $41.40 in ATM fee reimbursements. No other bank in Canada is doing this right now, and it’s enough to motivate me to switch some of my banking over to Wealthsimple. |
Before we crown the winner, a PSA is in order. When you use any credit card abroad – even those that charge zero FX fees, the terminal will usually give you the option to pay using $CAD or the local currency. I have learned the hard way that I should always choose the local currency. Anytime I have chosen the $CAD option, the merchant has charged me their own fancy rate to convert the bill into Canadian, and back into euros, and sometimes it’s even more than 2.5%! I’m looking at you, panini-press guy at the Zurich airport…
Alright, onto the best No-FX credit card!
Having reviewed each option carefully, I am leaning away from the American Express cards, simply because Amex is not accepted everywhere world-wide. That said, both the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card and Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card offer good travel insurance and rewards programs, and there are compelling reasons to use Amex such as their exceptional customer service and early access to concert tickets. For that reason, I could see myself using either of these cards with another back-up Visa or Mastercard in case I find myself in a situation where Amex is not accepted. Amex tends to offer good sign-up bonuses, so I’ll keep my eye on these ones in particular.
I am also leaning against the Hometrust and Koho options because they don’t offer travel insurance up front. I like the idea of the Wealthsimple Visa Infinite and Infinite Privilege credit cards being free if you have 100k in assets with Wealthsimple, and it’s nice that they offer 2% cash-back on absolutely everything. However, their travel insurance offerings aren’t as good as Scotiabank’s, so if I got either of these cards I might find myself paying for additional trip cancellation insurance if I plan to be out of the country for more than 14 days.
So that leaves the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite and Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Privilege because in my opinion, they holistically offer the best comprehensive travel insurance plan, airport lounge passes, opportunities to earn and redeem Scene+ points, and highest likelihood of being accepted worldwide.
That said, it’s always a good idea to have a back-up card when traveling in case your main one gets compromised, so I might put the big charges like flights and hotels on my Scotia Passport Visa Infinite or Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Privilege, then move 100k in assets over to Wealthsimple to get the fee waived on the Visa Privilege version of their 2% cash-back card, and use that to pay for the smaller items while traveling like gelato, coffee and train tickets.
And finally, I plan to use the Wealthsimple Prepaid Mastercard to withdraw local currency from ATMs while traveling, because there are some things you still need actual cash for, like taxis and tips for housekeeping.
So that’s my personal plan based on my needs. Yours may be different. Do any of these No-FX credit cards jump out for you?
Note: While all of these cards charge zero FX fees, the underlying Visa or Mastercard payment platform will still charge a small conversion fee for any credit card, which there is unfortunately no getting around. However, it is only about 0.05%, far less than most banks charge to convert cash from CAD into foreign currencies, making any of these cards a great choice while traveling abroad.
Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post, just my personal opinion based on my needs.
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