Halifax Debit card to book USA hotels?

gwilo

I have a Halifax Visa Debit card, which I know is one of the worst cards to use when abroad. We are travelling to the USA for nearly a month long road trip in October, and we were hoping to book all our accommodation in advance from the UK so as not to have to use the card once we get there.

My question is; if we use the Halifax Debit card from here to pay for a hotel in the USA, is that just the same thing as actually using it over there? I would imagine that the ones booked through a UK site (such as Expedia for example) would be ok, but what about the smaller ones who we might have to phone in advance with our card details to pay?

Just trying to avoid Halifax's extortionate charges!

M4RKM

Bear in mind, some sites even if you book in advance in the UK won't take any payment, and you'll still pay on checkout. Also bear in mind, that even if you've fully prepaid your hotel, you will still need some kind of card to guarantee against.

I personally wouldn't use any kind of Debit card to pay for US hotels. They always pre authorise upon checkin, and this is not always cleared on checkout, therefore holding double what the hotel has actually cost for a few days.

The easiest thing to do, is get a Halifax Clarity card, and then manage the account online while you're abroad, you will be able to pay by card, and just transfer the money over as and when you need to pay it off.

misa.blue

I agree, just get Halifax Clarity Credit Card, it is great, no charges. We just used it on our US holiday and were really getting best exchange rates everyday. We calculated that if we used debit card, it would cost us at least £70 over our 17 days holiday!

gwilo

Thanks for the advice, however neither of us have good enough credit to get a card with the limit we'd need to cover nearly a month's holiday. We'll have to think again!

SpendlessKaren

What about if you got one of the prepayment type Visa cards and just keep in there the money you need for hotels ?

M4RKM

gwilo wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, however neither of us have good enough credit to get a card with the limit we'd need to cover nearly a month's holiday. We'll have to think again!

But can you get a halifax clarity card? You only need enough for 1 hotel stay, and then log in and pay it off, so on and so forth.

The other option is like Karen said and get a prepaid card. The rates are better, and you'll spend less..

This spreadsheet gives you an idea. To get $200, it is £5.45 more expensive on a Halifax Card than it is when compared to the cheapest method. http://m4rk.in/ksEN8D

The Caxton FX card comes out the best of the prepaid cards.