Florida Spending on Credit Card

[Kim_Lloyd25]

Hi,
I'm renting a car and need to get a credit card in my name as the company do not accept debit cards. I was recommended to use either the Santander or Post Office cards as they don't add on any commission when using overseas. I was wondering whether anyone has ever used either of these credit cards in USA or with car rental, and wanted to know which you would recommend? I'm also slightly confused about the commission thingy, and wondering whether that means it is 0% interest on paying it off?
Thanks in advance!

[Albert the Frog]

I bank with Santander but moneysupermarket warns you off using their cards overseas. I use the Post Office credit card and have never had any problems with it.
Whereas some other cards charge a fee per transaction which is in effect a charge for using it-the PO credit card doesn't and additionally converts to sterling at interbank rates as opposed to tourit rates.
I get a statement when i get home and interest is then charged as per any other outstanding balance -if you are getting a 0% deal at the moment then good luck to you-you win hands down

[christhear]

If you get a Santander one it needs to be the Santanader ZERO card. I have used it in Egypt, Germany and to purchase items priced in dollars. Basically you get the bank exchange rat eand I can confirm that nothing is added to your purchase.
the only down side was it actually took me 9 months to get my card, would not have bothered if it wasn't for the fact that they do not add anything to foreign transactions. This is also not my main card, only use this one for foreign transactions and pay off so don't know how bad the interest rate is.

[reemur]

I use the post office card No commission
Used it in USA Canada Holland Mexico
no problems
Carol

[dawn burley]

I use both cards but favour the post office card.

One bit of advice is to make sure you tell your card company when and where you are travelling as otherwise they can sometimes put a temporary block on your card when you first try to use it abroad. This happened to friends of ours and it was very inconvenient for them. I think the card companies are much more cautious these days, which probably isn't a bad thing really.

Dawn

[Lyn]

I have a Nationwide card but they have started charging[msnsad]. We bank with Alliance & Leicester (now Santander) and hubby has one of thier credit cards, will have to try and get it changed to a Santander Zero.

[SteveandJan]

Yes definitely make sure you let them know you are travelling. RBS blocked my card after one withdrawal when we went to France for New Year

[Jill]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Kim_Lloyd25
Hi,
I'm also slightly confused about the commission thingy, and wondering whether that means it is 0% interest on paying it off?
Thanks in advance!
[/quote]

It does not relate to the interest card companies charge on any outstanding balance each month.

When you use a card abroad the majority of card companies charge a 'loading fee' on top of the currency conversion fee of approx 2.75% this is the commission they are talking about. All companies are charged a small amount when the transfer the currency amount back into sterling to debit your account and it is this fee which Nationwide have started passing on to customers when they use the cards outside Europe. If you use a Nationwide debit card in Europe then you are not charged a fee 'commission'.

The cheapest cards to use in America are: Santander Zero not the ordinary Santander credit card and Post Office card followed by Nationwide.

[jimiansville]

I use Santander Zero and the Post Office credit cards for all my puchases abroad. As others have said, you get the very best exchange rates but do remember to tell your card company you will be travelling abroad as they may put a stop on transactions. This happened to us last year. We had been using the cards without problem for 3 weeks in Florida and suddenly the cards were declined when we tried to use them. After a call to customer services they lifted the block and we were back to normal again.

One other thing I would point out. In some stores in the US the cashier will ask if you want to pay for the item in ££ or $$. It doesn't happen everywhere but it does happen. Always elect to pay in $$ so that you get the best exchange rate. If you don't, the store will apply their own exchange rate. Some cashiers don't even ask and you only realise when you check your receipt and see how much it is in $$ and ££. It has happened to me in the Marshalls group of companies and also J.C Penney, the department store.

[gpullan]

Or.....Try FairFX card which you can load with actual dollars at that days rate and you pay no commission and no interest. Obviously you need to load it up first but if it's only for car hire then you can treat it as spending money.. ie stick $1000 dollars on it so that the car hire company can swipe it and put any additional charges on there (hopefully none). Then once that's done you can use the card for shopping/fuel/ meals etc.. without having to worry about commission, bad exchange rates etc.... Worked for us and we put pretty much all our holiday spending money on it. It's a Mastercard so accepted everywhere just as normal.