Best Credit Card for travelling/buying abroad

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Itchy

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Just got this from surfing the web. Do check out the details for yourself.

In general:
1) A cash advance is cash, traveller’s cheques or foreign currency obtained by using the Credit Card
2) Forgein currency transactions will be converted, to the euro, by the banks at the exchange rate when they recieve the order for payment.
3) If the transaction is a forgein currency cash advance, the FX admin fee AND the cash advance fee will apply.
4) A transaction is defined as a purchase, balance transfer or a cash advance made by a cardholder.

5) Visa is much more widely accepted than MasterCard (Dipole)


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Non-euro withdrawals: 1.75% commission
A full cash advance fee will apply if after the transaction the account is in debit or payment not recieved after 25 days. C'ant find how much the fee is.

Travel accident insurance when you purchase your travel tickets in full with your Ice Visa. T's and C's apply.

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Handling charge for cash transactions: 1.5% with min €1.90/max €31.74
Foreign exchange credit card transactions outside the Eurozone are charged at a rate of 2.65% with 1% cash back given as part of your next statement.

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Cash advance: 1.5%/min €2.54
Over credit limit: €8.50
Foreign-currency transactions: administration fee 2%

[broken link removed]

Cash advance 1.5%/ min €2.54 (Does not apply if account in credit)
Outside the euro zone
1.75% of value of transaction

[broken link removed] (See T's + C's)

Cash Advance fee: 1.5%/min €2.54 whichever is greater.
Transactions outside the EU i.e. "cross-border handling fee": 1.75%

[broken link removed]

Cash Advance fee 1.5%/€1.90 whichever is greater.
Over limit charge: €2.54

FX Transactions:

Visa (Europe): 1.75%
Visa (Rest of World): 2.75%

Mastercard (Europe): 1.75%
Mastercard (RoW): 1.75%(AIB charge) .25%(MC charge)

No currency conversion fees apply on euro transactions.

Can't find any [broken link removed] fees/charges.

[broken link removed]

Over limit fee: €7

Handling charge for cash advance: 1.5%/€1.90 which ever is greater.
Forgein currency transaction: 1.75%



Cash advance 1.5%/min€2.54/max€31.74
Forgein currency commission 2.65%
Overlimit fee: €12.70
Free travel insurance for 1 year from when a\c is opened.
Cash advance 1.5%/min€2.54/max€31.74
Forgein currency commission 2.65%
Overlimit fee: €12.70

Tesco CC (See Ts + Cs)

Over limit charge: €6.35
Cash advance: 1.5%/min€1.90
FX transaction: 1.75%

The final word from the good guys [broken link removed]

Any other details I should be looking for?
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

Might be worth clearly distinguishing between CC cash withdrawals (from an account pre-lodged with cash) and cash advances which will normally attract interest charges (as well as any forex charges) immediately.
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

Be careful of muscling in on CCOVICH's turf which he wrestled from me recently! :D
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

ClubMan said:
Might be worth clearly distinguishing between CC cash withdrawals (from an account pre-lodged with cash) and cash advances which will normally attract interest charges (as well as any forex charges) immediately.
Click to expand...

I have compiled a lengthy piece on credit cards that I will be posting shortly that addresses this issue. It might be an idea to link to it from all key posts regarding credit cards.
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

CCOVICH said:
I have compiled a lengthy piece on credit cards that I will be posting shortly that addresses this issue. It might be an idea to link to it from all key posts regarding credit cards.
Click to expand...

Yep no problem... Feel free to delete if your one has a more detailed analysis of each card... Just doing my bit!!!
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

No, I didn't include any info in mine on currency charges that apply to specific cards. I will keep the post updated from time to time. It's very relevant, as we frequently advise people to use their credit cards while abroad.
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

Incidentally, I see you can't find any info on NIB's charges. Not surprising, their website is a joke. Hopefully things will improve under Danske.
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

Yeah I know. NIB was actually the worst designed site I was on, closly followed by BoI. Bank of Scotland the best i.e. the clearest and easiest to understand.

According to the IFRSA survey (Oct 05?) NIB actually have the best all round card if you pay off your balence in full, IMO. Even compared to some of the student cards out there...[insert relevant abuse here]
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

A few years removed from the NUIG, better off in the University of Life.

