Visa credit card for travelling

francissm

Hi I frequently travel outside of europe for work, and I need a credit card that offers reasonable rates for purchases and withdrawals. All of the cards listed on the site with good rates seem to be mastercards. My experience is that outside of developed coutnries, mastercard is not widely accepted, and I have been stung before by only having a mastercard with me. Does any body know a good visa card that can be used abroad cheaply? I want a card where I don't have to use the issuer as my bank.

Thanks! :money:

NiftyDigits

SAGA Platinum credit card

chattychappy

francissm wrote: »

My experience is that outside of developed coutnries, mastercard is not widely accepted

A couple of hours ago pulled VND8million (about £240) out of an ATM in Vietnam using a Mastercard CC.

Granted Vietnam is not the most undeveloped of countries...

DpchMd

I do a lot of travelling for work and I use the following cards for travel rewards:

BA Amex (For BA Exec Club Avios)
BMI Visa (For diamond club miles which can be converted to BA Exec Club)
Marriott Rewards Mastercard (For free hotel stays in Marriott)

I would never withdraw cash on a credit card, home or abroad, so the rates are irrelevant to me.

reclusive46

Norwich and Peterborough debit card is a Visa and that has no abroad fees and is even better for withdrawing. Aqua credit card also has no forex and is a Visa but tends to give low limits

ElDavido

N&P, Santander (existing customers only) and Metrobank all do debit cards that have no handling fees, no overseas transaction fees and no withdrawal fees. That's what I am planning to use when travelling.

With regards to credit cards overseas I would avoid using them for cash completely. Halifax, Nationwide, Post Office and Sainsburys all offer good credit cards for using abroad. Search 'best credit cards for travelling' and you'll get a plethora of helpful comparison tables.

chattychappy

DpchMd wrote: »

I would never withdraw cash on a credit card, home or abroad, so the rates are irrelevant to me.

ElDavido wrote: »

With regards to credit cards overseas I would avoid using them for cash completely. Halifax, Nationwide, Post Office and Sainsburys all offer good credit cards for using abroad.

Personally I avoid using debit cards when overseas. They give access to my money, and fraudulent transactions on my current account could cause all sorts of problems, even if ultimately reversible. When overseas, it can be a pain if to sort out problems if you need to sign a paper form or visit a branch. Until you do, you could be high and dry for paying your normal bills.

Santander Zero is loading/fee free, and you only pay interest from the date of the transaction. (I believe Zero is no longer available, but Halifax Clarity operates the same way.) I withdrew approx £240 yesterday and paid by internet banking today. The interest will be about 16p or 0.07%. But for me, the most important thing is that I have a firebreak between transactions I perform here (ie abroad) and my UK current account. If there is fraud on Zero, then it is THEIR money, not mine. I can switch to another card whilst it is being sorted out and my UK bills will continue to be paid out of my current account in the normal way.

Yep, in general CCs are very expensive for cash but there are exceptions and they come with advantages too.

Sorry to OP who was really asking about Visa cards in particular.

ElDavido

Yeah I use two current accounts, one to withdraw money and one to store money which helps to negate the security issues. But I'm using it for backpacking which is probably vastly different to a business style usage.

Plxply

ElDavido wrote: »

Yeah I use two current accounts, one to withdraw money and one to store money which helps to negate the security issues. But I'm using it for backpacking which is probably vastly different to a business style usage.

I wouldn't say it would be rare on this board. I never withdraw from ATM's apart from when abroad so when in the UK I have an account with money and an account that I have available to withdraw some money from. All purchases are on credit cards. In Portugal I would transfer the money online to my Metro Bank account and withdraw it later that day.

System

Aqua issue MasterCards

reclusive46 wrote: »

Norwich and Peterborough debit card is a Visa and that has no abroad fees and is even better for withdrawing. Aqua credit card also has no forex and is a Visa but tends to give low limits

Mishomeister

reclusive46 wrote: »

Norwich and Peterborough debit card is a Visa and that has no abroad fees and is even better for withdrawing. Aqua credit card also has no forex and is a Visa but tends to give low limits

Aqua is MASTERCARD