The Great "Using plastic abroad" Hunt

703Stuart

Took dollar cards to USA (and Canada) as a useful way of giving teenagers some independance without carrying large sums of cash. Experienced repeated issues with refusal to accept at shops using 'PIN' machines. When swiped card was rejected as well. No problem when using same machine with a credit card. Card woprked well in restuarants and hotels.

zagfles

huw01 wrote: »

However I now only use debit cards to withdraw ATM cash so to avoid any interest charges that the Halifax Clarity would accrue and use the Clarity card for purchases only.

I have also noticed that two identical amounts taken out one after another on the N&P (visa debit) and the Metrobank (MasterCard debit) can be quite different amounts when converted into sterling. I've noticed a difference of up to 70p on a conversion of €200.!

The rates are different, and usually by more than 0.35%. For instance todays rate for AUD is 1.739111 on Mastercard, and 1.724557 on VISA.

https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/index.html
http://www.visaeurope.com/en/cardholders/exchange_rates.aspx

I had a choice of Nationwide FlexPlus (VISA), no fee for ATM withdrawals, or Halifax Clarity (Mastercard) with about 1% per month interest, but I did a bit of research before I went and it looked like the Mastercard rate was on average over 1% better than the VISA rate, so I used the Clarity for all my cash withdrawals.

smala01

£4 per transaction charge for cash in thailand!

NiftyDigits

smala01 wrote: »

£4 per transaction charge for cash in thailand!

150 to 180 baht baht for ATM withdrawals, except for AEON ATM or withdrawals over the counter. Don't over-simplify.

NiftyDigits

703Stuart wrote: »

Took dollar cards to USA (and Canada) as a useful way of giving teenagers some independance without carrying large sums of cash. Experienced repeated issues with refusal to accept at shops using 'PIN' machines. When swiped card was rejected as well. No problem when using same machine with a credit card. Card worked well in restuarants and hotels.

You probably need to choose the 'credit card' option when using a Prepaid card and given the choice in North America.

anjak-j

The last time I went to Canada - Vancouver to be precise - it was with a large group of friends who live in the UK, France and Germany. We found just one ATM in the entirety of downtown Vancouver that would accept European-style Chip and PIN cards, though I didn't have much of a problem using my card to pay for things at shops.

I had absolutely no problems using my card in New York, not in ATMs or for Point-of-Sale transactions. Though that might be because there is a lot of foreign tourism in New York, meaning it may be better set up for use of foreign cards than other areas of the United States.

Gloomendoom

I've used Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards in ATMs in out of the way small towns in the USA without any problems. Generally at Bank of America ATMs. Also used them at point of sale and in the post office, again no problems.

Pay-at-pump petrol sometimes requires a zip code to match the card which is obviously a non-starter.

Koala

We successfully used our Nationwide credit card recently in Iceland - I did call Nationwide beforehand just to let them know when and where we were going, to try to avoid the transactions being rejected because they looked like 'unusual activity'.

keet83

When Nationwide's Flex account was free to use worldwide, I travelled to Canada. The Flex account was Visa however I struggled to find a cash machine that accepted Visa, instead they only accepted Mastercard.
This was back in 2005 so things may have changed a little, I know that the Flex account is only free within Europe now as well.

davidxhobbs

We were in Germany for three weeks this summer and found that acceptance of credit cards (English or Spanish) was very patchy. As we had not expected this, we ended up having to withdraw cash using our Spanish debit card and got hit with a five euro charge! We won't be going back.