US Dollars to Euros

[LondonTowner]

MATHA531

 

Contactless payment is now the norm on our public transport in London.

 

Well, if PINs are going to be hacked, banks will have a big problem.

[Guest Nellsmom58]

Yep, that's my understanding too.

 

Not from personal experience (cos my cards are chip&PIN), but from talking to US visitors with chip&sig they can use their card at manned tills but not in ticket machines, gas pumps & such.

 

 

 

JB :)

 

 

Just returned from London and the Baltics. We used our U.S. chip and sign card everywhere without a problem and were able to top up our Oyster card in London easily with just the chip inserted into the machine, so I don't know why everybody is so worried. It works fine, folks!

 

 

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[MATHA531]

Yep, that's my understanding too.

Not from personal experience (cos my cards are chip&PIN), but from talking to US visitors with chip&sig they can use their card at manned tills but not in ticket machines, gas pumps & such.

 

JB :)

 

Actually going along with the game plan in the USA, mc/visa/amex passed regulations about a year and a half ago prohibiting kiosks from out of hand rejecting pinless chip cards. Based on my experiences this past June, my cards (which are chip and signature preferred) worked on every kiosk I used them on including the SNCF machines at CDG, the machines on the British National railroad at Gatwick, the tfl machines, the RATP machines on the Paris metro, the tfl machines in the London underground. Like I said, chip and signature cards will work 99.9% of the time whereas until a couple of years ago, there were problems at kiosks.

Edited August 2, 2016 by MATHA531

[cruisemom42]

A bit of an over-generalisation. My CC makes no extra charge for cash withdrawals and no extra charge for foreign transactions. It does conversions at a very good exchange rate.

 

So, instead of getting fewer euros with cash exchange, or paying foreign transaction charges, I pay the interest on the CC cash withdrawals.

 

My card has an APR of 12.95%, so for a two weeks holiday, paying off the balance on my return, the cost is around 0.5%. Beat that!

 

Stuart

 

Not sure I'd say it's an OVER generalization, as it's true for most cards (and I did say ALMOST never ;)). Just out of curiosity, who is the issuer of this great card you have?

[Guest Nellsmom58]

Not sure I'd say it's an OVER generalization, as it's true for most cards (and I did say ALMOST never ;)). Just out of curiosity, who is the issuer of this great card you have?

 

 

Having worked in finance, I agree that MOST credit cards charge interest from the day you withdraw cash. There are a few perhaps that do not. However, there is also a difference between APR on cash withdrawals versus purchase APR, which is probably the 12.99 percent quote. Unless one has a premier card, for which high annual fees or huge dollar usage is required, it would be very unusual to find a regular credit card that has no fees, no interest on cash withdrawal for an entire billing cycle, AND low interest rate for cash. I, too, wonder what magical card company this is.

 

 

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[wheezedr]

How antiquated, even new cards not having chip and pin.

 

Ain't that the truth. Ah to live in the modern world.

[Wiltonian]

Not sure I'd say it's an OVER generalization, as it's true for most cards (and I did say ALMOST never ;)). Just out of curiosity, who is the issuer of this great card you have?

 

Halifax - was a building society, and now part of the HBOS banking group, and owned by Lloyds, which is 10% owned by the UK taxpayers!

 

Stuart

[Wiltonian]

Having worked in finance, I agree that MOST credit cards charge interest from the day you withdraw cash. There are a few perhaps that do not. However, there is also a difference between APR on cash withdrawals versus purchase APR, which is probably the 12.99 percent quote. Unless one has a premier card, for which high annual fees or huge dollar usage is required, it would be very unusual to find a regular credit card that has no fees, no interest on cash withdrawal for an entire billing cycle, AND low interest rate for cash. I, too, wonder what magical card company this is.

 

I said it charges 12.95% APR on cash withdrawals, which I've double-checked, but my point was that repaying at the end of the holiday means a total charge of around 0.5% for the withdrawals - or perhaps up to 1.5% if I pay off the balance as late as possible without being overdue. Still much cheaper than any other way of getting foreign currency. Obviously, spending on the card in retail outlets avoids even that overhead, as long as i pay off balances in full. Halifax Clarity Card, for those in the UK.

 

Stuart

[cruisemom42]

 

I said it charges 12.95% APR on cash withdrawals, which I've double-checked, but my point was that repaying at the end of the holiday means a total charge of around 0.5% for the withdrawals - or perhaps up to 1.5% if I pay off the balance as late as possible without being overdue. Still much cheaper than any other way of getting foreign currency. Obviously, spending on the card in retail outlets avoids even that overhead, as long as i pay off balances in full. Halifax Clarity Card, for those in the UK.

 

Stuart

 

Cheaper than my debit card that does not charge any foreign transaction fee or withdrawal fee?

[Wiltonian]

 

Cheaper than my debit card that does not charge any foreign transaction fee or withdrawal fee?

 

No - probably the same cost. But debit cards with no foreign transaction fees are as rare as hen's teeth. Is it with a free bank account?

 

Stuart

[alidor]

If you have investments with Fidelity, you can get a debit card with no transaction fees at all.

[cruisemom42]

 

No - probably the same cost. But debit cards with no foreign transaction fees are as rare as hen's teeth. Is it with a free bank account?

 

Stuart

 

Yes; online banking only, however. Which is fine for this account as I only use it for travel.

[LondonTowner]

Wiltonian

 

We have a Halifax CC and two others with no foreign transaction fees. We never make currency withdrawals, just use them for purchases.

[Guest Nellsmom58]

Thank you, Stuart, for the clarification. That explains the discrepancy--you are in the UK using a UK product, so we are comparing apples to oranges. Most U.S. companies do not offer such amenities without some sort of catch, but, as I said, there are a few if one can work around the restrictions. The fine print and work-arounds must be clearly understood if one is using a credit card instead of a debit card from the U.S.

 

 

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[Wiltonian]

Thank you, Stuart, for the clarification. That explains the discrepancy--you are in the UK using a UK product

 

My location is in the header of every posting; it really helps if everyone does that, avoiding confusion!

 

Stuart

[wheezedr]

If you have investments with Fidelity, you can get a debit card with no transaction fees at all.

 

The same is also true for Schwab.

[SwissDave]

My location is in the header of every posting; it really helps if everyone does that, avoiding confusion!

 

 

 

Stuart

 

 

Location does not show if using cruise critic app on a smartphone/ipad/android. It only shows if you use a web browser.

[Guest Nellsmom58]

Location does not show if using cruise critic app on a smartphone/ipad/android. It only shows if you use a web browser.

 

 

Yep. [emoji4]

 

 

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