Military Bases Overseas

[NotYouTu]

Does anyone know if Chase counts transactions on base (commissary, PX, food court, restaurants, etc) as foreign transactions or US? I've read that they do correctly categorize the commissary as a grocery store, and if it also counts as US (IE no foreign transaction fees) I may look into getting the Freedom card for the quarterly bonus categories.

Oh, and I did forget so adding an additional question. Chase offers the Military Star MC which has 2% returns on base, according to their site it is tracked in points. Does anyone know if it works the same as the Freedom in that you can merge the points together so they can be transferred as miles?

Thanks.

 

[John B]

I've used AMEX and Citi cards on PX's in several countries and never recieved a Foreign Transaction Fee. I really can't think of anytime I've used any of my cards while paying in USD where a fee has been applied of any sort, including in hotels in countries that use the USD in replacement of or along with their own.

 

[WillyPeeps]

Used my SPG Amex yesterday at the commisary. Just checked online and it shows the commissary address as US. I would assume all of the facilities on base (MRW,AAFES, commisary) are the same.

I have the Chase USAF Services MC. It returns 2% on all purchases at commissary, AAFES, and MWR. Those points are not UR points, they are Military Free Cash Rewards. You can use those for gift cards, travel, or cash back at 1 cent/pt value. I am not sure about the Military Star MC, but from looking at the website, it appears to be same system. These points are not transferable to UR.

On another note, I have Chase Sapphire Preferred. It has no foreign transaction fees and offers 2x bonus on dining. I have used this card extensively at restaurants off post in Korea and the transactions have been categorized correctly as dining 99% of the time.

 

[Singtx]

All above posts are correct. We're also in Korea and all the restaurants are coded properly! Anywhere we use a CC on any base...its been coded as a US transaction.

 

[swonavy]

Concur with Singtx above for commissary and px. I am Navy at an Air Force base, so not sure about NEX yet (Navy's version of px).

 

[Phantom707]

Just as a note, sometimes, businesses on base will be categorized as "government services" instead of whatever they are. I was in the food court of the Exchange on a base in Europe, and my purchases counted as government services instead of restaurant. This was with an Amex card, by the way.

Also, something that other people are forgetting is that just because something is charged in USD does not mean that it won't have a foreign transaction fee. The thread on FlyerTalk about DCC should make that very apparent, and I've heard that this is also the case for British Airway's site, where you can get the fee even though the charge is in dollars.

 

[chalkitup]

Concur with above for coding when on foreign bases.

For 5% cash back on military bases and gasoline for first $3K spend with no foreign transaction fees, see USAA Cashback Rewards Plus AmEx.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/bank_cc_cashback_rewards_plus_american_express