Cards for Abroad

lukepa96

Hi,

I don't know whether i should have put this here or in the travelling part of the forum?!

Anyway, I will be starting to travel quite a bit soon so therefore want a credit card i can use abroad. I've been looking at the Halfax Clarity Credit Card but i am a little confused about the charges etc.

Now i know that you can purchase things abroad without any charge (just like i was in the UK) but i don't quite get what the charges for cash withdrawals are? It says something about interest rates until i have paid back what i have withdrawn?

So even if i pay in full by direct debit like i always do i will be charged interest on any cash that i have withdrawn?

I hope i have made sense.

Also, does anyone know if the British Isles are regarded by banks as abroad or can i use all of my cards there without charges?

Any help is much appreciated,

Luke. :beer:

CLAPTON

lukepa96 wrote: »

Hi,

I don't know whether i should have put this here or in the travelling part of the forum?!

Anyway, I will be starting to travel quite a bit soon so therefore want a credit card i can use abroad. I've been looking at the Halfax Clarity Credit Card but i am a little confused about the charges etc.

Now i know that you can purchase things abroad without any charge (just like i was in the UK) but i don't quite get what the charges for cash withdrawals are? It says something about interest rates until i have paid back what i have withdrawn?

So even if i pay in full by direct debit like i always do i will be charged interest on any cash that i have withdrawn?

I hope i have made sense.

Also, does anyone know if the British Isles are regarded by banks as abroad or can i use all of my cards there without charges?

Any help is much appreciated,

Luke. :beer:

the clarity card has no fee for cash withdrawal either here or abroad, but you do get charged daily interest until you pay.

the UK is not counted as abroad
you can use your cards for purchases free of interest and charges if you pay in full each and every month.
cash will have a fee and a daily interest charge : read you T&Cs for each card

grumbler

lukepa96 wrote: »

I've been looking at the Halfax Clarity Credit Card but i am a little confused about the charges etc.

Now i know that you can purchase things abroad without any charge (just like i was in the UK) but i don't quite get what the charges for cash withdrawals are?

No charges from Halifax, but it's not uncommon for local ATMs to charge you. Normally they warn about the charge and you can check a few from different banks to find the one without charges.

Also, does anyone know if the British Isles are regarded by banks as abroad or can i use all of my cards there without charges?

It doesn't matter how they are regarded. What matters is what currency you withdraw or pay in. The charges are for currency exchange, not for location. Clarity has no charges for currency exchange.

However, when paying for something abroad, make sure that you pay in local currency:
Using plastic overseas? Always PAY IN EUROS
15 cheapest ways to get travel money ...
Spanish cash machine gave me more info than I'd bargained for ...
...
...

lukepa96

Thanks for your replies,

"but you do get charged daily interest until you pay."

So is this the same rate as normal but because i pay in full each month by direct debit i won't have to pay it? or is this seperate interest for cash withdrawals?

grumbler

It's only the interest on purchases that is waived if you pay the balance in full. The interest on withdrawals is calculated daily regardless. In fact it's very small (do your maths) and you can make it even smaller by paying the cash transaction off as soon as (or soon after) it appears online. For this your previous month's statement has to be already paid off.

lukepa96

Ok thankyou for your help.

Pincher

It's the same as you taking £100 out in London.
Interest starts right away.
Taking US$150 in New York is still a cash advance.


The good overseas credit card will not scr=w you on exchange rate.


In terms of service fee, the credit card issuer may not charge you, but the ATM operator might.


Getting charged in sterling is BAD
=====================


For some reason, I always get scr=wed when I whip out my Saga Platinum. On the ski bus to Courchevel, the ski rep said they sell the skipass for 10% off. The rep used the old fashioned manual swipe machine to take the credit card. The amount was in Sterling, not EUROs. I thought the exchange rate was not right, but there was no way to check.
Having checked, the EURO full price was reduced by 10%, but they made it back by using a really bad exchange rate. If I had simply gone to the ski sales office next day at the gondola, and paid full price in EUROs, I would have been maybe £2 better off. Adding insult to injury, they forgot to activate the card they did sell me, so I had to go to the sales office to sort it out any way.


The same thing happened in Shiga Kogen, near Nagano Japan.
Again, I whipped out the Saga Platinum, and the kiosk girl charged me in sterling, using a bad exchange rate. It was for a one day skipass, so the difference was only about £1, so I let it pass. If I was bothered, I could have paid using cash YEN, which I took out using the Halifax Clarity card: at a much better exchange rate.


