Barclaycard aboard

WillPS

adindas said:

WillPS said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Visa, Mastercard and Amex cards are accepted globally, the card issuer is irrelevant.

Not true, or at least not until recently. Many German merchants will only accept V Pay and many Dutch merchants will only accept Maestro. It's a real pain.

Edit: these are being phased out now and replaced by Visa Debit and Mastercard Debit cards, but even so the point stands that you can't assume everywhere will accept Visa/Mastercard like you can in the UK. In some countries merchants will also be less likely to accept credit cards at all, even if they accept debit cards.

Amex is patchy even in the UK!

You might be right if you area talking about the merchants in Germany. For instance "some" of DB (German train) or local transport ticket machines, do not accept Master/Visa.

But with cash machines from the banks in Germany to be used by international travellers, located in the strategic areas such as main train stations, airport they all have Master/Visa logo in it where people could withdraw cash using Master/Visa network.

Aye but that's not the use case being discussed here - OP was talking about 'paying for a meal' which implies using the card at a merchant, not accessing cash.

Sncjw

What I meant was that I could work out how much to take for day to day spends of we were going to us lev as we know what we would buy if we went to Bulgaria. 

I haven't been to Rhodes before so wasn't sure on prices. I've noticed now that Barclaycard doesn't charge for using ATM cash withdrawals like they would do in UK if I pay the balance in full when we get back. 

It would be easier for finances to do so too. 

Can we exchange 100 quid into euro at he beaurue to give us cash when we land? 

CliveOfIndia

Sncjw said:

I've noticed now that Barclaycard doesn't charge for using ATM cash withdrawals like they would do in UK if I pay the balance in full when we get back.

Just double-check the T&Cs of the particular card you've got.  It may well be true that there are no charges or interest for cash withdrawals abroad (assuming you pay the statement in full as usual), but it's worth just double-checking.

Sncjw said:

Can we exchange 100 quid into euro at he beaurue to give us cash when we land? 

You can.  Do you intend getting some Euros at the airport?  It's often better to shop around in advance, you'll usually get a pretty rubbish exchange rate at the airport.  Often you'll get a better exchange rate elsewhere (local travel exchanges, post office, your own bank, online).  Though of course, the exchange rate changes on a daily basis, so it's a bit of a gamble either way.

TOP_CAT

Does the op have the  specific barclaycard reward  card as below for overseas spending ?

https://www.barclays.co.uk/credit-cards/reward-cards/barclays-rewards/

If so I would never use any bureau de change as they will sting you especially at the airport 

Sncjw

We are going to get a hundred quids worth of euros in UK but not at airport use our debit card for that just to have cash for first few days if needed. 

Take Barclaycard with us but I have seen that ATMs over there charge you a small fee to use them but that's the Greek bank charging..

CliveOfIndia

Sncjw said:

We are going to get a hundred quids worth of euros in UK but not at airport use our debit card for that just to have cash for first few days if needed.

Do you mean you'll get some Euros in advance, in the UK, and use your debit card to pay for them?  If so that's fine.  Like I say, it's worth having a look at what exchange rates are offered by various places.  Although, I suppose for a relatively small sum like £100 the difference won't be enormous.

But yes, I'm with you on the idea of having a bit of cash available when you first get there.  Sure, use your Barclaycard where you can, then you'll benefit from pretty much the best exchange rate you're likely to get.  But it's always handy to have some cash for taxis, tips, snacks, whatever.

Sncjw

CliveOfIndia said:

Sncjw said:

We are going to get a hundred quids worth of euros in UK but not at airport use our debit card for that just to have cash for first few days if needed.

Do you mean you'll get some Euros in advance, in the UK, and use your debit card to pay for them?  If so that's fine.  Like I say, it's worth having a look at what exchange rates are offered by various places.  Although, I suppose for a relatively small sum like £100 the difference won't be enormous.

But yes, I'm with you on the idea of having a bit of cash available when you first get there.  Sure, use your Barclaycard where you can, then you'll benefit from pretty much the best exchange rate you're likely to get.  But it's always handy to have some cash for taxis, tips, snacks, whatever.

Yeah already looked at martin lewis and seems m and s is the best one so far. Is there a minimum you can take out at a beaurue 

CliveOfIndia

Sncjw said:

CliveOfIndia said:

Sncjw said:

We are going to get a hundred quids worth of euros in UK but not at airport use our debit card for that just to have cash for first few days if needed.

Do you mean you'll get some Euros in advance, in the UK, and use your debit card to pay for them?  If so that's fine.  Like I say, it's worth having a look at what exchange rates are offered by various places.  Although, I suppose for a relatively small sum like £100 the difference won't be enormous.

But yes, I'm with you on the idea of having a bit of cash available when you first get there.  Sure, use your Barclaycard where you can, then you'll benefit from pretty much the best exchange rate you're likely to get.  But it's always handy to have some cash for taxis, tips, snacks, whatever.

Yeah already looked at martin lewis and seems m and s is the best one so far. Is there a minimum you can take out at a beaurue 

According to their website:

"For orders placed via Click & Collect, there is a minimum £150 order and maximum of £2,500. For Bureau de Change walk-ups, there is no minimum order."

DullGreyGuy

WillPS said:

MattMattMattUK said:

WillPS said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Visa, Mastercard and Amex cards are accepted globally, the card issuer is irrelevant.

Not true, or at least not until recently. Many German merchants will only accept V Pay and many Dutch merchants will only accept Maestro. It's a real pain.

Edit: these are being phased out now and replaced by Visa Debit and Mastercard Debit cards, but even so the point stands that you can't assume everywhere will accept Visa/Mastercard like you can in the UK. In some countries merchants will also be less likely to accept credit cards at all, even if they accept debit cards.

Amex is patchy even in the UK!

I have travelled to Germany over fifty times in the last decade, not once have I had a Visa or Mastercard credit card refused.

Amex used to be in the UK, but it is a rarity for it to not be accepted these days.

It happens. Of course, you're more likely to run in to issues with local independent merchants than large upmarket chains.

Actually it's the middle ground that's the issue, or the long established independent. 

In recent years new starters and independents have been using the likes of Zettle, SumUp and SquareUp etc which all accept AmEx out the box. Even our local takeaway recently updated their machine and after a decade of saying they dont accept AmEx they now do, but encourage a tip.

I appreciate I live in central London but spend most my transactions in single site companies (not most money) and there is only two that dont accept AmEx these days. 

MrFrugalFever

The op does not state which Barclaycard they have. If it’s not the ‘Rewards’ card they will most likely be stung with hefty fees.

TUI travel money exchange has been really competitive of late.