Chance of acceptance for Barclaycard Travel Card

slopemaster

Is this a particularly difficult card to get?
As the MSE eligibility calculator only gives me a 10 to 60% chance of acceptance for this, although it gives 90% plus for all the others.

I already have Halifax Clarity Mastercard (and mbna Amex) which work well. But, I am planning a trip to Madagascar and apparently they only take VISA.

The Brclaycard seems to be the only Visa with no fees abroad.

I wonder if there's anything I could tweak on the application without actually fibbing?
I'm retired, do they not like that?
I have a decent income, never had any defaults or missed payments etc.
6 years at current address, homeowner, no debts.
available credit may be a little high compared to income, though I always pay off in full each month.

Any ideas please before I apply?

Otherwise I will end up having to pay 3% load plus transaction fees on my Lloyds Visa debit card!

bigadaj

One application won't make much difference so give it a try.

Ther are other options, nationwide select maybe?

slopemaster

So, I decided to apply

"we will be in touch within the next 5 working days with our decision"

bit frustrating, as it said "decision within one minute" but I'll just have to wait and see

slopemaster

Thanks for the pointer to Nationwide Select (no load or fee for spending, but 3% for cash)
However, it means opening a current account with them, and I'm on a mission to reduce complexity at the moment...

I'll see what Barclaycard say first, anyway.

System

Aren't MBNA changing their Amex cards to Visa anyway?

slopemaster

I had,t heard about that, but a quick look shows me it seems to be only their cashback Amex cards, and

"MBNA hasn't announced any changes to its other Amex credit cards, ..."

Would be good if they did though, there's very few places accept Amex

newuser86

Lloyds avios card gives both Amex and Visa card. Downside is £24 fee, but 0% for 29 months and 0% foreign transaction fee

Kim_13

slopemaster wrote: »

So, I decided to apply

"we will be in touch within the next 5 working days with our decision"

bit frustrating, as it said "decision within one minute" but I'll just have to wait and see

Applications can be split three ways - instant acceptance, referred (a human will look at your application) and instant decline.

You might well still get the card, fingers crossed for you.

slopemaster

newuser86 wrote: »

Lloyds avios card gives both Amex and Visa card. Downside is £24 fee, but 0% for 29 months and 0% foreign transaction fee

Yes, I actually used to have those in their previous incarnation but gave it up as it seemed too complex and I couldn't be bothered trying to collect miles/points that never seem to be worth anything in the end, and then paying a fee too!

Thanks for the thought, but Plan B is now Nationwide - I've actually had that account in the past too, but closed it when the 1 year at 5% came to an end.

I seem to have tried most things, but I've never ever had a Barclays account or a Barclaycard as I suppose I still associate it with apartheid.

Candyapple

Have you tried Creation?
http://www.creation.co.uk/credit-cards/creation-everyday-credit-card

slopemaster

Thanks but its Mastercard; I want Visa