Saga Platinum: universal language for "Scr=w me, I'm old and stupid."

zagfles

grumbler wrote: »

No charges from Halifax, but it's not uncommon for local ATMs to charge you. Normally they warn about the charge and you can check a few from different banks to find the one without charges.

I've never known an ATM anywhere in Europe to charge and I've been to most European countries in the last 10 years. Some might eg machines in shops like here, but not normal bank ATMs. I think ATM charges are much more common outside Europe. But even in Singapore and NZ I didn't come across any that charge. I think places like the US and Thailand charging ATMs are much more common.

It doesn't matter how they are regarded. What matters is what currency you withdraw or pay in. The charges are for currency exchange, not for location. Clarity has no charges for currency exchange.

However, when paying for something abroad, make sure that you pay in local currency:
Using plastic overseas? Always PAY IN EUROS
15 cheapest ways to get travel money ...
Spanish cash machine gave me more info than I'd bargained for ...
...
...

Yes this is important, ATMs often offer to convert the currency, do not take this offer. Also retailers often offer to when paying. In fact some will just convert the currency without asking (this is against the rules they must ask) - always check you're paying in local currency not GBP.

zagfles

lukepa96 wrote: »

Hi,

I don't know whether i should have put this here or in the travelling part of the forum?!

Anyway, I will be starting to travel quite a bit soon so therefore want a credit card i can use abroad. I've been looking at the Halfax Clarity Credit Card but i am a little confused about the charges etc.

Now i know that you can purchase things abroad without any charge (just like i was in the UK) but i don't quite get what the charges for cash withdrawals are? It says something about interest rates until i have paid back what i have withdrawn?

So even if i pay in full by direct debit like i always do i will be charged interest on any cash that i have withdrawn?

I hope i have made sense.

Also, does anyone know if the British Isles are regarded by banks as abroad or can i use all of my cards there without charges?

Any help is much appreciated,

Luke. :beer:

If you pay the Clarity by DD, you'll end up paying between 25 and 56 days interest on cash advances. This won't be a fortune, but you can avoid most of it by paying it manually. But with a DD as well this can get messy.

I find it much easier not to bother with a DD on the Clarity. I just check my balance online and pay it off when I get back, so for a short trip I'm only paying a few days interest, usually pence.

For a longer trip if you've got internet access you can pay it off while abroad. But I rarely bother even for 2-3 week trips, I've got better things to do on holiday than save a couple of £ interest. I just pay it off when back.

zagfles

Pincher wrote: »

It's the same as you taking £100 out in London.
Interest starts right away.
Taking US$150 in New York is still a cash advance.


The good overseas credit card will not scr=w you on exchange rate.


In terms of service fee, the credit card issuer may not charge you, but the ATM operator might.


Getting charged in sterling is BAD
=====================


For some reason, I always get scr=wed when I whip out my Saga Platinum. On the ski bus to Courchevel, the ski rep said they sell the skipass for 10% off. The rep used the old fashioned manual swipe machine to take the credit card. The amount was in Sterling, not EUROs. I thought the exchange rate was not right, but there was no way to check.
Having checked, the EURO full price was reduced by 10%, but they made it back by using a really bad exchange rate. If I had simply gone to the ski sales office next day at the gondola, and paid full price in EUROs, I would have been maybe £2 better off. Adding insult to injury, they forgot to activate the card they did sell me, so I had to go to the sales office to sort it out any way.


The same thing happened in Shiga Kogen, near Nagano Japan.
Again, I whipped out the Saga Platinum, and the kiosk girl charged me in sterling, using a bad exchange rate. It was for a one day skipass, so the difference was only about £1, so I let it pass. If I was bothered, I could have paid using cash YEN, which I took out using the Halifax Clarity card: at a much better exchange rate.


Saga Platinum: universal language for "Scr=w me, I'm old and stupid."

DCC varies by country, in places like Spain and Ireland and a lot of Eastern Europe practically everywhere will try it. I now always state I want to pay in Euros (or whatever the local currency is) when I hand over my card. I check the terminal, and check the receipt. There should be no mention of GBP anywhere, if there is, don't eneter your PIN/sign.

Apparently some terminals have the option to change the currency after you've entered your PIN, if this happens demand a chargeback. It's basically fraud, changing what you've authorised after you've authorised it.

grumbler

zagfles wrote: »

I've never known an ATM anywhere in Europe to charge and I've been to most European countries in the last 10 years.

Well, Europe is 'abroad', but 'abroad' isn't Europe only.
In Toronto airport only one out of three different ATMs didn't charge.
In San Jose (Costa Rica) it took me a while to find a free one.