Tandem vs Halifax Clarity for foreign travel?

dj1471

mchale wrote: »

Sorry you are wrong, i've draw out the same amount of money on both cards at the same ATM at the same time & chosen the local currency & the clarity ALWAYS give a better rate

Better by how much? Where are you getting the exchange rates from? Anything you initially see in online banking is an estimate, the final rate will be determined a few days later. As mentioned they both use the MasterCard rate, unless you have a different Creation card.

mchale

dj1471 wrote: »

Better by how much? Where are you getting the exchange rates from? Anything you initially see in online banking is an estimate, the final rate will be determined a few days later. As mentioned they both use the MasterCard rate, unless you have a different Creation card.

A couple of cents (euro) and rates were compared upon receipt of cc statements, everyday creation card if you have both cards try doing it

niktheguru

Its generally best to avoid taking out cash at ATMs on these cards if you can help it. If you do, then its best to pay off the whole balance of the card immediately with an online banking transfer to avoid any interest payments.

SnowTiger

mchale wrote: »

Sorry you are wrong, i've draw out the same amount of money on both cards at the same ATM at the same time & chosen the local currency & the clarity ALWAYS give a better rate, (done it 2 times to double check) as I was under the assumption that the rate would be the same as mastercard do the exch rate, I now use clarity as my main card even though the creation has a lower annual interest rate

Tandem:



Clarity:



Rates here: mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion. Which card is applying the wrong exchange rate?

eDicky

mchale wrote: »

Sorry you are wrong, i've draw out the same amount of money on both cards at the same ATM at the same time & chosen the local currency & the clarity ALWAYS give a better rate,

You may have transacted with both cards at the same time, but were those two transactions settled on the same date? If not, that would explain the exchange rate variation, which might be in favour of the other card on another occasion.

Otherwise, someone has reported on the Currency board a couple of days ago that the Creation card uses the MasterCard exchange rate of the day of transaction, not of settlement. This would make it unique as far as I know, and I doubt it, but something you might check.

OP, rather than choosing and using a single card for travel, obtain at least two, so that if there's any problem with one, decline, loss etc, you can then use the other without the immediate expense and hassle on the phone to rectify. As well as credit cards there's Starling Bank, Monzo, loot.io etc.

jim1999

Aqua offers a card with virtually the same conditions as Tandem including the cashback, and no requirement for app.

lavayuki

bd10 wrote: »

Hi,

I've been using the Clarity card for 3 trips abroad last year and overall I am very happy with the card. When I compared travel credit cards, I had other online-only card issuers shortlisted as well. I chose an issuer that has a branch network and customer service line I can call in case something goes wrong. The odds are, if something goes wrong, it happens at the most inconvenient moment. I would dread the thought of not being able to check out or settle a hotel invoice and not having a number to call and discuss with someone on the other end of the line and not a chat bot.

My experience with the Clarity card so far:

Customer service:
During my last visit to Singapore, one merchant had troubles processing the payment. The sales asssistant had problems with their POS terminal. I rang Halifax card service at like 4 AM UK time, the Halifax rep told me what the problem was and how the sales assistant can avoid it the next time she'd charge the card. So I went back to the shop, payment went through, happy days. Given the ungodly hour during which I called, I had a rep on the phone immediately.
I had the same issue here in the UK when a junior sales assistant didn't know how to operate the POS terminal. That time I was on hold with the card service team for 10 minutes. Bit annoying to listen to music for that long, but it was peak hours and issue got resolved.

The mobile card app:
Has worked on Android so far without crashes or fail. The interface I find intuitive. Been using the app on a regular basis and only login online to get the PDF statements. Transactions show up within moments as pending. What's good is that they show the credit limit, cleared amount and also available credit line. The latter takes pending transactions into account. If I recall correctly, reserved amounts (typically hotel) are also taken into account. Transactions clear within 2-3 days, depending on time zone.

Payments to the card:
Prior to late last year, Lloyds group took manual payment into account when they ran the direct debit payment. They changed that and there is a whole thread on here. This is now a bit of a hassle, so I cancelled direct debits and make all payments manually. Their change in policy is a disappointment as I liked the fact that the direct debit was a catch-all clearing left overs whereby larger amounts I would pay within a few days after they show on the card.
Manual payments from non-Halifax current account have always gone through smoothly.

Interest:
Cash withdrawals incur interest costs from the day of withdrawal but show up 2 days later or so. So, cash is not free, but I believe the daily limit is £500 which is decent, so comes handy if ever needed.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for the detailed advice! The Clarity card sounds like a great option, especially in terms of customer service if something goes wrong abroad.

niktheguru wrote: »

I have both. There is not a huge amount between them. The Halifax clarity was my go to for years for foreign travel, but after using the tandem on a recent holiday that has now pipped it.

They both use the MasterCard exchange rate for foreign currency so you should pay the same with both.
The advantage with the Halifax is you can use it with google pay or Apple Pay whereas the tandem is not compatible with these contactless methods.

However the tandem app is brilliant abroad. As soon as you make a purchase you get a pop up message from the app showing the transaction, the cost in the native currency and the cost in pounds. I find this aspect really useful. That and the 0.5% cash back make the tandem the winner for me.

If you don’t have access to the app then it isn’t as lucrative but may still be worth it for the cash back.

One thing I would say is if you go with tandem to apply with plenty of notice. They take ages to open your account. Took me over a month. (Also if you fancy a referral code to get a 10 pound voucher pm me!! - but genuinely that’s not why I think it’s a good card)

Hope that helps.

Yeah it seems soley app based so I'm not sure how I'd work around that. Thanks for the advice though, I didn't know Tandem didn't have contactless. Good to know!

lavayuki

!!! wrote: »

Why is your iTunes not set to UK?

Also you don’t have a credit rating so you can ignore that as well

I moved to the UK in aug 2017, so I'd kept my old itunes account as I had a lot of app purchases on it that I didn't want to lose. My credit rating from Barclaycards Experian was about 740 last time I checked.

jim1999 wrote: »

Aqua offers a card with virtually the same conditions as Tandem including the cashback, and no requirement for app.

I was looking at Aqua but their APR seems quite high, and I'm not sure if they would give a good credit limit if they are aimed at those with a poor rating.

dj1471 wrote: »

Consider the Creation Everyday card too, it has a lower APR so the interest on cash withdrawals will be slightly cheaper.

Not much else to choose between them. Don't apply for Tandem if you can't use the app, there's no other way to access your account.

Most of the other good options (Revolut, Starling Bank, loot.io etc) are app-based.

I hadn't considered Creation, i'll have a look at that one too, thanks! I'll probably give Tandem a pass if it's mostly app based.

mchale

SnowTiger wrote: »

Tandem:



Clarity:



Rates here: mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion. Which card is applying the wrong exchange rate?

Don't know, but when I have checked, clarity always gives a better exchange rate than the creation card, haven't got a tandem

jim1999

lavayuki wrote: »

I was looking at Aqua but their APR seems quite high, and I'm not sure if they would give a good credit limit if they are aimed at those with a poor rating.

I got ~£1k initially, and was then raised to ~£3k a couple of months later.

If you're concerned about APR and paying interest then a cashback card probably isn't a good option.