Using a Credit Card Abroad

Urban_Bumpkin

We've off to Spain in a couple of weeks and we're hiring a car when we're out there. Which card is best for paying for this?

I'll be taking Euros and also a Halifax Clarity card to use for with drawing cash from an ATM.

Is it best to use the Clarity card and pay in euro's or use another credit or debit card?

Other cards are Sainsbury Mastercard or lloyds Debit.

Any advice welcome.

lee111s

Yes, pay in Euro's using the clarity card.

ICan'tStandIt

lee111s wrote: »

Yes, pay in Euro's using the clarity card.

Or even Euros

grumbler

Urban_Bumpkin wrote: »

I'll be taking Euros and also a Halifax Clarity card to use for with drawing cash from an ATM.

Why for withdrawing, not for paying by the card?

Other cards are Sainsbury Mastercard or lloyds Debit.

Lloyds Debit is a 'card from hell' by MSE classification. You can check Sainsbury's one:

• Your Card: Overseas Charges

• Top Travel Spending Cards

lynn_brookes

why don't you preload your credit card then use that there...no charges then

SnowTiger

lynn_brookes wrote: »

why don't you preload your credit card then use that there...no charges then

Because:

6.9 - You must not make payments or transfer funds from another credit or store card to your account that would leave a credit balance on your account. We may return any funds that exceed the balance owing on your account to the account from which the money has been sent.

In practice you'd probably get away with it. But is it worth the risk of having the card blocked when you're abroad for breaking the T&Cs?

eDicky

If you do not purchase the car hire firm's own (and often very expensive) extra insurance for excess cover, you will be required to give a deposit for the excess in the form of a pre-authorised 'block' on your credit card. This amount, which can be up to €1500, will be unavailable to you until after you return the car (hopefully undamaged), and the block is removed. So if your Clarity card has a relatively low credit limit and the blocked amount would be problem, you could use one of the other cards for the deposit.

alderpoint

lynn_brookes wrote: »

why don't you preload your credit card then use that there...no charges then

Pre-loading is frowned on by various card issuers and can lead them to refusing transactions - apart from the loss of S.75 protection. And charges are not the only thing to consider: the exchange rate loading is pretty damn important too.

uncreative

What about a fair fx card? Used it abroad for the first time this year and it was ace!

grumbler

uncreative wrote: »

What about a fair fx card? Used it abroad for the first time this year and it was ace!

Define 'ace'.
Today €:
interbank - 1.413
Visa - 1.411
Mastercard - 1.422 (? only Friday rate is available)

Fairfx - 1.384 - and €1.50 ATM fee.
Possibly, not that bad - if you can't get the best credit/debit card.

eDicky

uncreative wrote: »

What about a fair fx card? Used it abroad for the first time this year and it was ace!

I agree, the FairFX Euro card works well in my experience, even for car rental, but it has fees and a less than perfect exchange rate. Nothing beats the Clarity card, so FairFX would only be for backup and OP already has spare cards in case of loss or problems with the Clarity.