What's the cheapest way of buying something in Euros?

[vtecyo]

I want to buy a new bike, specifically this one:

http://www.yt-industries.com/en/products/bikes/dow...

You may see that it is in Euros, and with the exchange rate being so good for us at the moment it seems like the perfect time to buy.... but I want to try and avoid any fees.

I have a current account with Barclays, who I believe charge a 3% fee on charges and even then I'm not certain the exchange rate they give you is any good.

Do any of you much more financially aware people have any ideas on the best way to go about this purchase?

Cheers

Edited by vtecyo on Wednesday 24th June 20:39

[williaa68]

A Halifax clarity credit card is what you need - no fees and wholesale rates on the exchange

[Sarnie]

HiFx?

[vtecyo]

williaa68 said:

A Halifax clarity credit card is what you need - no fees and wholesale rates on the exchange

Surely the 18.9% offsets the benefits there? Although I could just pay it all off straight away to avoid that...

[Gareth79]

vtecyo said:

Surely the 18.9% offsets the benefits there? Although I could just pay it all off straight away to avoid that...

Yes, just set the account to pay off the entire balance every month and the interest rate is irrelevant. (Exception: if you take cash out at an ATM the interest is charged immediately, but you can transfer money immediately to cover even that)

[shaoxter]

vtecyo said:

williaa68 said:

A Halifax clarity credit card is what you need - no fees and wholesale rates on the exchange

Surely the 18.9% offsets the benefits there? Although I could just pay it all off straight away to avoid that...

Don't need to pay it off straight away, you get 50 days or so interest free. Just set up a direct debit to pay off in full every month and there's no interest charges to worry about.

[KTF]

Cash advances (taking money out of the ATM) attract interest from the day it hits the statement. Purchases do not as you highlight.

Another option is that you can pre-load the card if you are planning to take money out using it and avoid any interest. It is against the t&c but there is nothing to stop you doing it

[Newc]

I didn't click through but assume you are going to make a one time bank transfer in EUR to an EU bank account ? If so then yes your high st bank will be caning you on both the fees and the FX rate. Have a look at transferwise.

[idiotgap]

KTF said:

Cash advances (taking money out of the ATM) attract interest from the day it hits the statement. Purchases do not as you highlight.

Another option is that you can pre-load the card if you are planning to take money out using it and avoid any interest. It is against the t&c but there is nothing to stop you doing it

Just to clarify because saying the day it hits the statement is a bit ambiguous... Cash advances start accruing interest straight away, not when the statement comes out. I find Halifax customer service are excellent though, when I get home or its convenient give them a call and they will estimate the interest so far accrued so you can transfer over the right amount. Most expensive balances are paid first so if you have a mix of cash advance and purchases on the card they'll tell you how much to pay to just stop the interest piling up if you don't feel like paying off the whole balance.

[williaa68]

As said above, you can pre-load - this is what I do and withdrawals at ATMs are then at much better rates than bureau de charnge, even pre-ordered.

[rfisher]

Possibly dumb question but ....

If you 'pre load' a credit card are you charged interest on the now positive balance?

How long can you leave a credit card topped up with a positive balance.

Say you only use it for spending outside the UK once a year, can you just leave £500 on it until your next holiday?

[Shaoxter]

rfisher said:

Possibly dumb question but ....

If you 'pre load' a credit card are you charged interest on the now positive balance?

How long can you leave a credit card topped up with a positive balance.

Say you only use it for spending outside the UK once a year, can you just leave £500 on it until your next holiday?

No of course you don't get charged interest on a positive balance.

You can leave it "topped up" for as long as you want or until you get a call from Halifax. I've never had any grief from them, but my friend did get told off for pre-loading the card and constantly keeping a positive balance.

But why would you leave £500 on there doing nothing? Just pre-load it with £50 or £100 or however much cash you intend to take out then use card for purchases as much as possible (purchases have an interest free period). Or just forget about pre-loading and pay off your cash withdrawals when you have access to the internet or when you get back from holiday. Most I've ever been charged for interest on cash is like 50p.