From excessive fees to awful currency conversion rates, using your credit card in a foreign country can be an expensive exercise in frustrating fine print. Luckily, you don’t need to deal with hidden fees and expensive commissions when you use the right credit card during your next holiday.
Understandably, most travellers don’t want to spend their holidays walking around a destination with large amounts of cash. A credit card can be a cost-effective choice, provided – that is – you’re willing to pay attention to the card that you’re using and the merchants you’re using it with.
Credit card experts recommend the Post Office platinum card for keen shoppers that love to travel. This card offers users free transactions on any products purchased in a country other than the UK – a nice deal. Amazingly, free transactions even apply to products purchased online in the UK from an international merchant.
Other good choices include the Halifax Clarity and Lloyds Bank Choice Rewards credit cards, both of which offer fee-free use in any country. Lloyds also has a special Avios cards that allows you to upgrade your travel tickets to business class once you’ve spent over £7,000 in one year.
Metro Bank has a great offer for travellers spending most of their time in Europe. All of their cards are completely fee-free, allowing you to spend as much as you like on holiday without worrying about transaction fees. From March 2014, there will be an additional fee charged to transactions outside Europe and the UK.
Worried about crime? Terrified of high fees? Using a credit card on your holiday is a great way to protect yourself from petty theft, avoid huge fees and commissions, and get far more out of your holiday. Just don’t forget a few spare euros for buying gifts, local products, and charming souvenirs.
