Credit Cards
I have just come to the end of a Credit Card that made donations to Spinal Research and think its time to benefit myself instead - any ideas for Credit Cards that help? It might be useful to have one that doesn't charge for use abroad as well - or separately? Thanks in advance for any advice.
Comments
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Halifax Clarity Card makes no charges for purchases made abroad, only the normal 'interest' on currency withdrawn via an ATM, and give the inter-bank rate which applies at the time of the transaction. Most people who use it make sure they pay off the balance before significant interest is accrued.
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Thank you both it looks as though I might hold onto my Caxton Currency card for abroad then. I did get it down to a fine art on this last visit and their exchange rate seems pretty good.
Definitely leave orders to pay it off by direct debit as I normally do.
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You'll get a marginally better rate with the Halifax than with a pre-paid card - and of course you don't have to decide how much to put on it. I think that would encourage me to spend more, thinking 'Oh well, I've got fifty pounds left I might as well spend it.................'!
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Another vote for the Halifax Clarity card. Unless people want to control quite closely how much they spend I don't really see the point of prepaid cards. I use my Clarity Card to withdraw money from ATM's and get a far better rate than using my Natwest debit card.
David
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Halifax Clarity for free transactions abroad - any other that give points away as in the Tesco one? Thanks for the replies.
I use the Caxton Cash card in place of Travellers Cheques and to avoid CC costs. I remember being very pleased to have a few Tcheques left for the next holiday! I suppose all methods need a bit of self control to stop spending! With my recent trip extending from expected 5 days - to 9 weeks I was able to top up the card as necessary - with the internet - but a Halifax one would have been easier!
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I think the problem with reward credit cards is that you are unlikely to get rewards plus the best exchange rates. There were some fairly recent changes to how much could be charged in transaction costs so this has removed or curtailed the option for generous rewards. Now the likes of Tesco and John Lewis are still quite generous if shopping with them but as soon as you move away from the card provider stores the rewards tend to shrink away and it takes so much longer to get worthwhile rewards.
David
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We have both Nationwide cc and Tesco cc. Nationwide give cash back, no charges abroad just exchange rate. Tesco same but of course you get reward points. Caxton for cash, put it on before hand or just when you need it, everything else goes on the cc. If you have money left on Caxton you can leave it there for another trip or convert it to another currency if going away to say the states or you can return it back to where it came from.
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Nationwide CC have no charges and give you commercial exchange rate. Debit card has no charges abroad and also gives you commercial exchange rate. Tesco CC will charge you 2.75% if you use it abroad. Why do people transfer their money from one card to another then carry them all on holiday? Unless you give your card details to strangers on the street/internet, or shop in some dodgy back street store then you should have on problem with your normal credit and debit cards, in the UK or Europe.
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We used to use our Nationwide debit card for cash abroad, but as it is not our main account, they started charging for use abroad several years back. Anyone with a Nationwide debit card needs to check the conditions for their particular account as there are differences.
These days we use Clarity for cash and repay once the amount appears online.
We have 2 Clarity cards, so use one for cash and one for purchases.
At home we now use mainly a Barclaycard that gives reward points, also a Tesco card, and at the moment we have a cashback TSB card too.
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I agree with David in that you are not going to get no charge for use abroad and financial benefits at home. What you do depends a lot on how often you go abroad, as a card for a week a year, is probably not worth the effort, but the more you go abroad the better it is, so you have to do your own arithmatic to see what suits you.
As for cards with benefits, the Barclaycard that we got to replace the club credit card seemed to give the best return on general purchases, but if you use one at the same store a lot, then their card might be the best bet. Again you have to look at your use of it, but whatever you choose, you do not get a lot back. In all cases though pay off the credit card at the end of the month to avoid interest.
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Thanks again I will look more closely at the Club Barclaycard. So far I have received a Tesco one and already have the Caxton pre-paid but with no trips abroad planned at the moment I will wait awhile for the Halifax Clarity I think. Thank you everyone for the helpful comments.
Pippa
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Yes, it was very disappointing that Halifax stopped their £5 per month reward scheme, we now only use ours abroad, or if making a purchase in another currency.
The Barclaycard rewards are now a shadow of what they used to be, as are many of the other reward schemes, however, every little helps!
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We use a Nationwide credit card for all goods purchases when abroad. There is no fee, and the rate is the basic Visa Europe rate with no mark up. We have a fixed direct debit to clear the balance each month so never pay any interest. We use Euro cash when needed, but don't really need that much so just carry enough for a beer or two.
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