DigOutYourSoul Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I've never had, or needed, a credit card before and am looking to get one for going to America in October. Not because I need it but just in case there are some things I see, want and haven't budgeted for. Does anyone have any have any advise on cards/using them abroad or know of any good deals in the market at the moment in terms of interest rates. Any advice on the subject would be great as as I say, i've never taken out a credit card before. Sorry if there is already a 'banking' thread or something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Cuddy Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Have a look at Moneysavingexpert.com for advice. Uswitch also do card comparisons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 The Halifax Clarity card is recommended a lot. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#halifax http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/low-rate-no-fee/clarity-card/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 If you do get one I think you have to tell the bank you will be using it abroad or it might get rejected, never happened to me but other family have had issues. good idea though, I never had one until last year for going to Florida used it for booking the flights and hire car in case any thing went tits up. eta Do not give it to your wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 +1 for the Halifax Clarity card. No cash withdrawal fee and if you pay or withdraw money in the local currency, the exchange rate will be the current Mastercard rate - which 99.99% of the time is considerably better than you'd get exchanging cash. Yes, you're charged interest immediately on cash withdrawals but if you keep an eye on the account with online banking and settle the balance as soon as it appears on the statement, the most you'll be charged is 4 or 5 days. I used it in Malta last month and after settling all withdrawals as soon as they appeared, €250 cost me £198.34 (including 7p interest), an exchange rate of 1.26. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jock001 Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I don't know if it still applies but the US used to have a slightly different card system to us. I has trouble using a visa debit card in the US until I started calling it a credit card. If the system trys to run it through as a debit card, it doesn't work. The system in Canada is even worse and sometimes cards which should work fine, don't and there is no workaround. My advice is to have at least 2 cards of 2 different types. Use the one with the best exchange rate for most things but have another as backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 You were using a debit card abroad? Are you insane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspy Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Get one of these cash passports from the travel agents, just pre load it with a certain amount of cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strichener Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Postoffice Credit Card http://www.postoffice.co.uk/landingpage/credit-card-ppc/?campaignid=PPC_CC&tmad=c&tmcampid=153&tmplaceref=Brand_-_Credit_Cards_-_Exact&tmclickref=post_office_credit_card ETA: Just make sure you pay it off every month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Nederlander Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Avoid American Express - my work used to give me an American Express card and not many folk in feckin America accepted them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKMAN Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 You were using a debit card abroad? Are you insane? I use my debit card abroad all the time. Don't really see the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I use my debit card abroad all the time. Don't really see the issue. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKMAN Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money Hardly the sign of insanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Phoenix Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Avoid American Express - my work used to give me an American Express card and not many folk in feckin America accepted them. This - but not just in America. I booked a hire car before going on holiday and the company I'd booked through refused to accept it when I went to pick it up on arrival in Malta. After an hour or so of wrangling they finally accepted my wife's Barclaycard having backed down on the "card holder must be the driver". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutz_the_Squirrel Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 You might not know this, but you can put money ON your credit card prior to leaving the UK (i.e. having a credit balance on a credit card) which means that you can use it as a kind of 'travel card' instead of carrying cash. Avoid AMEX. Pay off your card on time in full. If you don't think you'll be able to do this, try and find a card with 0% on purchases and clarify with your provider that this includes purchases overseas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Hardly the sign of insanity. Perhaps not, but you have to at least ask questions of people who are prepared to pay £1+ per transaction abroad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKMAN Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Perhaps not, but you have to at least ask questions of people who are prepared to pay £1+ per transaction abroad. If I'm using my card abroad and spending many hundreds or thousands of pounds over the duration of a holiday, am I really going to care about and extra few quid added on at the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Thompson Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 You might not know this, but you can put money ON your credit card prior to leaving the UK (i.e. having a credit balance on a credit card) which means that you can use it as a kind of 'travel card' instead of carrying cash. You can but youre not supposed to. If the bank find out, chances are they'll find some way to charge you. Not really sure what the point would be anyway. If you use it to withdraw cash you'll still get charged for a cash advance. If you try and use it to buy something higher than your credit limit, it wont work either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigOutYourSoul Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Cheers for all the input. I done a few applications last night and was shocked at the amount of credit I was offered considering i've never had a credit card, or any real credit facility before. I'm torn between the Halifax Clarity - which has also been recommended by a couple of people in work and a BoS card which is offering 0% interest for 13 months but a fixed 2.75% charge for using abroad. Going to have to do a little more research but i'd be aiming to pay off the balance in full when the statement comes through so I dont really think i need to worry too much about the 0% interest rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 If I'm using my card abroad and spending many hundreds or thousands of pounds over the duration of a holiday, am I really going to care about and extra few quid added on at the end? It's your money, I guess. Throw it away if you want. Cheers for all the input. I done a few applications last night and was shocked at the amount of credit I was offered considering i've never had a credit card, or any real credit facility before. I'm torn between the Halifax Clarity - which has also been recommended by a couple of people in work and a BoS card which is offering 0% interest for 13 months but a fixed 2.75% charge for using abroad. Going to have to do a little more research but i'd be aiming to pay off the balance in full when the statement comes through so I dont really think i need to worry too much about the 0% interest rate. If you can otherwise afford to settle the balance, the interest-free card is worth it only if you can find a savings account that will pay you back >2.75% on what you'd have been using to settle the balance. With rates being what they are, I have a feeling that the Clarity card will be your best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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