Credit Cards Idling

RuthMarianna

I am not sure what to do for the best. So I am hoping someone will know. We have 3 credit cards all paid off now but we want to hang on to them as we are planning a trip to Australia in a year for a few months and will want to use them there. In the mean time we do not plan to use them. What I want to know is are we best keeping some activity on them and paying it off each month to keep the cards active or are we OK just to leave them inactive for 12 months? We have cards with Barclaycard, Abbey and Halifax.

ikolpdog_2

Cancel them, and then apply for new 0% purchase cards a month or so before your planned departure date.

RuthMarianna

That sounds like a good idea. My only concern is that we may be refused if for some reason criteria for getting a card changes or we may not be offered such a high credit limit next time. So I might keep these and apply new ones first just to err on the cautious side.

gt94sss2

These credit cards are the best for overseas use, as they do not charge you foreign exchange loading on purchases abroad.:

- Nationwide
- Post Office
- Thomas Cook

The best debit card is the one that comes with a Nationwide current account (as again that does not charge you any foreign exchange loading) - ideal for taking money out of ATMs (much better than any credit card)

You are best off gradually closing your existing cards and opening one or two of the above for use in Australia.

Regards
Sunil

RuthMarianna

Thanks for the advise. I'll look into these. I sure don't like paying for the "bubbly at the shareholder's meeting":eek: