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Withdrawing money on a credit card - Booster may know Best


eldavo69
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Ahead of this year's holiday I got a Halifax Clarity credit card as recommended by Martin Lewis for the best rates and no fees on purchases. 

He also bangs on about using it to withdraw currency from foreign cash machines as again you get a great rate and no fees. 

Using Internet banking I could transfer the money immediately to the credit card so as to minimise/negate any interest BUT . . . I recall Booster saying that withdrawing cash on a credit card hurt your credit file so would like some pointers please?

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Withdrawing cash on a credit card isn't the best thing for your credit rating as traditionally, if you are doing so it means that you are skint! However, if you clear the balance in full on receipt of the statement it won't have an impact.

How about one of those cards that you pre-load with money and can withdraw at a fixed exchange rate?

https://www.travelex.co.uk/services/supercard?c=MSE-Email&pid=MSE

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The Travelex Supercard charges 2.99% fee on cash withdrawals though whereas the Halifax card is zero fee and also the same MasterCard exchange rate. 

I'm planning on paying the balance off as I go so I get back to a monthly bill of £0 so if that isn't going to prove a problem then I'll carry on as planned - thanks!

IIRC - Mac and Bangle do similar

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I have both Halifax Clarity and Tavelex Supercard.

 

To be honest, I only have the Supercard as a backup, the Halifax card has always been superb and I've travelled extensively throughout the world with it.

 

Online banking means I just make payments to the card once a week or whenever to settle the balance and never pay interest, unless you are going somewhere particularly rural, I've never found I needed to withdraw any cash, and if you do, it's only a small fee.

 

Remember to always pay in local currency, check the display to make sure it hasn't converted to £'s and if it has, demand they cancel it and re-do it in local currency, I got caught out that way once, although it wasn't a lot of money it still annoyed me when I noticed.

Edited by Tipex
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1 hour ago, Booster said:

How about one of those cards that you pre-load with money and can withdraw at a fixed exchange rate?

https://www.travelex.co.uk/services/supercard?c=MSE-Email&pid=MSE

A minor point, but this isn't a pre-pay card.  You link a credit or debit card to the Supercard and any transactions you make on the Supercard are charged to the linked card so at no point do you put money on the Supercard.

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1 hour ago, eldavo69 said:

IIRC - Mac and Bangle do similar

Same here too - use nothing but my Halifax credit card abroad.  Nothing more annoying than using a card at a toll booth (for example, en route to Le Mans) and then finding there's a £2 flat fee added to every single transaction.....

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Used my Santander Mastercard the other month in Tokyo to pay the hotel bill and ended up with a £28 fx charge #b@stards

The reason I used the Santander MC was because of a 10% cashback deal at Hilton - so was £75 up after the fx charge :)  That's the only time in over 10 years i've not used the Clarity card aboard, use it for everything from regular cash withdrawals to plane tickets and pay it off in full each month +++

 

Just looked at last months Halifax bill, had transactions in Sweden, UK, Qatar, USA, Canada and South Africa - think I better report the card stolen to save paying the bill :finger:

Edited by Andy_Bangle
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The 10%? Was on the Santander 321 card, it's now 5% for a short time. Plus I got 20% cashback from topcashback at Hilton when I booked :) They've also had 10% off Emirates which Amex still has running  

the halifax card is considered overall the best card for travel, there are a couple of other contenders but they require a little more work. If you're looking for card for UK spend then checkout this blog: http://www.headforpoints.com/best-uk-avios-airline-hotel-credit-cards/

I'd like a better card for UK spending (cashback or points earning) but struggle to get them as I'm not a resident. 

Edited by Andy_Bangle
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34 minutes ago, Scotty said:

For foreign travel I have the Co-op card. What's better?

 

8 minutes ago, CarMad said:

I just pre-load a Thomas Cook card with Euros before we go away, get a good rate and no issues paying or withdrawn cash on it. We have money left on it at 1.34 £to€ so rather pleased with that for next year. +++

Both the coop and Thomas Cook cards are quite low down the which best card due to the rate for loading the card and atm withdrawals,  

http://www.which.co.uk/money/credit-cards-and-loans/guides/prepaid-cards/euro-and-dollar-prepaid-cards-reviewed/

CarMad, glad the currency fx rate worked for you, just hope Thomas Cook is still in business when you come to use it again ;):P 

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Its not managed by Thomas Cook is it clever clogs, it was about 2/3 in the table for costs when I check earlier in the year with a few ££ in it for the amount I was changing. 

As it happens having some left on there now has ended up being a good thing so I will cope with any slight higher cost in converting. :P

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  • 10 months later...

No fee's for spending abroad, BOE exchange rate, don't use it in the UK though, I think (but don't quote me) you can withdraw cash abroad without fee's too.

 

I used to have a Nationwide account purely for spending abroad, but they changed all the terms, fee's and interest rates some years ago now, that's when I switched to Halifax Clarity.

Edited by Tipex
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Always use it abroad at ATMs, and mostly at the airport when I touch down. 

You tend to pick up a local ATM charge as very few countries have free ATM transactions like the U.K., therefore I take out a large amount instead of doing several small transactions - just make sure you don't fall for Dynamic Currency Conversion where they try and deduct your account in £, instead of the local currency, at an extortionate FX rate. 

 

https://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/clarity-card/Default.asp#section41412152667750

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