Credit Card spending question?

[Mickey74]

HI

I am thinking of applying for a credit card, purely for shopping at the outlets,
There are great ones out there with 23 months 0% interest for purchases.
My question is they charge a 2.95% fee on each transaction (minimum £3) does this mean I will be charged £3 every time I use my credit card in a shop?
I know that the travel cards are an option but they are only 12months 0% on purchases and I would prefer a longer 0% term.
I know I sound a bit thick but I would like to make sure I know what I am doing before I take the plunge and apply.
Many thanks in advance.

[loola30]

Unless it specifically states that it is a card with no foreign transaction fees, you will be charged 2.95% on every purchase. I'm not sure if there are many cards that offer 0% interest for 2 years but also don't have foreign transaction fees.

[loola30]

Unless you use a card with no foreign transaction fee like Halifax Clarity, then when you get back find a card with 0% for 2 years on balance transfers? Might be one way round it.

[Smilesonfaces]

The cards like the Halifax Clarity card which charge no foreign transaction fees don’t tend to also offer a extended interest free period. You could always take a Clarity card and then do a balance transfer to a 0% card.

[ELLENUT]

The post office dcredit card is great, we have one just for overseas trasactions as good rate & no fees

Not sure about 0% terms as I pay off "IN FULL" each month

[toonarmani]

We use Halifax Clarity - highly recommendable

[Kraken]

Originally Posted by ELLENUT

The post office dcredit card is great, we have one just for overseas trasactions as good rate & no fees

Not sure about 0% terms as I pay off "IN FULL" each month

See more...

The Post Office are no longer issuing credit cards at present. They are in the process of selling their credit card business to a new provider.

Existing PO Credit Cards will continue to work as normal & the new provider will be in touch once the sale has gone through. It remains to be seen if the no foreign transaction fee will remain - I for one will be paying close attention to the letter I get from the new provider in the following months.

It may be worth the OP looking at MBNA Horizon cards - I believe these have no foreign transaction fee & MBNA has a reputation for fairly long 0% offers (whether they offer this on the Horizon card remains to be seen).

[Elmhurst 5]

Well not heard about PO no longer issuing CC's. I rely on mine so much for my trips abroad, 2-3 each year. Havn't had any notification from the PO about this, so if a new provider is on the horizon I hope the deal remains the same ie: no no transaction charges and excellent rates. If this is the case, a new hunt for a similar card.

[jakesmum]

You have to be an extremely disciplined individual to do this, but I have before got a long 0% on purchases card and done my weekly shop on it for the 4 - 5 months before the holiday, pay that amount into a savings account and pay the minimum off each month, I then use the Halifax clarity to shop whilst abroad and use the money that i've saved from shopping to pay the card back any left over then got chucked on the 0% on purchases card.

As I said you HAVE to be extremely disciplined with money as you cannot spend a penny of that savings or spend more on the clarity than you saved, but if you are that disciplined it can work. Please nobody try this if you are liable to get into debt you cannot pay off!

[Mickey74]

Thanks for all your suggestions, I think I'm going to get a travel card & then when I come back swap the balance onto a 0% interest card.
As we are staying off site I have all my savings already for spends, food, eating out.
My daughter wants to go to the outlet and as it's near Christmas (we go in November) I thought why not.
I can afford to pay it back that's not a problem.