Off to India - credit card advice and credit ratings info

blakeybea

Hi there

Been reading up on the MSE section on using credit cards abroad as I'm off to India in a couple of weeks!

My question is does having a credit card for a short period of time affect your credit rating?

I'm looking at the Sainsburys card as they don't charge you fees for cash withdrawals but they charge you £5 for having the card (including travel insurance). Therefore I was thinking about getting it for a couple of months to cover while I'm away then cancelling this but I'm worried how this affects my credit rating???

Any advice on credit ratings or using cards in India much appreciated!

londoner1998

Hello
I am just back from India- I spent five weeks there and paid for most of my shopping and my whole hotel stay with my Halifax Clarity: no overseas fees. It worked really well, as most places accept Mastercard. If you get stuck you can also get cash from an ATM with it (but you will pay daily interest on that, so you can transfer the money from your current account straight away to minimise the interest in the cash advance). I tried to do this once and for some reason the ATM wouldn't accept my card. But for paying in shops, hotels and restaurants it worked perfectly.

You don't pay monthly fees on the card and you get a free £5 if you spend over £300 per month. Bear in mind Halifax tend to give a high interest rate but also high credit limits (I pay my balance in full each month so that interest rate is irrelevant). I have had it for around a month and I am pretty satisfied with it.

Good luck

londoner1998

ps- I don't know how will it affect your credit rating by having the card for only a couple of months- but you can have the card and not use it after India... then wait for the six months to go and cancel if you want. I would keep it open for a bit.

blakeybea

Hi there

Thanks so much for the advice - went into a branch of halifax yesterday and they tried to sell me a current account but suppose I could still do it online!

Can I ask what you did about cash then? Did you just take a load of pounds and exchange once you got there or did you do travellers cheques/prepaid currency loading cards?

Also where abouts did you travel if you don't mind me asking?

Cheers
Gem