Credit Card for USA

That's the card done, should be here in a few days.

I know we should really get the Air Train, do you think they'd be any problems if it's getting on towards midnight?
We're staying 5 minutes away from Grand Central, does the LIRR go to Grand Central or would we need to make our way to the Hotel from the LIRR?
 
I applied for the Clarity Card but got denied which was odd, applied to the Post Office 'Classic' credit card a few mins later and got approved with £3.6k credit limit.

I just checked and they use the exchange rate fees from Mastercard, which I guess is the same as the Clarity..oh well same thing I guess, will only be using it for purchases in the USA anyway.
 
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[TW]Fox;27382727 said:
You'd need to get a subway or something to Grand Central, LIRR goes to Penn Station which is just south of Times Square.

Taxi is looking favourable again :)

For the extra money to get me and the misses dropped off straight outside our hotel I think will be worth it.

Just need to sort our itinerary out now, there's plenty of threads on this forum so just need to browse.
 
I applied for the Clarity Card but got denied which was odd, applied to the Post Office 'Classic' credit card a few mins later and got approved with £3.6k credit limit.

I just checked and they use the exchange rate fees from Mastercard, which I guess is the same as the Clarity..oh well same thing I guess, will only be using it for purchases in the USA anyway.

I was interested to see what limit I'd been given but it hasn't stated it yet.
 
Taxi is looking favourable again :)

For the extra money to get me and the misses dropped off straight outside our hotel I think will be worth it.

Just need to sort our itinerary out now, there's plenty of threads on this forum so just need to browse.
Yeah grab a taxi there and take the train(s) on your way back IMO, fun as navigating a city's public transport system on arrival can be!
 
Taxi is looking favourable again :)

For the extra money to get me and the misses dropped off straight outside our hotel I think will be worth it.

Just need to sort our itinerary out now, there's plenty of threads on this forum so just need to browse.

We got a taxi to our hotel - yes it was more expensive, but we got the driver to do some touristy driving - Brooklyn Bridge etc. was fun (and the taxi driver loved us :D)

Another vote for Halifax Clarity. First couple of times we went we tried using FairFX but was a right pain.
 
Really impressed with Clarity - the interest is minimal so I just leave it as paying off the balance each month with a direct debit.

The only thing that I'm not 100% on is that because the money appears as a cash advance on your credit report, does it affect your credit rating in any way? (Because a cash advance via a credit card might be seen that you are short of money...)
 
I recently went to America and used a Nationwide Select Credit Card.

You have to have a nationwide account to get one but you do get 0% interest for 26 months, cashback on purchases and payments abroad are just charged at the exchange rate.

I was more than happy with that.
 
We land at 21.20 and wanted the least stressful way to get to our Hotel.
The thing is Fox I know you're right but I've heard mixed reviews on public transport being difficult to navigate and at that time of night just wanted to go straight to our Hotel.
I think it should be around 70$ for a taxi, if it's only an extra £20 or £30 I'd rather save the hassle.

We used Go Green Ride. Same price you'd pay for a taxi but much nicer :) (we paid him $70 which was for the fare, toll and tip)

Caxton or FairFX card

I got a card with Caxton, had no issues using it and had a decent exchange rate at the time of adding money to it.

Also not sure what network you're with or what you plan to do with regards to a phone out there but we were told that Three network don't charge extra for overseas. Not sure if you're with either of them (can't remember which one it was) but next time we go to USA we plan to get a PAYG sim.
 
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Caxton or FairFX card

Be very very careful using pre-paid cards in restaurants etc. - they swipe your card, bring you the receipt to sign and add tip, then charge the card properly. What happens is you get "billed" twice - once for the initial swipe, and then for the final amount. The first one never actually gets confirmed, but the funds are held for quite a long time. Not so bad on a credit card that you won't be going anywhere near the limit, but on a pre-paid card you can run out pretty quickly, and then when you get back home and don't need the dollars, it all gets released again.
 
Be very very careful using pre-paid cards in restaurants etc. - they swipe your card, bring you the receipt to sign and add tip, then charge the card properly. What happens is you get "billed" twice - once for the initial swipe, and then for the final amount. The first one never actually gets confirmed, but the funds are held for quite a long time. Not so bad on a credit card that you won't be going anywhere near the limit, but on a pre-paid card you can run out pretty quickly, and then when you get back home and don't need the dollars, it all gets released again.

This is yet another reason why these prepaid cards just suck - I've no idea why they are so popular. The same problem happens with hotels and rental cars as well.

Just take a decent credit card and then you benefit from the lowest possible costs and the highest level of convenience with none of the faff associated with half-way-house measures like prepaid cards.
 
You have to have a nationwide account to get one but you do get 0% interest for 26 months, cashback on purchases and payments abroad are just charged at the exchange rate.

FYI, you don't earn cashback on non-sterling purchases.
 
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