Credit card for America ?

bledd · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:02

Going to the US in a few months time.

Figured I'd sort a credit card out for the trip, anything I should look for or avoid?

I currently have a couple of cards in the UK with nothing on them.

JoeF1 · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:05

We used one of the Thomas cook prepayment cards when we went to NY. Was great actually. I was a bit worried i'd be charged for nothing etc, etc. Although just used it like a normal mastercard.

Teknobry · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:36

halifax clarity. just look on moneysavingexpert. top rated card, best rates and no fees.
I've used it in the states, morocco, tunisia, canary islands, its great!

AlexD · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:40

Used my N&P account a number of times in the US, no transaction fee and good rates.

If you want something pre-paid take a look at Revolut, used it recently on a trip and it was great.

R-evans · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:40

Teknobry said:
halifax clarity. just look on moneysavingexpert. top rated card, best rates and no fees.
I've used it in the states, morocco, tunisia, canary islands, its great!

This. I've done the same when in the states. I got it especially for holidays.

Make sure you open a Halifax Bank Account too or you wont be able to make payments to the card. Mistake I made first time round and had to pay interest.

malachi · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:41

Post Office credit cards charge no fees on purchases made overseas, used mine in Budapest last May. As well as my Halifax Clarity card for backup.

krooton · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:44

R-evans said:
This. I've done the same when in the states. I got it especially for holidays.

Make sure you open a Halifax Bank Account too or you wont be able to make payments to the card. Mistake I made first time round and had to pay interest.

Hey? I can make payments to mine from my Barclays account easy enough, just set it up as a regular payment and can shift cash there whenever I want. No Halifax account here.

malachi · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:45

R-evans said:
This. I've done the same when in the states. I got it especially for holidays.

Make sure you open a Halifax Bank Account too or you wont be able to make payments to the card. Mistake I made first time round and had to pay interest.

Don't need to. By transferring money from my Lloyds account, I made sure my Clarity card was in credit before hand, that avoided any interest.

Kylevdm · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:47

I use Revolut, it's great. Easy to see and top up your balance from the app. No fees, no commission.

Eurofighter · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:50

My mum had a pre pay Post Office card when she went to Las Vegas. Maybe it depends where in the USA you go but they wouldn't accept it in LV.

In these threads Halifax Clarity card is considered the best option.

ci_newman · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:52

You need to look for one that has no foreign transaction fees / commission. The Postoffice Platinum Credit Card doesn't have such fees.

R-evans · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:54

krooton said:
Hey? I can make payments to mine from my Barclays account easy enough, just set it up as a regular payment and can shift cash there whenever I want. No Halifax account here.

I never worked out how to do it. I was just using the app and I couldn't work out how to pay the card directly.

Just thought I couldn't make a bank transfer as there is no account number for the card, just a card number.

Azza · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:55

Halifax Clarity.

R-evans said:
This. I've done the same when in the states. I got it especially for holidays.

Make sure you open a Halifax Bank Account too or you wont be able to make payments to the card. Mistake I made first time round and had to pay interest.

You should be able to use you online banking to select a 'company' for a new payment and it should list Halifax Clarity or you can just do it manually.

Making payments section here - http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/help-guidance/existing-customers/

Craig321 · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:58

Halifax Clarity

R-evans said:
This. I've done the same when in the states. I got it especially for holidays.

Make sure you open a Halifax Bank Account too or you wont be able to make payments to the card. Mistake I made first time round and had to pay interest.

You can pay it off fine from anywhere with the card number & sort code. I paid mine regularly from HSBC and got charged about 50p interest over the 6 months I was travelling as I would pay it every time I got decent interent access. Spent a lot of money through it as well, and used it again recently in India for a month, works perfectly and got basically perfect rates every time.

R-evans · 6 Jun 2016 at 14:58

Azza said:
Halifax Clarity.

You should be able to use you online banking to select a 'company' for a new payment and it should list Halifax Clarity or you can just do it manually.

Making payments section here - http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/help-guidance/existing-customers/

Ah right, cheers.

Craig321 · 6 Jun 2016 at 15:00

Just make sure you ring them up and give them the dates you're going to be spending overseas, then they'll ensure it isn't blocked.

Also works perfectly for cash withdrawals, that's all I used mine for (barely any restaurants/shops accept CCs where I went anyway). You do get charged interest from day 1 on cash withdrawals, but if you pay off multiple times per month, then the interest is next to nothing.

malachi · 6 Jun 2016 at 15:03

R-evans said:
I never worked out how to do it. I was just using the app and I couldn't work out how to pay the card directly.

Just thought I couldn't make a bank transfer as there is no account number for the card, just a card number.

Need to log onto the actual website first and create the transfer. Then it will appear in the app after.

Azza · 6 Jun 2016 at 15:03

Craig321 said:
Just make sure you ring them up and give them the dates you're going to be spending overseas, then they'll ensure it isn't blocked.

Your Profile -> Your Travel Plans

You can setup destinations and dates all online so you don't even have to ring up.

Craig321 · 6 Jun 2016 at 15:06

Ah nice, didn't have that when I went! Good to know.

Kiyoshi · 6 Jun 2016 at 15:06

Post Office card here, worked great and no problems in the US.