Seriously, good job, now let's keep the thread from descending into ****!
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

CCOVICH said:
Incidentally, I see you can't find any info on NIB's charges. Not surprising, their website is a joke. Hopefully things will improve under Danske.
Click to expand...
Yes, the NIB site is poor but their CC might suit some people. AFAIK there are no 'Late' or 'Over Limit' charges and no 'Cash Advance' charge (just pay interest from day 1, i think) the FX charge is 1.75%. Their interest rate is on the high side at around 14% but for those who mostly clear the balance monthly that shouldn't make much odds.
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

VISA
I went to India with a co-worker. His mastercard was constantly being refused while my VISA worked everywhere.
 
Ok
So I am going travelling for 6 months. To access my money back in my current account I have a BoI Mastercard and a BoI Laser / Cirrus card. I will b travelling throuigh USA / New Zealand / Australia / SE Asia.
Should I use my Laser or C Card? Or would you advise getting new card altogether?
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

CCOVICH said:
Incidentally, I see you can't find any info on NIB's charges. Not surprising, their website is a joke. Hopefully things will improve under Danske.
Click to expand...
In my experience, certain aspects of NIB's operations have disimproved, if anything. But that's another day's rant. :)

michaelm said:
Yes, the NIB site is poor but their CC might suit some people. AFAIK there are no 'Late' or 'Over Limit' charges and no 'Cash Advance' charge (just pay interest from day 1, i think) the FX charge is 1.75%. Their interest rate is on the high side at around 14% but for those who mostly clear the balance monthly that shouldn't make much odds.
Click to expand...
I'm interested to know whether you got this information from NIB directly, michaelm? (because I can't find it on their website, but of course that doesn't mean it's not buried in there somewhere, if you know where to look...) I've just written to them for clarification, so I'll post back here if I hear any different from them.

[Edit: Whoops! Just spotted it in the IFSRA document... :eek: ]
 
Re: Best CC for travelling

DrMoriarty said:
I'm interested to know whether you got this information from NIB directly, michaelm? (because I can't find it on their website, but of course that doesn't mean it's not buried in there somewhere, if you know where to look...) I've just written to them for clarification, so I'll post back here if I hear any different from them.

[Edit: Whoops! Just spotted it in the IFSRA document... :eek: ]
Click to expand...
Yes, IFSRA have a Credit Card costs survey (Mar '07) on their site. NIB now charge the uniform 1.5% (Min. €2) for cash advances and also charge €8.50 late payment fee, no over limit charge. My post was Mar. '06, I think NIB had just been taken over by Danske, and to that point I had never paid cash advance, late, or over limit fees. I find all banks to be a bit useless, one usually knows more about how the products work than the staff do.
 
cathkc said:
Ok
So I am going travelling for 6 months. To access my money back in my current account I have a BoI Mastercard and a BoI Laser / Cirrus card. I will b travelling throuigh USA / New Zealand / Australia / SE Asia.
Should I use my Laser or C Card? Or would you advise getting new card altogether?
Click to expand...

Am in the same position as CathKC. Heading to Sth America for a month. Which is the best option to go with?
If I load CC with cash, and I put hotels etc on the cc along the way, are these bills automatically put against the cash balance. I will contact my CC company but just wondering if anyone has any info on this
 
I currently have a Bank Of Ireland Mastercard. When I travel abroad I usually credit my account so I have funds available to withdraw at the ATM (when abroad). BOI don't charge me for withdraws when using my credit card this way... I am now interested in the Halifax credit card as I have already switched to their current account and they are offering 100euro. However, they are say that they charge a cash advance fee for withdraws even if the account is in credit... Is this correct? Are BOI the only ones who don't charge? Anyone have any experience of this before?
 
Howzit Folks?

Generally most credit card providers give you a poor exchange rate compared to the spot rate and then charge you commission on top of that to add insult to injury. Getting travellers cheques or cash is only marginally better.

If you want to save yourself some of your hard-earned euros then I suggest you use someone like XE.com as they are about as close to the spot rate as you'll get. In my experience you'll be between 4% and 8% better off avoiding the banks. Your mileage may vary.

XE will deliver the funds via bank draft, EFT or wire transfer so it is pretty flexible.

Cheers
Bruce

PS I have no vested interest in XE, I just hate seeing people getting robbed by the forex providers.
 
But how do you get cash through XE ?
Surely a bank draft/wire transfer is not much use when you don't have an a/c to transfer to ?
If it works like Western Union re collecting funds, WU/Moneygram charges are pretty high.
 
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