Student: Ordered a Halifax credit card to use in Thailand. Good Idea?

jamesholland

Hey,

I am about to book flights to go to Thailand in early July, and have little cash right now.

I just ordered a Halifax credit card with 10 months interest free credit.

I spoke to the lady who sorted me out at great length and got her to reiterate several times that as long as I make the minimum payment (something like £20 each month) and pay this off in the 10 months (I'll have it all paid off before Christmas) then I will pay NOTHING more than what I've spent.

The card is in the post and I'm expecting it any day now.

- I'm planning to buy flights for £500-£600.

- I saw the Halifax DEBIT card is badly regarded by Martin. But this is their CREDIT card, and as far as I understand from everything this lady has told me this card and arrangement seems perfect. Is it?

- I need this money quick as my flights could go up.

Thanks, Alex

Noz

I presume you will not be withdrawing cash by using this card?

scott_lithgows

You will pay a foreign transaction charge of 2-3% on all card purchases.

skyrider007

Ohhh fun fun I love Thailand. Shopping in Bangkok is so cheap.

Try Etihad airline they're cheap for flights to Thailand. Thai Airways is a bit more pricey but it's direct.

£300 for pocket money is plenty! That equates to about 20,000 Thai Baht. You could live on less than 2,000 Baht a day.

Anyway as long as you pay your card off within 10 month, you'll be fine. Don't withdraw cash from it though.

Bring travelers cheque in US$ or £ and exchange them into cash when you need.

jamesholland

Thanks for the swift replies guys,

- I understand already that withdrawing cash from a hole-in-the-wall is like dropping my pants and bending over in front of Mr Halifax, so I will not be doing this.

- I will be taking cash/travellers cheques for spending , and use the credit card to spend any remaining from my limit in restaurants and shops.


- Skyrider, I'm going for about 6 weeks and planning to move through Cambodia Vietnam and Laos - how much would you recommend taking?

skyrider007

jamesholland wrote: »

- In which cash, say I spend £500 abroad with it, then I will pay a total of around £10-£15 in transaction charges?

- So in which case, spending £500-£600 on a flight, several hundred on phone/tv bills before I go and several hundred over there in an ATM means I really won't pay much at all above the money I'm borrowing as long as I pay it back within 10 months?

- Skyrider, I'm going for about 6 weeks and planning to move through Cambodia Vietnam and Laos - how much would you recommend taking?

Yeah you'll pay around 2.75% for foreign card transaction. It's not that bad unless you plan to spend thousands of quid.

As for how much money you should take, it depends on how long you're going in stay in which country.

- Thailand is the most expensive out of the lot (min. £20 a day)
- Vietnam is less expensive than Thailand (you'll survive with less than £10-15 a day)
- Laos and Cambodia, you'll probably get away with less than £10 a day, lol.

Stay in guest houses and pick one that has en-suite air conditioned room or you'll be sweating all night long. Shared bathrooms are nasty! The normal price for this kind of accomodation is £10-15 per room per night.

prudentsaving42

Max out your student overdraft, if you don't have a Student Account, open one with Halifax they will give you 0% on £500 for the first year, then you can withdraw £500 from an ATM and use that as spending money. Pay for flights by credit card. Exchange £100 here and £400 at a bank in Thailand. If you feel uncomfortable taking a lot of cash I recommend using Nationwide's FlexAccount, you can put your cash there and withdraw at foreign ATM's (providing the ATM doesn't charge) free of charge.

jimbo26

You would have been better off getting a Nationwide or Post Office Credit card as there are no commission fees on foreign purchases.

gillbee

Abbeys new zero card does not charge if you use your card abroad for purchases. They do hammer you for cash withdrawels.

For cash withdrawels, I load up my spending cash onto a Nationwide current account card which offers free cash withdrawels abroad, no fees. (I used this in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and China no hassle). This is the cheapest way I know of however you do have to have the cash in the account before you go. You'd still have time to open this account - mine took approx two weeks for cards and pin numbers.

Enjoy your trip.

gillbee

Quick note on Cambodia - If your doing the angkor temples, then if I remeber right, the pass is about $20 a day £10. You'll need a tuk tuk driver to get you around as well as the temples are a good distance from the town and quite far apart - think ours was $12 a day.
Oh - and don't forget your Vietnam visa. Cambodian one can be bought at the border, but unless things have changed you need theVietnam one before you go.

jimbo26

Quick note on Thailand. Don't be fooled by the guys that look like girls.