M&S 1% travellers cheque SBT

nukebox

Hi there,

I've been accepted for an M&S credit card - just want to get some clarity on the 1% SBT with travellers cheques. I think I have to:

Order online as much as I can paying a 1% fee on the travellers cheques and then:

o cash them in at my branch account (A&L) OR
o take them to an M&S travel bureau to cash them

It's the 2nd part I'm not clear on. Do you know if UK bank accounts let you pay in sterling TC's with no fees? I presume if I have to cash them in at a M&S travel bureau, I need to call them up and give them some notice for large amounts?

Thanks in advance.

YorkshireBoy

Everything you ever wanted to know about stoozing M&S Sterling travellers cheques is here...

http://www.stoozing.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1159043738/0 (warning: very long!)

But to answer your specific questions:

I think there's a limit to how much you can buy online/via phone. No such limit (if there is it's very high!!) at in-store bureaux de change in my experience.

I wouldn't try cashing them at the same place you bought them from.

LTSB and Nationwide accept them no problem. In fact, LTSB will cash them straight away meaning no 4 day wait for clearance . A&L 'told' me they'd accept them but I've never tried so can't answer from experience.

Let us know how you get on because I'm going for my 3rd bite at this particularly cherry in a couple of months.

zoomy

Can anyone tell me - do M+S pay reward points on travellers cheque purchases?

nukebox

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Everything you ever wanted to know about stoozing M&S Sterling travellers cheques is here...

http://www.stoozing.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1159043738/0 (warning: very long!)

But to answer your specific questions:

I think there's a limit to how much you can buy online/via phone. No such limit (if there is it's very high!!) at in-store bureaux de change in my experience.

I wouldn't try cashing them at the same place you bought them from.

LTSB and Nationwide accept them no problem. In fact, LTSB will cash them straight away meaning no 4 day wait for clearance . A&L 'told' me they'd accept them but I've never tried so can't answer from experience.

Let us know how you get on because I'm going for my 3rd bite at this particularly cherry in a couple of months.

Well, after going through the process, I can report:

• buying the cheques - dead easy. Ordered some online and bought some in store.
• A&L - pain in the a**. Made such a big deal out of paying in 14 cheques.
• Halifax - a pleasure. Took in over 30 cheques with no quibbles.

Both banks now treat them as cheques - so take a couple of days to clear.

scott_lithgows

Thinking of doing this later on in the year,I have a HSBC card (£500 limit,£0balance)would it be wise or unwise to close this before applying for this HSBC backed card?

CannyJock

Depends on a few other things, but generally if you don't need the HSBC card then worth cancelling it and hopefully increasing the M&S credit limit by the same amount. No guarantee, but worth doing IMHO.

Is there still an M&S in the Oak Mall in Greenock?

scott_lithgows

CannyJock wrote: »

Depends on a few other things, but generally if you don't need the HSBC card then worth cancelling it and hopefully increasing the M&S credit limit by the same amount. No guarantee, but worth doing IMHO.

Is there still an M&S in the Oak Mall in Greenock?

Yes it,s still there,quite a few shops gone in the mall though.

tirlittan

nukebox wrote: »

Well, after going through the process, I can report:

• buying the cheques - dead easy. Ordered some online and bought some in store.
• A&L - pain in the a**. Made such a big deal out of paying in 14 cheques.
• Halifax - a pleasure. Took in over 30 cheques with no quibbles.

Both banks now treat them as cheques - so take a couple of days to clear.

How much of a pain in the a*** were A&L? And how much did you pay in? I'm thinking of around £4K? Why so many cheques? Sorry,don't understand how it works.

YorkshireBoy

tirlittan wrote: »

Why so many cheques? Sorry,don't understand how it works.

Standard denomination is £50 and £100, although I'm told (by M&S staff) that if you pre-order for collection at one of their in store bureaux de change you can get £500 denomination cheques.

Makes life a little easier because signing each cheque twice for over £8K in a day when they're £50's and £100's is a right royal pain in the [STRIKE]ars[/STRIKE] wrist!!

zebedy

I'm thinking of trying this but am a little confused. M&S t&c's say 0% interest on spenidng for 10 months - does getting the travellers cheques count as spending - so would be at 0% for 10 months (although 1% fee), because their t&cs also say something about only 55 days interest free?

CannyJock

zebedy wrote: »

I'm thinking of trying this but am a little confused. M&S t&c's say 0% interest on spenidng for 10 months - does getting the travellers cheques count as spending - so would be at 0% for 10 months (although 1% fee), because their t&cs also say something about only 55 days interest free?

Yes, counts as spending. Search for YorkshireBoy's posts on the M&S travellers cheques, he's posted about it a few times recently.