New to credit cards - Help

sundaygirl_2

I want to get a credit card for buying a holiday this year. My bank (Halifax) have offered me a 12 months 0% on purchases so I was going to go with this but then I saw a Play.Com credit card. It only has 9 months 0% on purchases but it gives you £15 voucher at Play.com.

Not sure which one to go for.

Also how long does it take to get one. I'm assuming Halifax will be quicker as they said I was "pre-approved".

And Halifax is Mastercard and Play is Visa - does this make much of a difference?

td_007

sundaygirl wrote: »

I want to get a credit card for buying a holiday this year. My bank (Halifax) have offered me a 12 months 0% on purchases so I was going to go with this but then I saw a Play.Com credit card. It only has 9 months 0% on purchases but it gives you £15 voucher at Play.com.? Not sure which one to go for.

If you are in a position to repay the entire amount at the end of the month, then a cashback card is a great option. For eg If you intend to spend £3000, with Amex (5% cashback for 1st 3 months) you can get £100 (capped) cashback.

If you want to spread it over for as long as possible then for a £3000 spend
- with Halifax after minimum payments (3%) for 12 months you will have to repay approx £2100

- with play after 9 months you will have to arrange for approx £2300 to repay

From that perspective which would be more suitable? While a £15 voucher looks attractive, a single late charge or non-repayment can wipe that out.

sundaygirl wrote: »

Also how long does it take to get one. I'm assuming Halifax will be quicker as they said I was "pre-approved".

Halifax could be quicker

sundaygirl wrote: »

And Halifax is Mastercard and Play is Visa - does this make much of a difference?

No

IWantToBeFree_2

Remember that if you purchase a holiday on a credit card you will normally get charged a fee of around 2.5% for using a credit card rather than a debit card. Some travel agents will waive this fee if you take out one of their own credit cards (Thomas Cook used to do this) but they may not offer interest free purchases.