Capital One Platinum abroad

Sherbet66

Hi,

I'm off to New York next month and after a quick review of the best way to take/spend cash i'm planning on using my Capital One Platinum visa and paying it off in full upon my return. I'm going to be withdrawing money while there, but only when i have to and keeping that to the minimum. I've had a look at th good/bards cards for using abroad but seen no mention of the one i'm using so i'm hoping if anyone can tell me if this particular card is a killer on fees or other catches?

I tried phoning Cap one but the call centre operator's english was a bit iffy and he kept telling me that i could use my card abraod, not answering my question.

I appreciate thier are pre-paid cards out there but i'm a bit wary they won't be accepted and i'm not really wanting to apply for one of the specialist cards.

Thanks in advance,

Sherbet66

SwissLe

It will be charged at your cash advance fee (I think this is normally 3% or £3 -whichever is greater), plus a currency conversion at Visa's daily rate plus 2.75% in Capital One's favour, then unless you have a cash advance promotional period (I'm not aware of a Capital One deal) then you will be charged daily interest at 25.9%APR until that amount is settled in full.

benf90

If the call centre wasn't any help you can try sending a message through the online account manager on the Capital One website.

I don't have the card myself but I'd imagine it would fall under the 'typical credit card' category on this table (scroll down the page a bit when it opens):

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#topcards

Without getting confirmation of any fees from Capital One my advice would be to definately not withdraw any cash on the card. To do so you're probably looking at a cost of 5-6% in fees alone, then the interest charged on top of that.

If you need cash then take it with you, or take travellers cheques. There's a lot of banks in New York that will cash travellers cheques, you can see them here:

http://www.aetclocator.com/uk/

benf90

SwissLe wrote: »

It will be charged at your cash advance fee (I think this is normally 3% or £3 -whichever is greater), plus a currency conversion at Visa's daily rate plus 2.75% in Capital One's favour, then unless you have a cash advance promotional period (I'm not aware of a Capital One deal) then you will be charged daily interest at 25.9%APR until that amount is settled in full.

I presume it's the same as the Platinum Mastercard then?

I couldn't any Platinum Visa details on their website, only Mastercard.

SwissLe

The card is no longer issued but I think it had much the same cash advance terms as the others within the Cap One stable.

Oh and travellers cheques normally offer terrible rates and then charges to cash them in. He'd be better off applying for a Abbey Zero and using it for purchases or taking sterling then changing it out there.

benf90

SwissLe wrote: »

The card is no longer issued but I think it had much the same cash advance terms as the others within the Cap One stable.

Oh and travellers cheques normally offer terrible rates and then charges to cash them in. He'd be better off applying for a Abbey Zero and using it for purchases or taking sterling then changing it out there.

Travellers cheques can be bought at the same rate as exchanging cash, without commission, if you shop around.

The Visa rate today is £1 = $1.53 which oviously doesn't include Capital One's fees. Travellers cheques can be bought for £1 = $1.52.

Shops etc usually charge to cash them yes but most banks don't. Going to a place like New York there's certainly plenty of banks around.

The main reason I suggested it though is they don't want the hassle of applying for a new card, and using Travellers cheques can certainly be cheaper than withdrawing cash from a credit card at an ATM.