Never had a credit card - Need advice!

dcardwell

Hi there,

Basically, I've never had a credit card, and to be honest, am not completely sure about how they work.

I have a couple of trips abroad planned, with travel costs totalling perhaps four or five hundred pounds. I have the money to pay for them, so it's not that I need to borrow money, but I would rather not pay the whole amount at once because I like to always have a few hundred pounds in the bank in case of emergencies etc. I have a friend who uses a credit card for things like this and they say it works well for them, but I don't really understand how they work..

Could I book my trips and pay them off in monthly instalments without facing any interest or fees? If so, is there any specific card that anyone could recommend? If you book holidays, pay for items, etc on your credit card and keep up with the payments, do you then have to pay interest, or is that only applicaable for when you have missed payments/ not made adequate payments?

mum2one

Your best bet as not having a credit card before, I would go through your bank, as you will have built up a financial relationship with them, make sure that your on the electrol role.

Sometimes there offer an introducty offer - such as 0% apr for 9 mths, that would be from the date of opening, if you didn't clear your balance at the 9mth anniversary what would be left would then be charged interest on.

if your intending to use your card abroad, you need to notify the card company, with the dates your going, so that they know its you using the card and not been stolen or cloned. Also take into account that there can be commission charges of upto 3% of the bill, - all dependant on the card that you have.

If you pay the balance in full each month then you won't occur interest, but any again any balance carried forward would be chargeable for interest.

what you need to do with the first card is establish a good credit with it, ie if you can pay off in full each month, I would suggest setting up a direct debit with just the minimum being paid, so if you are away or anything crops up, postal strike, xmas (extra postage etc), then your covered, when your statement comes there be a slip where you can take that to a bank and pay any additional money.

If you keep the card in good order for 6 months, then consider applying for a 2nd card with a lower apr.

Remember that card applications even if unsuccessful leave a footprint on your credit report, and if someone had applied for 6 cards in a week, this for another would be like a red rag to a bull, they would be asking questions such as - why does this person made numeous appliactions, why have they been turned down, is there a financial mess. Whereas you may have been turned down by one company and try another -even thou there would have been a valid reason, it doesn't always appear like that.

apologies if it seems like i have mother-henned you, just looking at all options. x