Credit Card good for Travelling in Thailand

timbo29_2

Dear All,

I am lucky enough to go to Thailand next month for 2 weeks.

I want a credit card to take for emergency purposes and places where it is appropriate to use one - can anyone recommend one for good rates, charges etc

Rgards,
Tim

grumbler

Halifax Clarity
MSE article: Cheap Travel Credit Cards

Don't know about Thailand peculiarities (if any).

guesswho2000

Thailand is more or less the same as anywhere else, so any of your travel friendly CCs will do.

Most of their ATMs charge THB150 (£3ish) per cash withdrawal. This is a charge made by the ATM owner. Only Aeon ATMs don't charge this, to my knowledge, so try and make as few withdrawals as possible.


Credit cards are well accepted for payment from my experience though.

carousels

Both Aqua and Capital One Classic Extra are free to use abroad. As well as Halifax Clarity that's mentioned above. The same goes for the credit card and debit card issued by the Metro Bank.

Both the Aqua and Capital One have high APRs, so make sure you pay them off in full once the statement comes.

System

I believe that Visa has a higher acceptance rate in Thailand than MasterCard. Perhaps one of the other posters can confirm?

Metro Bank is now only useful in Europe.

carousels wrote: »

Both Aqua and Capital One Classic Extra are free to use abroad. As well as Halifax Clarity that's mentioned above. [STRIKE]The same goes for the credit card and debit card issued by the Metro Bank.[/STRIKE]

Both the Aqua and Capital One have high APRs, so make sure you pay them off in full once the statement comes.

reclusive46

Heng_Leng wrote: »

I believe that Visa has a higher acceptance rate in Thailand than MasterCard. Perhaps one of the other posters can confirm?

Metro Bank is now only useful in Europe.

Visa and MasterCard is accepted equally in Thailand (as they are in most countries). American Express is also generally accepted in Thailand as well.

carousels

Heng_Leng wrote: »

I believe that Visa has a higher acceptance rate in Thailand than MasterCard. Perhaps one of the other posters can confirm?

Metro Bank is now only useful in Europe.

Ooooh, did not know that. Thank you!

chattychappy

I frequently write on this topic as I use CCs overseas often, particularly in Asia.

Agree with the above posts. Also consider Post Office Mastercard for purchases (zero loading) and Barclaycard as a backup for cash. Barclaycard does charge 2.99% for foreign cash, but there are no other fees/charges and, unusually, for interest purposes they treat it like a purchase. So you can get up to 56 days interest free in return for your 2.99%.

CCs do tend to get blocked overseas, even if you let them know in advance of your travel plans. Also if a card gets swallowed or stolen, getting a replacement can be tricky when overseas. So do carry backups.

System

Guessed you missed all the fun

Lots of melodramatic posts about betrayal and that Metrobank would be sorry when they closed their unprofitable accounts filled with only with holiday money.

carousels wrote: »

Ooooh, did not know that. Thank you!

bigadaj

I've just converted to a flexplus account, as I've recently changed jobs so the holiday insurance and vehicle recovery insurances are worth the fee for me.

There's apparently no fee on the visa debit card on this account with overseas withdrawal, so I might use that in preference to my clarity on my next trip for cash, and just use clarity for purchases.

reclusive46

bigadaj wrote: »

There's apparently no fee on the visa debit card on this account with overseas withdrawal, so I might use that in preference to my clarity on my next trip for cash, and just use clarity for purchases.

Yeah thats what I do now. Use Nationwide for withdrawals and use the new no foreign transaction fee Lloyds Avios cards for purchases