Credit card or Fairfax etc

[Mercdriver]

We are in Tenerife for four weeks and hearing friends say they use Fairfax or revolut I decided to use them.

Up till now everything got charged to credit card, however they charge a fee for foreign currency against that you get the business rate.

So I took out a Fairfax card to use as we are here for four weeks, Fairfax giving $1.14 to the pound.

As an experiment charged a meal to credit card, BoS change pounds to euros at 1.17 plus the cash fee, turns out at 1.138 to the pound.

So is it worth using Fairfax etc? Am I missing something? I am happier on cc because of protections given but this is being used for meals mainly so protection not needed.

Any advice welcome

[ferret50]

Currently on the Algarve.

I use CC for most purchases, using two...Santander and Nationwide. Second gives a better e/r, but a low credit limit.

Taking cash out is also an option, but you is locked into the rate prevailing at the point of purchase and the risk of having it forceably removed.

[HBelder]

Halifax credit card works for me.

No charges and a reasonable exchange rate. Always choose to pay in € rather than sterling.

[Mercdriver]

Yes, forgot to add always pay in euros, only disadvantage with CC is you cannot get cash with out incurring charges

Edited by Mercdriver on Monday 19th February 21:06

[Somebody]

Top advice here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/tra...

[mcflurry]

Starling, Monzo and the like will give the best fx rate with no charges.
Chase will give you the same plus 1% back (up to £15 a month)
Revolut basic will allow £200 a month without charges but does allow you to lock in the fx rate ahead of travel..

[matrignano]

Mercdriver said:

We are in Tenerife for four weeks and hearing friends say they use Fairfax or revolut I decided to use them.

Up till now everything got charged to credit card, however they charge a fee for foreign currency against that you get the business rate.

So I took out a Fairfax card to use as we are here for four weeks, Fairfax giving $1.14 to the pound.

As an experiment charged a meal to credit card, BoS change pounds to euros at 1.17 plus the cash fee, turns out at 1.138 to the pound.

So is it worth using Fairfax etc? Am I missing something? I am happier on cc because of protections given but this is being used for meals mainly so protection not needed.

Any advice welcome

Are you sure they didn't mean Halifax, specifically the Clarity card that gives you the best FX rates and don't charge commission on payments in foreign currency?

[Mercdriver]

Thanks for all your advice, much appreciated, nearly end of holiday so too late to change but have taken all the advice on board and will reconsider next holiday,

[s111dpc]

I use FairFX whenever I’m abroad and it works well for me. I load it up with the local currency before I go and if I need more I just top it up online.