Travel credit cards

eDicky

stevenpc wrote: »

revolut and creation cards both mastercard give you the the rate at the time you use the card not what the rate is a couple of days later it can take creation a couple of days b4 it apears on your account but the rate is whatever it was on the day you used the card.

Revolut can be MasterCard or Visa but does not use their rates (so not included in the statement I made). The interbank rate at the moment of transaction, with a small margin on weekends, is used.

I'm not familiar with Creation, but if it's a credit card I don't know how it could vary from the way that they all function, the final rate being fixed on the date of settlement.

br1anstorm

We originally got Saga Platinum cards many years ago on the basis of an MSE recommendation (then) that Saga was a good option for foreign travel as it was one of the few cards back then which did not charge a fee for overseas transactions.

We've just had a letter from Saga and AIB (which provides the card) saying that the Platinum card will be "closing" on 28 March 2019.

The letter does say that Saga Personal Finance plans to develop a new card - but gives no indication of what its Ts&Cs or features might be.

So another one bites the dust. We're now looking at other current credit cards which have a similar fee-free offer on foreign transactions.

SciShooterMatt

As I currently don't have a credit card, I am looking to get one before our holiday in May (Morocco). I was hoping to use it for paying for the hotel and other spending. It would be nice to be able to use it at home as well especially if it has a cash back offer (for instance). The only issue I see is the credit limit available. Does anyone have experience of this or and advice? I got in touch with Tandem and they told me that the max. credit limit was £1200 regardless of credit score. I was hoping for a limit higher than this. Are there cards which have a higher initial credit limit given the above details (assuming credit score is sufficient)? Or would people apply for and take 2 cards and spread the costs over both? I haven't had a credit card since 2017 (due to not needing to use it) so any advice would be greatly appreciated).

jackieblack

SciShooterMatt wrote: »

As I currently don't have a credit card, I am looking to get one before our holiday in May (Morocco). I was hoping to use it for paying for the hotel and other spending. It would be nice to be able to use it at home as well especially if it has a cash back offer (for instance). The only issue I see is the credit limit available. Does anyone have experience of this or and advice? I got in touch with Tandem and they told me that the max. credit limit was £1200 regardless of credit score. I was hoping for a limit higher than this. Are there cards which have a higher initial credit limit given the above details (assuming credit score is sufficient)? Or would people apply for and take 2 cards and spread the costs over both? I haven't had a credit card since 2017 (due to not needing to use it) so any advice would be greatly appreciated).

It's not a great idea to travel with only one card in case there's a problem and it gets blocked.
It is 'better' to have two cards, one Visa and one MasterCard as there have been occasions when one or other network has experienced problems.


I have several fee free cards and spread the spending eg one for hotels, one for car hire/gas etc, one for groceries/restaurants and other purchases. Which ones you choose are really down to individual circumstances/preference.


https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

Nick_C

SciShooterMatt wrote: »

As I currently don't have a credit card, I am looking to get one before our holiday in May (Morocco). I was hoping to use it for paying for the hotel and other spending. It would be nice to be able to use it at home as well especially if it has a cash back offer (for instance). The only issue I see is the credit limit available. Does anyone have experience of this or and advice? I got in touch with Tandem and they told me that the max. credit limit was £1200 regardless of credit score. I was hoping for a limit higher than this. Are there cards which have a higher initial credit limit given the above details (assuming credit score is sufficient)? Or would people apply for and take 2 cards and spread the costs over both? I haven't had a credit card since 2017 (due to not needing to use it) so any advice would be greatly appreciated).

Tandem have two different credit cards.

The "Journey" card is for people with a "limited credit history", and has a maximum credit limit of £1200.

The Cashback card, for users with a good credit history, offers credit limits between £500 and £12000.

Both cards offer no fees on purchases abroad, but the "Journey" card does not offer cashback.

Unfortunately, not using credit is not seen as a good credit history by lenders!

https://tandem.co.uk/credit-cards

SciShooterMatt

Nick_C wrote: »

Tandem have two different credit cards.

The "Journey" card is for people with a "limited credit history", and has a maximum credit limit of £1200.

The Cashback card, for users with a good credit history, offers credit limits between £500 and £12000.

Both cards offer no fees on purchases abroad, but the "Journey" card does not offer cashback.

Unfortunately, not using credit is not seen as a good credit history by lenders!

Thanks for that. I can now see the person I was talking to was talking about the journey card (I hadn't realised that there were 2 cards). Would your latter comment still hold if I can see that my credit score is classed as excellent?

ananassassin

Hi there, I am new to the forum so wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or respond on here to someone who maybe can help?

I have a Moneycorp explorer card which I have had 3 years (I have the Nationwide credit card now), and at the time I thought it was amazing! I had $150-200 on there as it was prepaid, and I was saving it to use for the next time I travelled to the USA.

The card is about to expire so I was planning to ask Moneycorp to transfer the money back to me or renew the card.

Turns out, if the card is non-active, they will charge you £3.50 per month - meaning I have a measly $30 left on the card! Never did I hear about this policy and thought my money was safe, this is preposterous to me?

Any thoughts on how to approach this?

Any help appreciated from MSE forum!!!

Many thanks!

dj1471

ananassassin wrote: »

Never did I hear about this policy and thought my money was safe, this is preposterous to me?

So you didn't read the T&Cs or user guide when you applied for the card? You can try raising a complaint but it was up to you to read the terms.

Epona

Just a note on the travel credit card guide on the main site.
Barclaycard Platinum cashback looked the best for me, so I started an application.
Despite the article saying that "The Barclaycard Platinum Cashback Plus card has no fees on spending or cash withdrawals overseas", I checked the T&C and they wanted to charge me £2.99 per non-sterling transaction.
Time to revisit the article perhaps??

EveryWhere

Epona wrote: »

Just a note on the travel credit card guide on the main site.
Barclaycard Platinum cashback looked the best for me, so I started an application.
Despite the article saying that "The Barclaycard Platinum Cashback Plus card has no fees on spending or cash withdrawals overseas", I checked the T&C and they wanted to charge me £2.99 per non-sterling transaction.
Time to revisit the article perhaps??

You just mis-read or it isn't the Platinum Cashback Plus. No fees until September 2023. Only then does the 2.99% kick in.