If you were traveling abroad a decade ago, you would probably take money in the form of traveler’s checks in order to pay for the good and services while you’re there. Times have changed; plastic has become the preferred means for dispensing cash when you’re outside of the United States, but if you’re not careful, you could wind up paying a 2-3% transaction fee for everything that you buy. Ouch!

Fortunately, there are some tactics that savvy consumers can use to get fair exchange rates and use their credit cards without getting taken with fees and poor exchange rates. Before making your trip, you should research whether or not your credit card will charge you a per-purchase transaction fee when you’re outside of the United States. If the fee being charged is above 1%, you should consider opening a new card that charges no fees for internal usage.

Both Capital One and Charles Schwab are offering credit cards that charge no transaction fees when being used internationally. All of Capital One’s cards are free of any international transaction fees. Charles Schwab offers a 2% cash-back credit card that also charges no fees while being used internationally.

ATMs are another major rip-off that some banks use to empty their customer’s pockets. Some banks will charge up to $9 per transaction at an ATM machine, which is unfortunate since using an ATM overseas can be one of the best ways to get international currency without paying significant conversion fees or getting poor exchange rates.

Check and see what types of fees you will be charged for using an ATM machine overseas before traveling as well. Both Capital One and Charles Schwab’s credit card offering offer free ATM transactions. You could also consider a rewards checking account that offers ATM fee refunds to prevent having to pay significant ATM usage fees while traveling overseas.