Best way to pay balance of European holiday

admiral_traveller

Hi there,

I have a holiday booked in Europe later this year and I will soon need to pay the balance. I have been trying to figure out what the best way of paying this would be. The amount outstanding is just over 500 euros. I have the option on the payment page of using a credit card, debit card or PayPal.
I have been looking at applying for a Halifax Clarity card to take with us when we go - but would this also be the best way of paying the balance before we go? Is PayPal better than using a debit card? I couldn't see any additional charges but not sure if the exchange rate would be any good!
Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks

Gloomendoom

If you are paying in Euro, use the Clarity.

Barclays do a good travel card at the moment too.

leylandsunaddict

Definitely the Clarity. No foreign fees and Section 75 protection.

NiftyDigits

If you have to pay it off soon, before the Clarity arrives, you can open a Revolut account on the spot via your Smartphone or iPad and pay the bill with the virtual card produced. You can do that all within a few minutes of reading this post.
Similarly, if you are near a Metro Bank, you can pick up their debit card on the spot and pay with that.
No need to wait for the Clarity to arrive.

admiral_traveller

Thanks everyone ... sounds like a resounding thumbs up for Clairity! Payment not due until March, so I think I will proceed with the application. So, as this is a credit card - when take it on holiday, do I just keep spending on it until we get home and then pay it all off in one go? And if I logon to view it online whilst on holiday, will it show my total spending in Sterling? I am just thinking of maybe having a little current account somewhere that holds my Sterling "holiday fund" and then using that to pay off the Clarity after my holiday ... or is that a bit of overkill? Although .. I guess if it's a current account, I am usually expected to pay in a certain amount each month .. which I certainly won't be doing as it's a holiday fund!

I didn't hear any shouts of PayPal .. .so am assuming that's a completely rubbish way of paying ...?!

Thanks!

leylandsunaddict

Cash withdrawals attract interest like with any other credit card., but the interest is nominal and you do benefit from the best exchange rate available at the time of the withdrawal, as long as opt to be charged in Euros not GBP. Some machines ask with or without conversion. Select without.

You can pay it off when you get home when the statement arrives, or you can log into your account and pay it off at any time once it's appeared on your statement. This reduces the amount of interest shown to practically zero. The earlier you pay, the less interest you pay. If there's no balance from the previous month, and you don't clear the amount in full, they use your payment to pay off the balances charged at the higher interest rates first, so the more expensive balances.

NiftyDigits

admiral_traveller wrote: »

Thanks everyone ... sounds like a resounding thumbs up for Clairity! Payment not due until March, so I think I will proceed with the application. So, as this is a credit card - when take it on holiday, do I just keep spending on it until we get home and then pay it all off in one go? And if I logon to view it online whilst on holiday, will it show my total spending in Sterling? I am just thinking of maybe having a little current account somewhere that holds my Sterling "holiday fund" and then using that to pay off the Clarity after my holiday ... or is that a bit of overkill? Although .. I guess if it's a current account, I am usually expected to pay in a certain amount each month .. which I certainly won't be doing as it's a holiday fund!

I didn't hear any shouts of PayPal .. .so am assuming that's a completely rubbish way of paying ...?!

Thanks!

Don't depend on one card. If it fails/gets blocked, you'll be gnashing your teeth. So get one of the other cards as a back up. Monzo will do.