Help! Using credit cards in France

wrenlegs

Am going to have to pay a hotel by ccard (mastercard or amex). Will this be costly?
:money:

ironlady2022

You will have to pay a foreign transaction fee unless you have a credit card that gives you 0% fee transactions abroad. The usually the rate is very poor.

dzug1

It will be no more costly than most other methods of paying and cheaper than some. There will be no foreign transaction fee (I can't think of a credit card that charges one) and the typical foreign exchange loading is 2.75%

ironlady2022

Sorry that is what I meant

simongregson

It will probably be less than the cost if you changed cash in the UK before you went, even with the 2.75% fee if you don't have one of the best buy for use abroad cards.

YorkshireBoy

wrenlegs wrote: »

Am going to have to pay a hotel by ccard (mastercard or amex). Will this be costly?

Dig out your T&Cs (or even glance at your card's summary box) and you'll see the foreign exchange loading shown as a percentage...typically 2.75-2.99%.

Bear in mind you'll probably get the interbank rate by paying with your credit card, which may in itself be 3-4% better than the high street travel agent/Post Office rate you'd perhaps normally exchange your cash at.

So, in summary, it's about £3 or so per £100 spent. Do you think that's "costly"?

richard734

As an aditional piece of advice, give the issuer a call and let them know what you are doing, Tesco are very good at spotting a £100 + Spend in another country and stapping that card as out of normal pattern Saves the cost of an emabaressed international call