question regarding TravelMoneyMax

illuminate

At the advice of this I have applied and been accepted for a Halifax Clarity Credit Card for my forthcoming holiday.

The main reason was the savings possible while I'm away when compared with other options.

However, I'm presently preparing to travel and need to do a couple of transactions in the UK prior to leaving.

The first is the balance of the apartment payment. The owner prefers payment in Euros into her bank account either prior to or upon arrival in Croatia. I'm presuming that there is no way that I could benefit from the Clarity card for this other than by paying her in local currency once we have arrived.

The second involves buying a small amount of Croatian Kuna in the UK so that we are not 100% dependant upon finding a working ATM at Split airport when we land.

TravelMoneyMax seems to infer that the Clarity Credit card could be used for buying currency in the UK as it comes top of its recommendations when using the calculator, both for collection and delivered. Surely this can't be the case ? I can only withdraw £ in the UK and though I could use it to purchase Kuna from a bureaux or online I would then be subject to the charges and ex. rates of my choice of that particular source, rather than those of the card itself. So it would be no different to using cash or my debit card.

So the card is fine outside of the UK, but no different under any other circumstances. Am I understanding this right ?

zagfles

What I usually do is just take some GBP cash, and in the unlikely event of no working ATM at the airport, just change some at the airport. The rate will probably be bad but it's only a backup option which you're unlikely to need.

Usually the airport's website has details of ATM's, ie how many there are, where they are etc. In any case you might find you can pay for onward travel by CC.

If you really want to take a small amount, the rate doesn't make a lot of difference, eg to get £50 worth it'll probably be £2-3 difference between the best and worst rates.

Herbalus

illuminate wrote: »

TravelMoneyMax seems to infer that the Clarity Credit card could be used for buying currency in the UK as it comes top of its recommendations when using the calculator, both for collection and delivered. Surely this can't be the case ? I can only withdraw £ in the UK and though I could use it to purchase Kuna from a bureaux or online I would then be subject to the charges and ex. rates of my choice of that particular source, rather than those of the card itself. So it would be no different to using cash or my debit card.

Of course the credit card is not cash. It is in the tool because it's the best way to spend abroad, and normally that is what you want to do when you search for currency. If you want to take cash, or give some Australian Dollars to your mate, then obviously the card will not work. I have heard of some cash machines in London that dispense euros.

zagfles

Herbalus wrote: »

Of course the credit card is not cash. It is in the tool because it's the best way to spend abroad, and normally that is what you want to do when you search for currency. If you want to take cash, or give some Australian Dollars to your mate, then obviously the card will not work. I have heard of some cash machines in London that dispense euros.

You have to be careful with these - most Euro dispensing cash machines in the UK will charge your card in GBP at a really rubbish rate. There's one at Liverpool airport which was offering about 1.03 when I was last there :eek:

Unlike machines abroad, they don't usually give you the choice of paying in EUR or GBP.