Halifax mastercard

hunsbury0

I would just withdraw the $ 500 from an atm in US, that is, if not you already have purchased the $500 in currency.
Atm s in us charge 1-2 $ per withdrawal, so withdraw all $500 in one go.
Pay the the cash amount withdrawn in US as soon as you are back in uk, do not wait for the statement, to minimise the charges.

When I went to US for 3 weeks, I withdrew at $ 500 cash in one go & as soon as I saw the the transaction appear on Clarity online a/c, I paid the Halifax Credit card straight away using my netbook & free wi-fi,to minimise the charges, & the charges were only pennies.
Cheaper than changing £ to $ cash at an exchange bureau.
Remember to inform the dates & destinations to Halifax Clarity to avoid the card being blocked for unusual spending pattern.

YorkshireBoy

hunsbury0 wrote: »

Pay the the cash amount withdrawn in US as soon as you are back in uk, do not wait for the statement, to minimise the charges.

According to the T&Cs, if there's a pre-existing statemented purchases balance they'll need to pay the full balance, ie New York purchases as well, not just the cash element, in order to avoid interest, if the cash transaction hasn't appeared on an official statement.


Just something to be aware of.

bitsandbobs

Have let them know the dates im going, think ill just withdraw what i need and spend what i need when im over there and check my online account as soon as im back and pay it all of before the statement arrvies. Figure it will be a couple of days behind with the transactions showing but i should be able to clear of the first couple of days spending when i get home and then keep logging in daily and paying whatever the balance is until my final purchases have shown on it.

opinions4u

hunsbury0 wrote: »

I would just withdraw the $ 500 from an atm in US, that is, if not you already have purchased the $500 in currency.
Atm s in us charge 1-2 $ per withdrawal, so withdraw all $500 in one go.

TD Bank ATMs in New York State don't charge a withdrawal fee.

bigadaj

bitsandbobs wrote: »

Have let them know the dates im going, think ill just withdraw what i need and spend what i need when im over there and check my online account as soon as im back and pay it all of before the statement arrvies. Figure it will be a couple of days behind with the transactions showing but i should be able to clear of the first couple of days spending when i get home and then keep logging in daily and paying whatever the balance is until my final purchases have shown on it.

That's probably the best strategy as you can only take out what you need so as well as benefitting from a Good exchange rate and low fees you can carry less cash to guard against loss or theft and should, avoid costs changing back to sterling at the end.

Looking at all that it's worth a couple of quid in interest though you do need at least a back up of another card even if that costs more in case the halifax card does hit a problem.

bitsandbobs

bigadaj wrote: »

That's probably the best strategy as you can only take out what you need so as well as benefitting from a Good exchange rate and low fees you can carry less cash to guard against loss or theft and should, avoid costs changing back to sterling at the end.

Looking at all that it's worth a couple of quid in interest though you do need at least a back up of another card even if that costs more in case the halifax card does hit a problem.

Yes did think of this, have actually got a second card on same account for my wife so if we were to lose one or something we would have another. Will also take a spare visa and my debit card just in case.

Found a TD Bank not far from where we are staying so if they dont charge for withdrawls think ill use my Halifax visa there to get money out when i need it.