credit cards abroad

yakimov85

Hi,

I'm travelling abroad (gran canaria) on monday, and i need to get some spending money arranged. since this was a last minute holiday I don;t have time to apply for credit cards with best offers for use abroad. I currently have a Natwest Classic Credit card with 12 months interest free purchases, however, I read on the main site that Natwest can be expensive to use abroad because they charge a % for every transaction. I'm looking to exchange £200 cash and probably around £500 more as cash or credit on credit card (not debit). Any advice?:money:

Thanks,

yakimov85

any suggestions?

YorkshireBoy

Check out the 'money transfer' feature on your card.

You should be able to get a transfer of cash into your current account fee-free, but at your standard purchases rate ie circa 17.9% APR (that's a good 10 percentage points below the cash advance rate and fee-free as I said).

There may be an 'advance limit' of around 50% of your credit limit. Is there a balance on there now? Is it cash? What's your limit?

dzug1

The problem with Natwest is not that they charge a fee (in the form of a surcharge on the exchange rate - as do most cards) but that they do it twice, in that they use a doctored exchange rate rather than that supplied by Visa/Mastercard and then surcharge it.

Not sure you have much choice in the time available to you.

stilltheone

yakimov85 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm travelling abroad (gran canaria) on monday, and i need to get some spending money arranged. since this was a last minute holiday I don;t have time to apply for credit cards with best offers for use abroad. I currently have a Natwest Classic Credit card with 12 months interest free purchases, however, I read on the main site that Natwest can be expensive to use abroad because they charge a % for every transaction. I'm looking to exchange £200 cash and probably around £500 more as cash or credit on credit card (not debit). Any advice?:money:

Thanks,

Travelex Cash Passport Globe You can pick it up at the airport four hours after ordering.

Mikhail

yakimov85 wrote: »

any suggestions?

Buy currency at the airport! :rotfl: but get there earlier there is a long queue!

SamMoore_2

The best think to do is to set up an account in the country you are visiting. Easy in the USA. Then either use cheques credit cards or better still cash back from large stores by debit card.

lisyloo

I think that NatWest may be "expensive" when compared to cheaper options.
However I don't think it's expensive on purchases when compared to changing currency at the airport or other places.

For cash remember that you will need to pay interest as well, so you haven't left yourself with too many options.

If you want to do it as cheaply as poosible then you need to plan in advance.
I use the Halifax Clarity credit card which has no fees/commission apart from 12.9% interest which is quite low if you pay the money back straghtawawy after a two week holiday.

yakimov85

would I get a better exchange rate if I change pounds into euros abroad?