How to Avoid Paying Bank Fees While Traveling (Updated 2025)

Finding the money for travel is one of the biggest challenges people face when it comes to taking a trip. It can take years to save up for that dream trip!

And, when people finally save up enough and hit the road, what do most of them end up doing?

They throw money away on avoidable bank fees!!

Banking overseas is more than just putting your card in an ATM and taking out money. When you travel on a budget, it involves knowing how to avoid bank fees, exchange rate penalties, and making your money work for you.

I know too many people who travel abroad and end up paying obscene bank fees when they travel.

And, these days, there’s absolutely no need to do that. You didn’t save up all this money in order to give it to the banks, right? I know I didn’t. I want to keep it all for myself because every avoided fee is more money for food, drinks, and activities on the road!

Here is how you eliminate ALL bank fees when you travel in 5 easy steps:

1. Eliminate ATM Fees

ATM fees can really add up — especially if you’re traveling for weeks or months at a time. Let’s think about it: while you’re on the road, you might withdraw money from an ATM twice a week. If you withdraw money from an international ATM with your regular debit card, you’ll be hit with three different fees:

• Your bank’s fee for using an ATM outside of their network (usually $2.50–5 USD)
• The ATM’s fee (usually $3–5 USD)
• An international conversion fee (usually 1–3% of the transaction)

As you can see, these fees very quickly add up. Fees vary around the world, but let’s say that you end up paying around $7 USD per withdrawal. That is $14 per week, $56 per month, or $672 per year! Do you know how many days you could spend in Southeast Asia for that amount? Almost three weeks!

Even if you only use the ATM once a week, that’s still $364 USD per year. And most travelers I know go to the ATM even more than twice a week, which only increases the amount in fees they pay. Why give banks money you need for travel? You worked hard saving your money — don’t waste it by giving it to a bank.

To help you avoid fees, here are four things you’ll want to do on your next trip to eliminate those pesky fees:

First, you could join a bank that is part of the Global ATM alliance, the principal international banking network. The banks listed below have agreements with one another wherein if you belong to one bank, you can use the ATMs of all the other banks without being charged…