Buying travel money with a credit card?

02737640

I have been trying to think of a way to buy travel money with my credit card without getting charged intrest every month and without getting charged a cash advance fee. I now know that this happens when travel money is purchased as i posted up about my problem last week. I have now got my new tesco credit card which is 0% for 12 months on purchases only.

If i went into a thomas cook store and bought $1500 using my credit card would i not be safe. I could be purchasing anything from thomas cook so how would the credit card company know that it is currency i have bought? could be a holiday for all they know.

Just a thought. I am desperate for the dollars

YorkshireBoy

02737640 wrote: »

I could be purchasing anything from thomas cook so how would the credit card company know that it is currency i have bought? could be a holiday for all they know.

Because the transaction is assigned a Merchant Category Code (MCC) denoting CASH :eek:. Google for more details.

You don't fancy an application for the M&S card then?

darkcloudi

If your worried about the fees why not buy the currency from Tesco using your Tesco credit card where they won't charge you a fee http://www.tescofinance.com/personal/finance/finance/travelmoney/index.jsp
and I presume this would be counted as a purchase and be on 0% interest

YorkshireBoy

darkcloudi wrote: »

...I presume this would be counted as a purchase and be on 0% interest

I think you presume incorrectly. They're very careful (deceitful even?) in their wording, in that they only mention fees free.

02737640

I phoned up tesco and they said that i would get charged intrest and i can only buy £450 worth of currency. waste of time me applying for their credit card.

yorkshireboy - as i have been applying for credit last weekend i am getting rejected now as im applying for too much as im desperatly trying to find a way of buying the dollars. I am interested in the money transfer 0% for 13 months from mbna. They are reviewing my application. Probs get declined if it does will just have to try in my partners name.

JANINE3994

Not sure if this will help - but I've got a Tesco credit card - 0% until August.

I recently bought travellers cheques from Tesco & have just looked online at my statement & it is classed as a 'purchase' - didn't pay any fees either.

Don't know if this would be any different for foreign currency......

02737640

Really? Thats good to know. Everytime i phone up they tell me something different so i really dont know what to believe. They also told me that if i wanted to buy currency i can only spend £450 although my credit limit is £1500. Not sure if this is true.

when did you buy the cheques and was it online you bought them or did you go into a store?

JANINE3994

Bought £1k worth of sterling travellers cheques at the end of March - bought them on-line at Tesco Finance/Travel.

It is listed as Travelex & is classed as a purchase on my statement.

I've got 0% with Tesco until August & have just checked my latest statement & there are definitely no fees or interest charged.

As I say, don't know if this would be different for currency.

It states no cash advance fee or handling fee for currency/travellers cheques if you pay with your Tesco credit card - so I viewed it that it's just the same as paying by cash or debit card but you get your 0% for however long.

Hope that helps & hope you manage to get your currency OK.

02737640

Just heard back from MBNA. got accepted for a credit card. I am now able to transfer the £1000 i need from the credit card to my bank account. 0% APR for 13 months so im really happy now thats it sorted

drymartini64

02737640 wrote: »

I have been trying to think of a way to buy travel money with my credit card without getting charged intrest every month and without getting charged a cash advance fee. I now know that this happens when travel money is purchased as i posted up about my problem last week. I have now got my new tesco credit card which is 0% for 12 months on purchases only.

If i went into a thomas cook store and bought $1500 using my credit card would i not be safe. I could be purchasing anything from thomas cook so how would the credit card company know that it is currency i have bought? could be a holiday for all they know.

Just a thought. I am desperate for the dollars

DO not buy with any credit card. Get a Fair FX Dollar card through Moneysupermarket .com, so it is free. Then use your debit card to buy dollars. I have two euro cards and get more from them then anyone else. martin will tell you that.