Cheapest way to spend overseas discussion

Anon

I have set up a Nationwide Flex account purely for when travelling overseas - cannot recall the specifics but you get the same preferential exchange rate (non-loaded) as their credit card and also do not get charged extra for taking cash out (cashpoint etc) therefore works out much cheaper than travellers cheques or credit card and you only withdraw as and when required.

The obvious caution is to ensure that you have money in the account before you travel.

Anon

crunchy_with_ketchup

Following Martin's article, I applied for a L&V credit card, as we are planning a trip to France shortly. They turned me down, which is the first time I have been turned down for a card.

I have stoozed a little over the last two years, have a couple of long standing cards, and have just applied for a Virgin card and Amex blue (before the L&P). My past credit history is good, and I have recently checked that.

Now I know there are a million and one reasons why I may have been turned down but:

1) Anyone have any insights as to most likely reason? Are L&P just very choosy, do I have too many cards, have I ahd too many over the past couple of years, is it because I have applied for three cards close together, is my overall credit limit just too high?
2) Will their refusal hurt my credit rating? If so, should I hold off making any more applications (I want to get a Cahoot card for use online)?
Edit(Ignore 2, just reread the letter, and they don't share the info, so will only show up as a search)
Thanks

Crunchy

HGLTsuperstar

I used my Nationwide c/card overseas last year & got a nice cashback come December. However they have now stopped cashback for overseas transactions, but if I preload my card from my Flex Acount here in the UK before I go, as this isnt a foreign transaction, will I get the cashback?

student100

Okay, so hopefully you know by now that pretty much the cheapest way to spend abroad is a Nationwide credit card. However, they offer three choices: Classic (with a 6 month 0% intro rate), Cashback, and Comic Relief.

Which one do you choose? Well:

• probably not Classic, because you want to use this card for spending each time you travel, rather than just for stoozing for six months.
• probably not Cashback: you can't get cashback when you use the Nationwide card outside of the UK anyway, and of course being a good Moneysaver you already have the best cashback card (which pays much better than the Nationwide card) to use for spending in the UK. You'll only be using the Nationwide card when you're abroad.
• So, that leaves the Comic Relief card. Whilst ordinarily you would shun "charity" credit cards, the Comic Relief card from Nationwide is special because it doesn't load transactions when you spend abroad. For every spend you make on the card, Nationwide gives 0.5% of the value to Comic Relief (even, as far as I can tell, for purchases made abroad). What's more, the interest-free period on this card is 56 days (the same as Nationwide's Classic card, but 10 days more than the Cashback card), so you get longer interes-free before you have to clear the balance. (Which of course you do each month, so you don't care about the interest rate, because you never pay interest). As a bonus, when you sign up for the Nationwide Comic Relief card, Nationwide gives an extra £5.65 to Comic Relief.

So if you're going to open a Nationwide credit card just to use for your holidays, go for the Comic Relief card and help out charity at the same time as saving yourself money. As a bonus, if you open a card account before 30 April 2005 Nationwide will double the sign-up gift to Comic Relief to £11.30.


Note that this post is no way meant to be an advert for Nationwide even though it might sound like one! I just want to encourage as many people as possible to help a good cause at no extra cost to them at the same time as saving themselves some money.

money_money_monica

I'm probably being stupid but why is the charge for taking out £1750 from the Liverpool Victoria Credit Card £13.50
I make it either £16.50

£1000 in purchases =£0

2x £200 worth of Euros = 2 x £3 = £6
2 x £100 worth of Euros = 2 x £1.50 = £3
5 x £30 worth of Euros = 5x £1.50 = £7.50

= £16.50

Or if you withdraw the 5 x £30 (£150) in one transaction. This would then cost £2.25 instead of £7.50 this would give a total charge of £11.25

I just don't understand????? Help please

grumbler

You are not stupid. Your calculations are correct :T .I think this is Martin's mistake or most likely just misprint - '6' is next to '3' on the numeric keypad.

DaveCarpetbag

I will be holidaying in Orlando later this year - does anyone know please if there are convenient cashpoints where I can withdraw with my Nationwide Flexaccount debit card, and will they charge?

jnd

The majority of ATM's will charge you for the privilege of using them.

You won't have any problem finding one.

armthorpian

From 1st June 2005 LV will be increasing their loading fee to 2.75% from 1% for all foreign currency transactions outside of the EU. So for purchases outside of the EU it won't be the most competitive option.

Loading remains at 0% within the EU, so its still a good choice for use in Europe.

They have also abolished their travel accident insurance and purchase protection, on the grounds that "customers seldom make use" of these services!

Armthorpian

tug

:rotfl:
I used my Caravan Club credit card, issued by Liverpool Victoria, last month in Mallorca. Two restaurants presented me with a transaction slip for signature which showed the rate I was being charged in Sterling. The slip also contained a disclaimer saying that I had "chosen not to use the Mastercard currency conversion process and agreed that I had no recourse against Mastercard concerning the currency conversion or it's disclosure."
Although the rate charged was the going rate of 1.40 to the £ similar transactions on the same day were charged by LV at the rate of 1.4374!
I asked LV for advice in the future and asked if I would be OK to refuse the currency conversion offered by the merchant.
LV replied, "You must be asked at the time of the transaction, which currency you prefer to be charged in and not just presented with a receipt to sign. I would suggest that in future, you stipulate that you wish to use local currency if you are aware that the rate is better as the merchant cannot refuse to do this."