Best way to pay for holiday - Cedit Card?

moneysavingnewbie_4

Hi,

Me and my girlfriend are going on holiday end September a fly drive in New England in the States. I was wondering what the best way to pay for this is?

We have paid £150 deposit, and the remaining £2,470 is due mid Juuly (10 weeks before departure). We have the cash in the bank ready to go, but I was wondering if it was better to pay with a cashback credit card to make a few quid, and maybe get some insurance thrown in?

The holiday provider is Thomas Cook, who will charge an extra 2.25% for paying with credit card (about £55) but the small print says the max charge is £50. A credit card with 5% cashback would give me £122, taking away the £50 cc surcharge leaves me £72 better off. As the payment deadline is only a month away, I need to be applying for the credit card pretty soon.

I have never really used credit cards before, but as I understand it if I pay the balance off right away, I won't be charged anything else? How is the cash back given to you? Do you generally need to keep the card for a year?

Also, what is the general concensus on financing day-to-day expenses whilst on holiday? I see some bank accounts (Nationwide?) offer free withdrawals abroad - is this better than travellers cheques? As the pound is currently strong against the dollar, is it worth buying the holiday money now (say £1000 of dollars), and if so is there any more secure means than carrying around all the cash?

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

mdj1

HI There

I would say you were pretty safe with paying with thomas cook by other means, however, i believe that if you only pay £100 on the credit card you are covered, you could then pay less fees by paying the rest with a debit card.

As for money, a nationwide card is an excellent idea, my other half has an account and we always transfer money to her account before travelling.

I wouldnt change up your money to dollars. I WOULD change it to travellers cheques, you usually get a slightly better rate.

Whenever I have been to the states i've used travelers cheques like money to pay for anything, days out, restaurants etc. They wont charge a fee, they just take them as cash and even give change.

Hope this has helped.

lisyloo

A cashback card is the best way to go (capital one do 4%, amex are 5% but checkout that the holiday company accept amex and the fees are the same as sometimes they can be higher). You can get cashback at quidco with AMEX.

Nationwide are really good.
No comission.
If you get the debit card then there is no ATM fee (there MAY be a local ATM fee but that's nothing to do with Nationwide - it's a local charge).
There is no commission on purchases on the credit card but there is interest if you withdraw cash on the credit card so the debit card is better for cash.

You probably won't get cashback AND free insurance, but the insurances aren't that great anyway to be honest, so you need proper travel insruance especially for the states where medical is very expensive.

Cash back is given on your anniversary and creditied to your account with the cards above.
You definitely have to keep AMEX for a year, not sure about capital one (probably) so definitely checke before you cancel.

Definitely check the holiday company accept amex and what fees they charge before going for amex. Often amex fees are a lot higher.

taxi73

I paid for my holiday on american express for the cashback and they only charged the normal CC charge...this was first choice/thomson.

Indispensable_Hobbes

I think this thread answers my question

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=986263