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Post Office platinum card

Hi, I have a Post Office platinum card with a balance transfer on it which I am paying off at £85 per month. There is £421.00 left to pay (5 more payments).
My question is: Martin says that this is a great card for going abroad and we have just booked a last minute trip to Spain in a couple of weeks time. Should I pay off the card (losing 5 months' interest free) and then use it for our holiday spending or am I better leaving things as they are and using cash?
Thanks
Lynne

Comments

  • chattychappy
    chattychappy Posts: 7,302 Forumite
    edited 18 March 2015 am31 7:33AM
    I would quickly stick in an application for a Halifax Clarity card. You might just get it in time (mine came quickly). That way you'll get loading free purchases and a good way of getting cash too. (Post Office Plat is expensive for cash.)

    Failing that, then yes. If you have the money to pay it off then I would. Don't run yourself so short that you risk a cashflow crisis, though.

    As you know, if you don't pay it off in full you'll get purchase interest on your Spanish spend.

    It should be enough to pay it off in full when you get back.
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Hi, I have a Post Office platinum card with a balance transfer on it which I am paying off at £85 per month. There is £421.00 left to pay (5 more payments).
    My question is: Martin says that this is a great card for going abroad and we have just booked a last minute trip to Spain in a couple of weeks time. Should I pay off the card (losing 5 months' interest free) and then use it for our holiday spending or am I better leaving things as they are and using cash?
    As the balance is small it makes sense to pay it off as even 2-weeks' interest on your spending is likely to overweight the interest you get on £400ish saved.
  • chrisw99
    chrisw99 Posts: 359 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker PPI Party Pooper
    grumbler wrote: »
    As the balance is small it makes sense to pay it off as even 2-weeks' interest on your spending is likely to overweight the interest you get on £400ish saved.
    Am I missing something here? The interest would just be charged on the spent amount, the remaining balance transfer amount stays interest free for the remainder of the promotion.

    Quick example.
    £500 at 0% for next 5 months. Spend £100 on purchases at 18.9% APR.
    Next statement would be £600 + £1.57 interest

    OR
    clear balance now, then spend £100 on purchases.
    Next statement would be £100 + £1.57 interest.

    i.e. it makes no difference whether you clear the card now or later, the interest charged would only be on the amount spent.
  • msallen
    msallen Posts: 1,494 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Yes you are missing something Chris. If the balance is cleared now (and preferably a statement is rec'd confirming that before traveling, but not necessary for all cards), then there will be no interest to pay on the foreign spend - assuming of course that its paid off by the due date on the next statement.
  • chrisw99
    chrisw99 Posts: 359 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker PPI Party Pooper
    msallen wrote: »
    Yes you are missing something Chris. If the balance is cleared now (and preferably a statement is rec'd confirming that before traveling, but not necessary for all cards), then there will be no interest to pay on the foreign spend - assuming of course that its paid off by the due date on the next statement.
    Sorry, still missing it!

    If you left the balance on, then when you get the statement you'd see..
    £500 balance transfer at 0.0%
    £100 purchases spend at 18.9%
    Next months estimated interest: £1.57 (on the £100)

    If you paid off the £100 , just the purchases, you'd have no interest then.
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 18 March 2015 pm31 1:53PM
    To have the interest on purchases waived you have to pay the balance in full, not just £100.

    Possibly, instead of paying £421ish now, the OP can pay the statement balance in full after coming back from abroad.
  • chrisw99
    chrisw99 Posts: 359 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker PPI Party Pooper
    grumbler wrote: »
    To have the interest on purchases waived you have to pay the balance in full, not just £100.

    Possibly, instead of paying £421ish now, the OP can pay the statement balance in full after coming back from abroad.
    That's how it used to be in the old days.

    But now statements always show a separate value for each different %, e.g. one of mine is like :

    £1000 at 0.0% until April 16
    £300 at 0.0% until May 16
    £2000 at 0.0% until Jan 17

    The card got used for a £25 recurring payment I'd forgotten about (sons magazine subscription), so next month it had a small amount of interest as it was showing a card purchase at 18.9%. But since then the interest has always been £0 again. I certainly didn't clear the balance in full on that one.
  • chrisw99
    chrisw99 Posts: 359 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker PPI Party Pooper
    Ok I see what I am missing, just read the T&Cs on a few of mine. You have to pay in full to waive the interest on purchases showing on *that months* statement. So you will get interest for one month. (As I did with the £25 payment above I mentioned).

    I thought you meant *all* subsequent statements too, but of course on your next statement there won't be any purchases showing anymore as they've been paid off.
  • Thank you all. I have solved the issue by acting on Martin's information and applied for and been awarded a Halifax card.
    Lynne
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