Travel spending

tony6720

Looking for a fee free way of paying for fuel and groceries on a card whilst travelling in Europe ? Will pay Balance in full every month. Thanks Tony 

JamesPeter

tony6720 said:

Looking for a fee free way of paying for fuel and groceries on a card whilst travelling in Europe ? Will pay Balance in full every month. Thanks Tony 

See the Money Saving Expert guide to Travel credit cards that do not add on a fee for use overseas:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

As well as those listed, Virgin Money and a few other banks also do travel credit cards.

Mnoee

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/ 

Good place to start. I also have a Starling bank account as a backup to the CC - don't go abroad with only one decent payment method! 

tony6720

I think the virgin credit card looks one of the best does anyone know if it will be accepted at fuel stations and supermarkets in France and Spain? Thanks Tony 

Ebe_Scrooge

tony6720 said:

I think the virgin credit card looks one of the best does anyone know if it will be accepted at fuel stations and supermarkets in France and Spain? Thanks Tony 

Pretty much all credit cards are accepted abroad.  It doesn't matter who the provider is, as long as it's either Visa or Mastercard.  It's a good idea to have one each of Visa and Mastercard with you - in all likelihood either will be accepted, but there may be odd places where they'll only accept, for instance, Visa.  There are a larger number of places which won't accept Amex, though even that is becoming more widely accepted these days than it was several years ago.  But basically if you've a Visa and a Mastercard in your wallet, I'd be very surprised if you can't buy fuel and groceries (especially at a large supermarket - you may find the local bakers won't accept credit cards, but that's no different to here at home).

NoodleDoodleMan

tony6720 said:

I think the virgin credit card looks one of the best does anyone know if it will be accepted at fuel stations and superm

MSE top pick, Barclaycard Reward, is the absolute best deal, you'll get some cash back. The Halifax Clarity is also a major league player in this scenario.....as long as you settle in full when monthly statement falls due for payment.

etienneg

tony6720 said:

I think the virgin credit card looks one of the best does anyone know if it will be accepted at fuel stations and supermarkets in France and Spain? Thanks Tony 

I'm intrigued as to why you think the Virgin credit card looks good for travel. It isn't even mentioned in the MSE travel card link you have been given, and I can't see anything that leads me to be impressed. You do realise that the Virgin card mentioned on the MSE link is a DEBIT card, do you? Please tell us your thinking.

This (travel cards) link has Barclaycard Reward and Halifax Clarity as top picks, as NoodleDoodleMan suggests. Do you have a reason not to go with one of these?

jon81uk

etienneg said:

tony6720 said:

I think the virgin credit card looks one of the best does anyone know if it will be accepted at fuel stations and supermarkets in France and Spain? Thanks Tony 

I'm intrigued as to why you think the Virgin credit card looks good for travel. It isn't even mentioned in the MSE travel card link you have been given, and I can't see anything that leads me to be impressed. You do realise that the Virgin card mentioned on the MSE link is a DEBIT card, do you? Please tell us your thinking.

This (travel cards) link has Barclaycard Reward and Halifax Clarity as top picks, as NoodleDoodleMan suggests. Do you have a reason not to go with one of these?

I'm not the OP but Virign don't charge fees for use in Europe Help | Cards | Virgin Money

I have a Virgin Atlantic credit card (so I get air miles) and would consider it in Europe.
But also have an mbna cashback one with no fee worldwide too.

[Deleted User]

jon81uk said:

etienneg said:

tony6720 said:

I think the virgin credit card looks one of the best does anyone know if it will be accepted at fuel stations and supermarkets in France and Spain? Thanks Tony 

I'm intrigued as to why you think the Virgin credit card looks good for travel. It isn't even mentioned in the MSE travel card link you have been given, and I can't see anything that leads me to be impressed. You do realise that the Virgin card mentioned on the MSE link is a DEBIT card, do you? Please tell us your thinking.

This (travel cards) link has Barclaycard Reward and Halifax Clarity as top picks, as NoodleDoodleMan suggests. Do you have a reason not to go with one of these?

I'm not the OP but Virign don't charge fees for use in Europe Help | Cards | Virgin Money

I have a Virgin Atlantic credit card (so I get air miles) and would consider it in Europe.
But also have an mbna cashback one with no fee worldwide too.

They don't charge fees only in certain currencies (EUR,SEK and RON) in Europe unless get one of their travel credit cards - which aren't that competitive. All the forex free MBNA cards aren't open to new customers so aren't much use to the OP.. 

safe_hands2

I'm sure Nationwide credit cards are fee free too, but not saying that on the MSE page.

missile

safe_hands2 said:

I'm sure Nationwide credit cards are fee free too, but not saying that on the MSE page.

Beware: Nationwide declined genuine transactions as suspected fraud and blocked my card. They took forever to answer the phone and promised to investigate and call me back, but did not. Really inconvenient in the UK, but would have been a nightmare if I were on holiday.
Thankfully, I have other CCs which I can use.