Buying things internationally with a credit card

LPie45

Does anybody know which bank/credit card is best for buying purchases abroad or in a different currency? Recently we have had to have a refund for a flight that was  paid for in GBP with an English credit card but was refunded by RyanAir in Polish Złoty and the bank charged us so we lost out. Basically we did not receive a full refund for what we paid RyanAir for in GBP (the return flight was in Polish Złoty). In the future we were wondering if certain banks/credit cards were better than others when buying in different currency or abroad which is something we do fairly frequently for travel or for gifts for family and friends. 

Many thanks 

Ebe_Scrooge

Halifax Clarity is often recommended - they don't charge a fee, and they use the official Mastercard exchange rate, which is much more favourable than most merchants use.  Just make sure that you pay for the goods in the local currency, and let the CC do the conversion at their end.  Loads more info and recommendations here : https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

jonesMUFCforever

You may well have lost out in any case - there is always a difference in the buying and selling rates for currencies.

Sandtree

Fees and refunds vary by card issuer so with AmEx for example you pay and receive 2.99% in either direction so if the currency moves in your favour the fee refund is greater than the fee originally paid. Natwest state they charge you a fee on the original payment but dont reimburse the fee on the refund in any way.

What no card will protect you from is currency movements so if you spent $500 on a flight and its then refunded they give you $500 back but your statement shows £364 + fee on the purchase because that was the exchange rate at the time and the refund could be £350 or £380 when it hits your card depending on if the pound has weakened or strengthened between the transactions.

born_again

LPie45 said:

Does anybody know which bank/credit card is best for buying purchases abroad or in a different currency? Recently we have had to have a refund for a flight that was  paid for in GBP with an English credit card but was refunded by RyanAir in Polish Złoty and the bank charged us so we lost out. Basically we did not receive a full refund for what we paid RyanAir for in GBP (the return flight was in Polish Złoty). In the future we were wondering if certain banks/credit cards were better than others when buying in different currency or abroad which is something we do fairly frequently for travel or for gifts for family and friends. 

Many thanks 

Blame the retailer & the exchange rate.
A retailer credit will have the bank % charge refunded as well.
It could have worked the other way and you would have come out in profit.

If a payment is taken in non GBP, then it has a exchange rate risk. The only way to avoid is if the retailer reverses the transaction. That means it uses the same rate. But that only happens when it's a retailer error on taking a payment, not on refunds.

TOP_CAT

"Does anybody know which bank/credit card is best for buying purchases abroad or in a different currency?"

If you buy a flight abroad its not going to be in sterling in the first place so will go through a exchange rate on your sterling card
So since you bought it in zloty you got it back in zloty then the exchange rate took place back into stirling