Best Credit cards to use in United Kingdom
Mar 20th, 2007, 02:16 PM
#7
hi, rushed,
AS a Brit, I agree entirely that VISA, M'card, or AMEX will be fine wherever you want to use them so long as they take c/cards. [and very few places don't] Just a few may take m/card or Visa but not AMex. the store or restaurant won't care which bank has issued your card.
which one is the best for you to use depends on the contract you have with the bank [charges, exchange rates, etc] and how difficult they are when you try to use it abroad - from other threads I ge t heinmpression that some US banks won't clear "unusual" transactions for which they haven't had prior notification, and some have very small windows to carry this out.
why not search on this forum for other threads on this subject?
regards, ann
AS a Brit, I agree entirely that VISA, M'card, or AMEX will be fine wherever you want to use them so long as they take c/cards. [and very few places don't] Just a few may take m/card or Visa but not AMex. the store or restaurant won't care which bank has issued your card.
which one is the best for you to use depends on the contract you have with the bank [charges, exchange rates, etc] and how difficult they are when you try to use it abroad - from other threads I ge t heinmpression that some US banks won't clear "unusual" transactions for which they haven't had prior notification, and some have very small windows to carry this out.
why not search on this forum for other threads on this subject?
regards, ann
Mar 20th, 2007, 04:14 PM
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Whichever card you decide on, make sure you notify the company before you leave the country. Otherwise, you may have some trouble using it. I was just reminded of that when trying to buy French train tickets online--Capital One declined the sale until I called them to make them aware of what I was doing.
Mar 20th, 2007, 05:03 PM
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Visa is taken almost everywhere. MC - or european equivalent is also taken most places. Many places - esp if not budget- wil take AmEx. Diner Card is rare.
Discover card is not supported by it's owners in europe (or outside the US I think) - so you can;t use it at all.
Discover card is not supported by it's owners in europe (or outside the US I think) - so you can;t use it at all.
Mar 20th, 2007, 05:12 PM
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I don't think the above respones answer your question. It matters not Visa or Master Card. What matters is who issued the card.
Bank of America credit cards are poison as far as I am concerned because BOA tacks on a 3% charge for no value added. Many other card issuers also do the same. I don't have any of them because I use one card, and one card only, when out of the country: Capital One.
Why? Because Capital One does not as of right now sock me with an extra 3%. As nearly as I can tell, my purchases are converted at the bank wholesale rate of exchange for the date the transaction was posted by the merchant.
(I might add that rates fluctuate all day long. I do not know for sure which rate I get. I have checked with a Forex site that lists rates for the date and compared what I paid with the high, low, and average rates for the day. I am always between the high and low, but never right on average. In any event, I haven't thought my conversion rates were out of range.)
You can find other credit cards out there. I have read elsewhere in these pages that some of the brokerage firms that issue credit cards, such as Smith Barney, also give surcharge free conversions as do cards issued by some credit unions.
One deceitful practice, that to me is legal banditry, is the gimmick known as Dynamic Currency Conversion. If you are outside the USA and you are presented with a charge slip that is denominated in dollars, it is DCC. What is bad about it? The rate of exchange is well above the bank wholesale rate and sometimes the credit card issuing bank goes ahead and slaps the 3% foreign usage charge on it anyhow. As a result you are hit in the wallet coming and going.
I might add that I also get amused at people who claim the purchased "no fee" travelers' checks. As a general rule, if you have US dollar denominated checks, you must take them to a bank or "bureau de change" (aka rip off city) to get local currency. When you do, you take a nice clipping. Some of the places I have seen sock you 10%.
If you buy checks denominated in euro, pounds sterling, or other European currency, you normally pay 5% above the wholesale bank rate of exchange. I would not have the effrontery to charge you a fee either if I had just clipped for $5.00 out of a $100 for selling you your own money.
As for debit/ATM card use, several US banks have agreements with European banks. For example, I use my Bank of America ATM card at Barclays in the UK, and Deutsche Bank in Germany because, to date, withdrawals from my checking account were treated as on-net transactions. They were no different from using my card at the branch bank just up the street.
Also, do not stick your credit card in an ATM slot and withdraw currency. That is a cash advance and you pay nicely juiced rates of interest for the privilege. One friend of mine, a Ph. D. psychologist, never did understand what I was trying to tell him about the difference between a debit card and a credit card when used for a cash withdrawal. I think his wife doled him out a cash allowance every week so at home he never used an ATM card. Overseas, he asserted his authority and stuck his credit card in the slot -- all he had. Sure enough, he got his euro notes! Seemed like a good idea at the time. Of course he blamed me for advising him incorrectly. (or did I advice him??)
Bank of America credit cards are poison as far as I am concerned because BOA tacks on a 3% charge for no value added. Many other card issuers also do the same. I don't have any of them because I use one card, and one card only, when out of the country: Capital One.
Why? Because Capital One does not as of right now sock me with an extra 3%. As nearly as I can tell, my purchases are converted at the bank wholesale rate of exchange for the date the transaction was posted by the merchant.
(I might add that rates fluctuate all day long. I do not know for sure which rate I get. I have checked with a Forex site that lists rates for the date and compared what I paid with the high, low, and average rates for the day. I am always between the high and low, but never right on average. In any event, I haven't thought my conversion rates were out of range.)
You can find other credit cards out there. I have read elsewhere in these pages that some of the brokerage firms that issue credit cards, such as Smith Barney, also give surcharge free conversions as do cards issued by some credit unions.
One deceitful practice, that to me is legal banditry, is the gimmick known as Dynamic Currency Conversion. If you are outside the USA and you are presented with a charge slip that is denominated in dollars, it is DCC. What is bad about it? The rate of exchange is well above the bank wholesale rate and sometimes the credit card issuing bank goes ahead and slaps the 3% foreign usage charge on it anyhow. As a result you are hit in the wallet coming and going.
I might add that I also get amused at people who claim the purchased "no fee" travelers' checks. As a general rule, if you have US dollar denominated checks, you must take them to a bank or "bureau de change" (aka rip off city) to get local currency. When you do, you take a nice clipping. Some of the places I have seen sock you 10%.
If you buy checks denominated in euro, pounds sterling, or other European currency, you normally pay 5% above the wholesale bank rate of exchange. I would not have the effrontery to charge you a fee either if I had just clipped for $5.00 out of a $100 for selling you your own money.
As for debit/ATM card use, several US banks have agreements with European banks. For example, I use my Bank of America ATM card at Barclays in the UK, and Deutsche Bank in Germany because, to date, withdrawals from my checking account were treated as on-net transactions. They were no different from using my card at the branch bank just up the street.
Also, do not stick your credit card in an ATM slot and withdraw currency. That is a cash advance and you pay nicely juiced rates of interest for the privilege. One friend of mine, a Ph. D. psychologist, never did understand what I was trying to tell him about the difference between a debit card and a credit card when used for a cash withdrawal. I think his wife doled him out a cash allowance every week so at home he never used an ATM card. Overseas, he asserted his authority and stuck his credit card in the slot -- all he had. Sure enough, he got his euro notes! Seemed like a good idea at the time. Of course he blamed me for advising him incorrectly. (or did I advice him??)
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