Question about Travel Credit Cards

GeorgeRob

Hi,

I'm going to Poland with my girlfriend for 5 days in August. Read on MSE that the Halifax Clarity Credit Card offers the best value for money, over getting cash converted into Polish Zloty.

We're budgeting £350 each for the holiday, so I was going to apply for a £700 credit limit when I get the card. But I just have a couple of questions:

It says in the details: "Minimum credit limit £500. Your cash limit is 50% of your actual limit." - what does the 2nd part of that mean?

And I imagine we will be using this card to take cash out of cash points a lot whilst there - but it says I'll be charged interest on the cash from the day it's taken out - so is this really the best option? Or should I only use this card for paying in restaurants & shops etc, and take half our £700 in cash maybe?

Thanks for any help.

Wammer

1. It means that if you have a credit limit of £700 you can only withdraw £350 a month in cash.

2, Yes you will be charged interest from when it is appears on you statement until you pay it off. Yes it really is the best option. If you get the 12.9% rate you will pay roughly 1% if you don't pay it back for a month or 0.25% if you pay it back when you get home after 5 days.

3. It is best to pay what you can with the card as a purchase and only withdraw cash for incidentals.

zagfles

Wammer wrote: »

1. It means that if you have a credit limit of £700 you can only withdraw £350 a month in cash.

No that's not what it means. The credit limit is the most your outstanding balance can be, not what you can spend per month. So the cash limit is the most your outstanding cash advance balance can be, ie half your credit limit.

If you pay your card off on the due date (IIRC 25 days after the statement date) you'll have nearly two months worth of purchases/cash advances outstanding on it, so the amount you can spend per month is about half the credit limit. Or if you make interim payments you could spend far more than your credit limit per month.

2, Yes you will be charged interest from when it is appears on you statement until you pay it off. Yes it really is the best option. If you get the 12.9% rate you will pay roughly 1% if you don't pay it back for a month or 0.25% if you pay it back when you get home after 5 days.

Or even a bit less - which is a lot cheaper than the exchange rate markup for changing cash.

Also watch out for DCC which is prevelant in Poland. Always insist on paying in Zloty and check your receipts are in Zloty not GBP.

lisyloo

Is this really the best option?

Yes (assuming you're going to pay off the cash relatively quickly).
The interest is about 1% per month.
Getting currency beforehand involves commission which will be higher (around 4%?)
So yes it's best.
If you have free wifi then make a faster payment from your bank immediately for zero interest.
If you don't have free and safe internet access the after 2 weeks the bill will be 0.5%, so cheaper than taking cash which will costs a lot more.