Halifax Clarity or Lloyds Avios?

gittel · 5 August 2015 at 1:53PM

I want to get a credit card simply to buy stuff on the internet using US$ without having to pay the bank's exchange rate charges; my options according to MSE are Halifax Clarity and Lloyds Avios both rated as 70% acceptance. I have another card with Halifax and want to know whether that prevents me from having a second card with them or whether I should apply to Lloyds.

SuperHan · 5 August 2015 at 2:08PM

Halifax recently told me that although they couldn't raise the limit on my Clarity, they could give me another card, which implies to me that you can hold more than one with them. However, I've definitely read on here before that that isn't possible.

Lloyds Avios has £24 annual fee, Halifax Clarity can earn you £60 per year.

Will the Avios points be of any use to you?

They're the main pro's and cons, so it's for you to weigh up depending on your preferences!

csteinle · 5 August 2015 at 2:35PM

I've got 2 Clarity cards right now as they told me this was the only way to get the reward enabled - the old one is about to be closed. The newer one has a significantly lower credit limit, but was informed I could transfer this over when I closed it. I imagine you'd need a decent credit report to do this though.

gittel · 7 August 2015 at 7:14AM

dont need points - what for? £60 would certainly be useful - assuming they granted my application how would I go about getting that.

My concern though is should I apply because I recently made the mistake of applying for a PO credit card although it gave me a 0% chance and indeed my application was declined.

That said I applied for an M&S current account a short while afterwards which was approved.

I'm getting 70% on the Card Eligibility Calculator for Halifax and Lloyds - which is only marginally lower than previously. I have an account with Lloyds and another long term credit card with Halifax which I've had for quite a while so they can see my payment history which is always impeccable as I invariably repay far more than my minimum. My M&S current account only charges 2.75% for foreign currency purchases.

Would it be better to wait a bit to let this blip thanks to the PO decision before applying for either of these cards or is it worth checking out with Halifax about making another application?

Candyapple · 7 August 2015 at 11:38AM

You get £5 per month with Halifax Clarity if you spend £300 per month on the card and also hold a Halifax current account and fund it with £1k minimum monthly.

Section 11:
http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/help-guidance/terms-and-conditions/clarity-card/

gittel · 7 August 2015 at 11:43AM

thanks candyapple, I just want it for occasional use to buy goods in US$ and have no plans to make a habit of spending that much

reclusive46 · 7 August 2015 at 11:48AM

One thing is that some US websites (while relatively rare) will only accept international orders on American Express cards (This is because unlike Visa and MasterCard, Amex doesn't hold the merchant liable for these type of international transactions if it turns out to be fraudulent), so that could be handy to have. If you go through quidco you get £20 cashback almost nulling the annual fee in the first year.

Halifax Clarity or Lloyds Avios?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free