Credit card for America ?

Skillmister · 7 Jun 2016 at 15:53

thewanted said:
Perhaps that's true, but the OP is going to the US

I'll repost the above when someone makes the same thread with the same responses about somewhere in Europe then

TheOtherOption · 7 Jun 2016 at 19:47

Halifax Clarity - got mine for Australia last year and was very pleased how well it worked.

Just been to Iceland and the mastercard rate you get using it is far and away the best - I did get some cash but shouldn't have bothered as everywhere takes card!

bledd · 12 Jul 2016 at 20:06

Hi,

Bit of a thread bump, with a simple question.

You say this card allows fee free withdrawals if you clear it in the same day. Does this mean if I spend say $55 on the card on food etc, then take out $150 at an ATM.

Will I then need to transfer the equivalent of $205 on the same day to avoid fees? or could I just whack in $150?

Malevolence · 12 Jul 2016 at 20:18

Came in expecting a new Proclaimers single; left disappointed.

SuperOwl86 · 12 Jul 2016 at 20:31

To avoid interest you would need to pay off the $150 that you withdrew from an ATM.

Gilly · 12 Jul 2016 at 20:31

I know American Express is rubbish here, but I at least thought it'd be decent in the US.

Amp34 · 12 Jul 2016 at 21:33

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.

Just set up a direct debit from your normal bank account and forget about it. Gets payed off fully each month. Simple

Amp34 · 12 Jul 2016 at 21:37

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.

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.

That makes little to no difference. If its flagged as an odd transaction it'll be declined and you'll need to unblock it anyway. I'm pretty sure when i first got mine I rang up and told them for them to say they don't actually do anything.

I've used mine all over the world (including places like central africa and the Philippines) and have never let them know I was going away and so far I've never had my card cancelled.

Sirrel Squirrel said:
If you're with Nationwide sign up for a Select Credit Card. No fees on purchases abroad and if you have the paid Flex account the debit card is fee free for cash withdrawals.

I'd double check that. The bog standard flex account may be fee free in europe but it's certainly not worldwide. You'll need the flex plus account for that.

Amp34 · 12 Jul 2016 at 21:42

Gilly said:
I know American Express is rubbish here, but I at least thought it'd be decent in the US.

If you have a US AMEX card it'll be great (well not far off any other credit card), but AMEX have international transaction fees so doesn't make it worth using abroad.

Bennie-Mac · 12 Jul 2016 at 23:56

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

Seconded, great card

Davey_Pitch · 13 Jul 2016 at 01:41

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

Same here, used one in the US on the last 5-6 trips there and never had any issues.

Destination · 13 Jul 2016 at 01:43

SuperOwl86 said:
To avoid interest you would need to pay off the $150 that you withdrew from an ATM.

Yes but afaik they clear purchases first, and clear cash later, worth investigating.
Anyone know for sure?

robj20 · 13 Jul 2016 at 07:31

Travelex Super Card the only card worth having, no fees at all.

[TW]Fox · 13 Jul 2016 at 07:39

robj20 said:
Travelex Super Card the only card worth having, no fees at all.

Not true.

Redgie · 13 Jul 2016 at 07:44

Hikari Kisugi said:
Yes but afaik they clear purchases first, and clear cash later, worth investigating.
Anyone know for sure?

Cash comes before purchases.

robj20 · 13 Jul 2016 at 08:00

[TW]Fox;29775096 said:
Not true.

Why so? I just used mine for two weeks in greece with no fees getting the mastercard rate, with the bonus i can choose it to use my credit card or debit card as funding. Massively reduced how much cash i needed to take.

Ekim · 13 Jul 2016 at 08:04

robj20 said:
Why so? I just used mine for two weeks in greece with no fees getting the mastercard rate, with the bonus i can choose it to use my credit card or debit card as funding. Massively reduced how much cash i needed to take.

There is a 2.99% fee to withdraw cash from an ATM using the Supercard:

https://www.travelex.co.uk/services/supercard/fees-and-limits

[TW]Fox · 13 Jul 2016 at 08:11

robj20 said:
Why so? I just used mine for two weeks in greece with no fees getting the mastercard rate, with the bonus i can choose it to use my credit card or debit card as funding. Massively reduced how much cash i needed to take.

Because it charges a fee for withdrawing cash which a decent travel credit card like the Halifax Clarity does not.

The other problem with these Revolut/Supercard/etc type thing is they are online authorisation only and the fraud protection isn't as good as a proper credit card.

The only real benefit over a proper credit card is that you don't need to get a credit card, but really, you should.

robj20 · 13 Jul 2016 at 08:24

I suppose i could swap my Halifax One card to the Clarity.

Trifid · 13 Jul 2016 at 08:28

Sirrel Squirrel said:
If you're with Nationwide sign up for a Select Credit Card. No fees on purchases abroad and if you have the paid Flex account the debit card is fee free for cash withdrawals.

This. If you keep £2500 in the current account then after taking off the interest earned it costs £4 a month and for that you also get travel insurance, breakdown cover and mobile phone insurance.