Best C/C for France! Halifax Clarity?

mathew_thomas1981

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a bit of advice. I'm off to France in 6 weeks time and wanted to know if the Halifax "clarity" card is the best way to spend abroad? I've had a look at it but please correct me if I have got anything wrong.

A) Is it always there or there abouts for best exchange rate?

Will I be charged to take money out of a cash machines in France?

C) Will I be charged if I use it for everyday spending i.e. meals out, drinks, supermarkets?

D) My plan is to set up a D/D to pay in full every month. Is this the best way?

Sorry for the million questions.

Cheers

zagfles

mathew_thomas1981 wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a bit of advice. I'm off to France in 6 weeks time and wanted to know if the Halifax "clarity" card is the best way to spend abroad? I've had a look at it but please correct me if I have got anything wrong.

A) Is it always there or there abouts for best exchange rate?

Yes. You get the Mastercard rate which is pretty much interbank. I was getting 1.25-1.26 over last few weeks. See https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/index.html

Will I be charged to take money out of a cash machines in France?

You will be charged interest from when you make the withdrawal till you pay it off. But it'll be trivial if you pay it off as soon as you get home. Halifax won't make any other charge. Like here there may be some machines which charge themselves, like small machines in corner shops, but normal ATMs don't charge.

C) Will I be charged if I use it for everyday spending i.e. meals out, drinks, supermarkets?

No.

D) My plan is to set up a D/D to pay in full every month. Is this the best way?

Not if you use if for cash, because it's best to pay it off manually if you do to minimise interest on cash advances. Having a DD can complicate things.

Watch out for DCC (dynamic currency conversion), where the retailer/ATM offers to convert the currency to GBP and charges your card in GBP rather than EUR. Never take this option, the rate will be rubbish. But doesn't seem too prevelant in France (unlike Spain and Ireland).

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Just back after 3 weeks.

Rate from my statement ranges from 1.2508 to 1.2648, though that was from the first week.

Only slightly annoying thing is your recent transactions don't show the exchange rate you got. It only shows once you get your statement (unless I'm missing it somewhere else).

I used mine for tolls, fuel, shopping and meals out.

mathew_thomas1981

Thanks everyone. That's my mind made up. ;-)

The place we are staying has Wi-Fi so if I log into my online bank account and pay off every night I shouldn't be charged any interest (or at least the day after and interest is then minimum)

zagfles

If you're just going to pay cash advances off straight away, bear in mind the two following things:

1) Make sure the cash advance has hit the account, otherwise the payment may go towards other items.
2) If you have an outstanding amount on a statement, that will always be paid before any amounts not yet on a statement. So if your trip spans a statement period, after the statement date you'll have to pay off the entire statement balance before you can pay off more cash advances.

But don't worry the interest will be fairly trivial anyway. I never bother paying it off while abroad, I just pay the whole lot when I get back.

knightstyle

Yes, the Halifax Clarity is great for France. But only pay your cash withdrawals a day after the withdrawal and the rest when you get a statement. Plus as others have said, make sure all transactions are in Euros.

help37

We use the Post office credit card in France.Free to use and good exchange rate.Used for petrol,supermarkets,attractions,tolls .We where there for 3 weeks and got 1'23heroes to the pound.

NiftyDigits

help37 wrote: »

We use the Post office credit card in France.Free to use and good exchange rate.Used for petrol,supermarkets,attractions,tolls .We where there for 3 weeks and got 1'23heroes to the pound.

1.23€ is not a good rate. Seems that you made the mistake of letting the French vendors bill you in your home currency instead of Euros.

zagfles

NiftyDigits wrote: »

1.23€ is not a good rate. Seems that you made the mistake of letting the French vendors bill you in your home currency instead of Euros.

I'd be surprised if French supermarkets, petrol stations and road tolls did DCC (except maybe round Calais). Doesn't seem particularly prevalent in France, I never bothered asking them to charge in Euros (as I always do in Spain and Ireland) and never once even got offered it, even at ATMs.

NiftyDigits

zagfles wrote: »

I'd be surprised if French supermarkets, petrol stations and road tolls did DCC (except maybe round Calais). Doesn't seem particularly prevalent in France, I never bothered asking them to charge in Euros (as I always do in Spain and Ireland) and never once even got offered it, even at ATMs.

So how would you explain that rate?

Hasn't touched that at any point recently.

Perhaps they are referring to some other card.

chattychappy

mathew_thomas1981 wrote: »

A) Is it always there or there abouts for best exchange rate?

Yes. But you must ensure that you are billed in EUROs. If offered an amount in GBP, reject it. Search for "DCC" or "Dynamic Currency Conversion" for more information.

mathew_thomas1981 wrote: »

Will I be charged to take money out of a cash machines in France?

Not by Halifax. Just as in the UK, some ATMs levy a local charge. You should be told about this in advance.

mathew_thomas1981 wrote: »

C) Will I be charged if I use it for everyday spending i.e. meals out, drinks, supermarkets?

No, but see the comment about DCC above. For purchases, you will get the usual interest free period if you pay off the balance in full when you get your statement.

mathew_thomas1981 wrote: »

D) My plan is to set up a D/D to pay in full every month. Is this the best way?

No it isn't. This is because your ATM withdrawals will attract interest from the day of withdrawal and this is ALWAYS applied (unlike for purchases where it isn't applied if the balance is paid off in full). By relying on DD, you are "forcing" yourself to pay interest from the date of withdrawal, through to the statement date, and through to the date when DD is taken. On 100 euros, this will cost you between (approx) 0.50 euros and 2 euros depending on timing and the interest rate you get from Halifax. At the very least, I would cancel the DD and pay off your statement in full as soon as it arrives. A better idea is to pay off your entire balance (whether statemented or not) after each ATM withdrawal as soon as the withdrawal appears online. Depending on your access to internet, this might not be very convenient.

mathew_thomas1981 wrote: »

Sorry for the million questions.

All very good ones. What were the other 999,996?

A final remark: CCs often fail overseas or get blocked by excitable fraud prevention systems. So take backups. When withdawing cash, I always withdraw more than I need so as to allow myself a buffer. Whilst a traditional card with its loadings might cost you an extra euro or two on a restaurant bill, this is still cheaper and less hassle than being stuck with Clarity not working and messing around calling them on roaming rates or messing around with other methods.