Credit cards when travelling
June 29, 2009It is often a good idea to have multiple ways of paying for things while you’re away. If you’re planning on taking a credit card with you, there are a number of things to be considered.
Many cards that are relatively commonly used in the UK have significant charges for overseas spending. Withdrawal charges can be 2.5-3% of the amount, which can be a sizable sum, particularly as you’re likely to be working to a budget where every penny counts.
If you’re likely to be withdrawing cash from machines, it is usually best to use a debit card. While there may be overseas loading fees and withdrawal fees, as with most credit cards, there shouldn’t be any interest to pay.
Within Europe, Nationwide’s FlexAccount Visa Debit Card offers no overseas loading fees, no withdrawal fees and no interest on withdrawals. It’s still a good option outside Europe as well as the loading fees are only 1%, which is still less than the majority of other cards.
If you’re working abroad for a period of time, by far the best approach is to open up an account in that country and have your wages paid into that, enabling you to avoid foreign payment charges with your own bank.
