Traveling in Euroland

kah22

I'm across to Euro land for a short break. The question is this: is there any savings to be made in using cards abroad

There seems to be three options
use my debit card,
put my credit card into credit and use it
or just use the credit card as per normal and pay immediately it falls due.

Many thanks for any suggestions.

Kevin

richardw

kah22 wrote: »

put my credit card into credit and use it

What is the advantage in this? Is it a real option?

kah22

richardw wrote: »

What is the advantage in this? Is it a real option?

I'm not exactly sure but I'm under the impression that if you put money on your credit card then the charge on transections is less than if you were to use the card in the normal way. But as I've said I'm not 100 percent sure of this hence one of the reasons for this post.

Kevin

benjus

It really comes down to two things: (1) are you talking about cash withdrawals from the credit card or just spending, and (2) which credit card is it?

If you are using your credit card for purchases only, there is no difference between putting it in credit and paying it off in full when the bill comes.

If you want to withdraw cash from a credit card, most cards charge a cash advance fee regardless of whether you are in credit or not. I believe that Egg Money is an exception to this, and the Abbey Zero card doesn't charge cash advance fees at all. However, you will also be charged interest at the cash withdrawal rate immediately, so putting the card in credit in advance will eliminate the interest charges.

Almost all debit and credit cards have extra charges for foreign transactions. There is no way to get around these other than to switch to a different card. Nationwide debit & credit cards, and Post Office & Abbey Zero credit cards are the main ones that don't charge for overseas use. This table: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/overseas-card-charges shows the charges for major UK cards.