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No fee card for spending when abroad

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  • badger09
    badger09 Posts: 11,577 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Another here with Halifax Clarity CC & Starling DC which I’ve used all over the world. 
    Just make sure you always choose to pay in local currency & if you do withdraw cash, choose your card’s rate, rather than the local bank’s ATM rate. Wording of this choice, especially in Greece, seems designed to confuse😠
  • BlueonBlue
    BlueonBlue Posts: 277 Forumite
    100 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 3 August 2024 at 8:25AM
    Just make sure you always choose to pay in local currency & if you do withdraw cash, choose your card’s rate, rather than the local bank’s ATM rate.

    "Wording of this choice, especially in Greece, seems designed to confuse😠"

    Greece isnt alone where wording is not clear and concise Italy comes to mind as well...... its best not to be in a rush as its a trap .
  • pochisoldi
    pochisoldi Posts: 341 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    For me:
    Chase Debit card for most stuff
    Halifax Clarity for stuff like car hire/hotels/automatic petrol pumps (the stuff where a silly authorisation is taken out which effectively freezes funds when using a debit card).

    Most places I've visited over the last few years, I've managed to do cashless, or almost cashless. (Sweden: 100% cashless for several years now, Other eurozone places - cash in the odd bar and small stuff, USA: still the worst place to attempt cashless).

    Pre-pandemic it was Halifax Clarity for everything (including cash from ATMs, where I would monitor the account and payoff cash advances as soon as they cleared to minimise interest).


  • Chase for me. Used both in Spain and Egypt this year with no issues. Paid for things in Euro, US Dollars and Egyptian pounds. No problems, easy to use app, 1% cashback on purchases and they gave me a linked savings account with a rate of 5.1% until January. 
  • "Pre-pandemic it was Halifax Clarity for everything (including cash from ATMs, where I would monitor the account and payoff cash advances as soon as they cleared to minimise interest)."
    Won't cash advance interest only be cleared if there are no other (goods and services) transactions making up the ongoing balance ?
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 21,433 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Chutzpah Haggler
    edited 4 August 2024 at 2:04PM
    "Pre-pandemic it was Halifax Clarity for everything (including cash from ATMs, where I would monitor the account and payoff cash advances as soon as they cleared to minimise interest)."
    Won't cash advance interest only be cleared if there are no other (goods and services) transactions making up the ongoing balance ?
    You need to pay statemented balances before unstatemented cash advances. You don't need to pay unstatemented purchases. Example here Halifax Clarity: Why take 2 months to take interest payment on a foreign withdrawal? - Page 2 — MoneySavingExpert Forum
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