Best Card to use in Gibraltar

srhutch

Need some help here on which of my two cards I should use in Gibraltar.

Have a tesco clubcard which I used in Jersey last year and appears wasn't loaded in any way, so might not get charged in Gib.

Also have an Abbey/Santander Zero Card which doesn't charge any exchange rate fees, but charges interest from day one.

Which is likely to cost less?

Thanks in advance.

Fergie76

They have UK Banks there so should not charge anything that you would not be charged here.

srhutch

I'm thinking the Santander person I spoke to gave me duff info. Looking on the back of my statement and from what I can see online there does not appear to be any charges for card purchases regarding immediate interest for foreign purchase. If they do charge I will kick up a sting, but worse case is 1.45% instead of Tesco charging 2.75% exchange fee (if I got charged that)

zagfles

Gibraltar use GBP so there should be no forex fee with any card surely? I've been there but didn't use a CC or make a withdrawal, but I did spend GBP I had with me...

srhutch

I agree with you, but not what tesco said, would rather use tesco as gain points. Might do a smallish tesco transaction and check a few days later see what they charge.

opinions4u

I've just used my Halifax credit card (not Clarity) for a purchase in Gib - no fees.

Halifax current account in a Nat West ATM to withdraw £100 of local funny money - no fees.

The cost of cigs has gone up by about a third in the last year though!

djk99

You shouldn't pay any extra charges when using a UK card in Gib. i.e. no ATM withdrawal fees for debit cards and no transaction charges for either debit or credit charges.However, if you are travelling to Spain from Gib ensure you get Euros BEFORE you leave the Rock if paying in local Gibraltar Pounds as they will not be accepted in mainland Spain.

oscarward

Small caveat, when we were there the ATM's ask if you want Gibraltar notes or English notes. We discovered that virtually nobody wanted to accept the gibraltar notes back in the UK unlike Jersey or IOM notes.

Lloyds bank and the couple of exchange bureux I tried wouldn't, I asked at Lloyds why and they didn't know. Just an instruction not to accept, they suggested 'cos there were a lot of forgeries.

My wife finally found a Post Office exchange which would take them but she suspects they hadn't read their manual properly...;)

cepheus

srhutch wrote: »

I'm thinking the Santander person I spoke to gave me duff info. Looking on the back of my statement and from what I can see online there does not appear to be any charges for card purchases regarding immediate interest for foreign purchase. If they do charge I will kick up a sting, but worse case is 1.45% instead of Tesco charging 2.75% exchange fee (if I got charged that)

The card should give you an interest free period on card purchases, if it is a new card it should be 6 months interest free unless they have recently changed the terms.

The interest from day 1 only applies to cash withdrawals.