Tuesday, September 22
Yesterday, the Chase Freedom Flex dropped its foreign transaction fee – a first for the card, and a rare move for anything with no annual fee. Also today: a reader tip that makes funding your Charles Schwab travel debit card almost instant, and a $794 sale to Nairobi worth your attention.
💳 The Chase Freedom Flex Drops Foreign Transaction Fees
I’ve said for years that the Freedom Flex was a great card with one annoying asterisk: leave it at home if you’re crossing a border. As of Monday, that asterisk has disappeared.
On Monday, Chase announced it is waiving foreign transaction fees on the Freedom Flex – a first for this card, and still a rarity for anything without an annual fee.
Pair it with a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and you’re earning 5x points instead of 5% cash back, with no foreign transaction fee eating into a single purchase. It’s a genuinely useful international card now, not just a domestic bonus-category machine.
A few other changes that came along for the ride:
- New cardholders can now earn $250 after spending $500 in the first three months – $50 more than the standard offer. Hold a Sapphire or Ink Preferred alongside it, and that $250 cash back can become 25,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
- Chase is rolling out Points Boost offers on select hotel bookings, worth up to 10% more when you redeem through the Chase Travel℠ portal.
- You’ll now get an early look at next quarter’s 5% categories in the Chase Mobile app. For the record: groceries carry over into Q1 2027, running two quarters in a row.
- Chase also gave the card a cosmetic refresh, which is available to both new and existing cardholders.
One thing worth noting: the Freedom Unlimited doesn’t get this upgrade. Its foreign transaction fee sticks around, so don’t assume every card in the Freedom family just got better for international purchases.
– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder
🎙️ New Starter Kit Episode Just Dropped!
💡 Starter Kit Vol. 5, Tips for Traveling Better & Cheaper
🧳 On this (perhaps not final?) episode of Starter Kit, the guys walk through the little things you can do to improve your entire trip, from the planning process to booking lodging, rental cars, and trains to making your airport experience easier – and even how to beat jet lag and find activities to do abroad.
Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned for the next installment … ?
🤝 Deal of the Day: Nairobi, Kenya from $794 Roundtrip!
Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥
Why we love it: Jump on these discounted fares to fuel your Kenya safari!
All fares are under $884 flying this fall (wildlife migration season!) and winter. Most fares include a checked bag, too!
Sign up now to get all the details on this deal & don’t miss the next flight deal alert.
Already a member? Log in to see all your deals. (Not seeing it? Remove your airport filters to see every deal.)
– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
💳 A Neat Hack for Our Favorite Fee-Free ATM Card
The most important card in my wallet isn’t a credit card. It isn’t even my ID – well, unless I’m at an airport bar or something.
No, it’s my Charles Schwab debit card. This free checking account has been our go-to recommendation for international travelers for years – it’s the best way to get foreign currency abroad by far. Forget exchanging currency at the airport or bringing cash with you on the plane: You land, go to any ATM and withdraw whatever you need … without paying ATM fees or foreign transaction fees, period.
My wife and I treat this like a dedicated travel checking account. Before any big trip, we transfer some money in from our primary checking account so we’re ready to withdraw whatever cash we may need on the ground.
But there’s the rub: Transferring from an external bank account typically takes three to five business days to clear into Schwab, and sometimes more. If I had a dollar for every time I remembered to send money over just a day before departure, I’d have at least $3.
That’s why I loved this tip from our Thrifty Traveler Premium member Z. Webley: You can now instantly fund your Schwab account with a transfer from Zelle!
By using Zelle – the popular digital payment platform – instead of a traditional bank transfer, it’s far faster. It’s built into most major banking platforms nowadays, so those transfers should be easy. And it’s free.
There’s just one slight catch: The email address on file for the account you’re transferring from must be different
Almost every single member of the Thrifty Traveler team has a Schwab account for international travel. We’re not paid to promote it whatsoever, and yet it’s probably the card we recommend the most – it’s really that good.
This trick makes it even better in our eyes.
Read more about why we love our Charles Schwab debit cards for travel!
– Kyle Potter, executive editor
🧳 Come Work With Us: We’re Hiring a Hotel Expert!
Are you a diehard traveler and bona fide “sicko” (that’s a term of endearment around here) when it comes to hotels and award travel?
Do you love nothing more than scouring for the next great hotel redemption? Want to help others do the same? Loathe the prospect of another devaluation but relish the thought of breaking that news?
We don’t just want you. We need you.
Here at TT HQ, we’re hiring again – this time for a dedicated hotel deal analyst & reporter. It’s a hybrid role, split between the two worlds of what we do here at Thrifty Traveler:
- You’ll spearhead and even expand the hotel deal alerts that make our Thrifty Traveler Premium+ service so special, and
- Help us cover the news and must-knows of all things hotels on our site, social media, and in this very newsletter!
Not the right fit but know someone who could be? Send them our way – if we hire them, we’ll give you a $500 airline gift card to an airline of your choice!
There’s tons of additional details, responsibilities, qualifications, and basics about the job on our site, but here’s a big one: We’re specifically looking for someone who can join us in our Minneapolis office.
Fit the bill? Be sure to apply by the Sept. 27 deadline!
… and see you soon in the office?
– Kyle Potter, executive editor
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- ✈️ Flights to and from the Northeast are back on track Tuesday after 1,000-plus cancellations Monday … triggered by a construction crew accidentally cutting a key fiber telecoms line. (CNN)
- 💳 There’s a fresh no-lifetime-language link for the Amex Platinum offering 175,000 points after $12,000 in spend, while some Delta cardholders are seeing targeted no-lifetime-language offers up to 100,000 miles. (Doctor of Credit)
- ⭐ American Airlines and Starlux are expanding their partnership with a new codeshare starting Sept. 30, letting travelers book both airlines on a single reservation, though you won’t earn or redeem AAdvantage miles on Starlux yet. (The Points Guy)
- 🎁 Reminder: Wells Fargo ends points sharing between cardholders this Friday, Sept. 25. If you’ve got points spread across a household or planned to gift some, transfer them now – you can send any amount with no minimum. (Travel on Points)
