Travel options

Sncjw

Hi all

So I'm due to go to Zante soon and I currently have a barclaycard which j have used in the past for travel. However I have a money transfer deal on it at the moment. I haven't had my first statement for that yet but it will be soon. So I have some money available on my limit and I would normally use this card for travel with my clarity card as a back up..however what concerned me is that I have the mt deal on at the moment that is 0 percent interest of course if I pay the minimum and if I use it abroad for purchases I am concerned that when it comes to the statement it will be mixed up and I will lose on the money transfer deal. I have chatted to barclaycard and they said if you spent 200 quid you need to clear the 200.quid and you will be fine. I am a bit nervous about this. 

However there is option of the clarity card. Am I right in thinking there's no interest added on purchases before the statement comes in and if I were to withdraw money it starts acuring interest until I pay the balance. 

There are other options like take cash which we are explaining to do for shops and places that don't take cards. We are staying somewhere away from the main strip and also would need taxi to get to Zante town. Jet 2 haven't got any excursions on the booking page yet either. We were hoping to do shipwrecked beach but not sure how much that would be and if they pick up from hotel. 

Another option is for my husband to apply for card but he has no credit cards yet. 

zagfles

I'm spending on a Barclaycard which I have a 0% deal on. After every statement I pay off the greater of the spending and the minimum payment, and haven't been charged any interest. Payments go towards statemented spending before promotional balances, and the terms state that you get the interest free "up to 56 days" if you pay off the full balance excluding promotional 0% balances.

But check yours is the same, there are several BC's with different terms, check the summary box on the statement. But I'd imagine this applies to them all. 

Watch out if you get a refund, or cashback credit etc. BC seem to treat them as payments rather than negative spending. Theoretically this should mean you could reduce the payment for the previous statement if you've not already paid it, rather than reduce payment for the statement the refund appears on. But to be safe, if I get any refunds I'll still pay off all the spending without deducting the refund, and so the refund would end up paying off some of the promotional balance. 

Or just use the Clarity. No interest on purchases if you pay in full. Interest on cash, but you can minimise by paying it off as soon possible - but wait till it's cleared (not pending) and also you must pay off the previous statement balance before you can pay off cash withdrawals since the last statement.