credit card newbie- advice please,which one for travelling?

so83

Hi everyone,
I have never had a credit card (which I am quite proud of..) and have always used my barclays visa debit for purchases, holidays abroad, etc.
but now the time has come.. we are planning on going to the US in march, for 2 weeks and want to hire a car. I have already asked in the holiday forum and most people are saying we should use a credit card for car hire and hotels.
As I have never had a credit card, I don't quite understand how they work..(maybe i'm just stupid?!)
I want to get one, just for this holiday. We do have the funds in our current accounts, so I could pay it back straight away.
Do you have any tips, advice please? I had a look at the MSE section about credit cards but found it rather confusing...

unimaginative_user_name

Have you ever had any other form credit like a catalogue account or a loan? It's not easy to get a credit card if you have no record of dealing with credit.

it might be best to apply to the bank your current account is with or failing that there are some subprime cards that are easier to get but you'll get a small limit and the interest rate would be higher (30% at least).

The best way to use a credit card is to repay in full by the date on your statement as then the card will waive interest. In this case the interest rate doesn't matter as you won't pay interest. If you can't repay in full you will be charged interest from the date of the transaction on the whole balance

There are some credit cards which are better than others for cash withdrawals as they give good rates and don't charge per transaction though you will pay interest as it is classed as a cash advance. However unless you bank with the cc provider as well it would probably be hard to get this type of card as your first credit card.

Rereading your post again I see you are not travelling until March so if you can obtain a cc now and start spending on it just a little each month and clear your balance in full you might find you could get a specialist card in February next year such as Halifax Clarity.

Hope this is helpful.

badger09

so83 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I have never had a credit card (which I am quite proud of..) and have always used my barclays visa debit for purchases, holidays abroad, etc.
but now the time has come.. we are planning on going to the US in march, for 2 weeks and want to hire a car. I have already asked in the holiday forum and most people are saying we should use a credit card for car hire and hotels.
As I have never had a credit card, I don't quite understand how they work..(maybe i'm just stupid?!)
I want to get one, just for this holiday. We do have the funds in our current accounts, so I could pay it back straight away.
Do you have any tips, advice please? I had a look at the MSE section about credit cards but found it rather confusing...

If you have some credit history, you could try this one. I've had it for several years for holidays etc and my son who has never had a credit card before (35, good salary, mortgage & mobile phone contract) got instant acceptance when he applied recently.

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/finance/credit-cards-loans/credit-card?RMGPOPPC=post+office+credit+card&campaignid=PPC_CC&AFFCLIEPO=03

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