Card for Europe

[dash300]

I think most of the players try to match each other. Nat West Reward Platinum. Tranaction fee free debit card purchases abroad. WW travel Ins, AA breakdown UK, Mobile phone Ins. Cashback on all purchases. Works fine for our trips abroad.

 

[Littlewheels]

I know there have been a number of threads re ‘best credit ‘charge card’ for use in Europe but what’s the current thinking and for a first timer to Europe in September how are they used ?do you preload them or are they like a normal charge/credit card?

What are the advantages of the Revolut card over a credit card

The simplicity of the card is a benefit no matter the currency the best benefit is when exchanging say £ to € do it weekdays so it’s fee free.
If you say wanting to exchange £1000 to €uro you can watch the currency value move perhaps upwards over whatever time a minute/a month and when you are going to get the best rate (more €euros) touch the exchange icon and the funds immediately hit your account and you might have the satisfaction of having a larger amount than a when you first looked, it’s not dissimilar to currency trading but made simple.

 

[HKF]

We travel around the world and use a Wise card. Have done so for over 7 years now. Every now and again it'll be refused at a fuel pump (mostly in France), so be sure to have a back up card

 

[champers]

We also use the Revolut for several years now, only found it refused on unmanned petrol pumps, used several currencies with it and no problems reverting back to sterling , another good point is that they have a single use card for online shopping if needed .

Kath

 

[Stealaway]

What don't people like about fee free credit cards?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[AlunandFelicie]

Which of the Revolut options for cards do people opt for?

 

[kevenh]

What don't people like about fee free credit cards?

Sounds good.
But I wonder why funsters get a little irate with posts about other fee free card types?
I’ve just switched my Barclaycard cashback card to the Reward type

 

[kevenh]

Which of the Revolut options for cards do people opt for?

I just have the free level.
I applied via a link that gave me a refund on the postage for the physical card.
Sorry but I can’t remember how I did that. Possibly an old Revolut promo.

As it is, the virtual card linked to Apple Pay is used more often so maybe not having a physical card works for others.

 

[Brianmor]

Which of the Revolut options for cards do people opt for?

I just use the basic card as the benefits of the other Revolut cards we already have through our normal bank accounts.
We used to have one of their premium cards and stopped it when covid struck

 

[kevenh]

Revolut often offer a free month of the subscription levels - like Metal.
With my low ATM usage I wouldn’t notice a benefit so never opt in.
Oh! I like how the settings for card use can be fine tuned.
You can turn off usage types individually - like ATM withdrawals, online use, etc.
Plus you can specify which or all account and/or currency pool is used PER card type.
For example, you can have the physical card only use a Crypto vault and the virtual account use any currency pool.

Quite customisable compared to a Barclaycard

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[gus-lopez]

credit card definitely recommended if you want to hire a car.

Hired one for my daughter to use in August. Cash,debit or card accepted.
150€ car excess 300€ for vans.
That is all you are liable for even if you rip both sides off one.no damage ,excess returned

I've just checked the Revolut Euro exchange rate - It's at 1.16 today.
Guess what the standard Euro exchange rate is today on my credit card

As said lower at weekends

Which of the Revolut options for cards do people opt for?

Free.
I use revolut. I pay 95% so's and dd's with it. To overcome the cash withdrawal limit I also have an N26 card which is another online bank with benefit of a Spanish iban & you can withdraw 3 x per month,600€/day witha max of 1800€. I just transfer£'s to revolut change to €'s in the app, transfer €'s to N26 and draw out if I want large amounts of cash. I also have a couple of dd's with them also.

 

[Itsmcb]

Hired one for my daughter to use in August. Cash,debit or card accepted.
150€ car excess 300€ for vans.
That is all you are liable for even if you rip both sides off one.no damage ,excess returned

What company was that with? I hired one week before last at Girona airport. 1600euro excess which was blocked off my credit card.
Conversely, in Greece I've hired a car with no excess payment at all

 

[gus-lopez]

What company was that with?

Unafurgo. A local company .

 

[Widge]

Revolut, and keep topping it up as you go. However, it’s not great for drawing cash (£200 per month-I think). Sometimes it gets blanked by a machine, so bring a spare card. We use Nationwide (no foreign transaction charge) and keep a Santander Zero in a sock. None of these are credit cards - one of those in (another sock) is good for emergencies (like my bust clutch that cost €1200). Enjoy your trip - it’ll probably be absolutely fine

The £200/month cash withdraw limit on revolut basic card is the free limit, you can withdraw more, but there is a small charge.

 

[Widge]

The simplicity of the card is a benefit no matter the currency the best benefit is when exchanging say £ to € do it weekdays so it’s fee free.
If you say wanting to exchange £1000 to €uro you can watch the currency value move perhaps upwards over whatever time a minute/a month and when you are going to get the best rate (more €euros) touch the exchange icon and the funds immediately hit your account and you might have the satisfaction of having a larger amount than a when you first looked, it’s not dissimilar to currency trading but made simple.

The basic revolut card has free exchange upto £1000 in any 30 day period, but charges are not extortionate over that, we live in france with income from uk so we have a free card each, that allows us £2000/month between us, which is usually plenty.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Shrimp]

We both have Revolut, had them almost from day one, work well easy to use and safe.

 

[Mickey1]

Revolut have a restriction on atm withdrawals, just send from revolut to starling, no restrictions on their atm withdrawals.

 

[VXman]

What don't people like about fee free credit cards?

Not great if you want to withdraw cash (interest charge), having to remember to pay off at the end of the month, you don't get immediate notification of your transactions (including UK transaction amount) like you do on a app based debit card account.

I have credit cards too but prefer my Chase card at the moment as it gives all the above and cashback. Just so easy to use, very informative, keeps you on top of your finances in real time. (I just use my phone for spending everywhere)

 

[Stealaway]

Not great if you want to withdraw cash (interest charge), having to remember to pay off at the end of the month, you don't get immediate notification of your transactions (including UK transaction amount) like you do on a app based debit card account.

I have credit cards too but prefer my Chase card at the moment as it gives all the above and cashback. Just so easy to use, very informative, keeps you on top of your finances in real time. (I just use my phone for spending everywhere)

I hardly ever have to withdraw cash these days I simply pay everything by credit card.
I get that from an ATM any where in Europe - also fee free.
I have the credit card accounts automatically fully paid off from my bank account each month.
All my credit cards and bank accounts are on apps on my phone for instant reference.
Simples

 

[DangerMousy]

Not great if you want to withdraw cash (interest charge), having to remember to pay off at the end of the month, you don't get immediate notification of your transactions (including UK transaction amount) like you do on a app based debit card account.

I have credit cards too but prefer my Chase card at the moment as it gives all the above and cashback. Just so easy to use, very informative, keeps you on top of your finances in real time. (I just use my phone for spending everywhere)

Most credit card apps give you instant spending notifications and the transaction is listed almost immediately (at least all ours do). We very very rarely use cash (even Germany is getting pretty good with card acceptance these days) and if we need it abroad we can withdraw fee-free from our Nationwide Flex Plus account.

I get the Chase thing right now - but they say the cashback is only for your first year, so for us its too much hassle for what would only be a temporary change. We have multiple current accounts so it'd be a right headache to manage a debit account making sure there's enough in there at all times to avoid going overdrawn. Credit cards are much simpler for us....its not difficult to remember to pay them.....the bills come in at the end of the month and are paid off after payday.

One thing I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned so far: Section 75 protection. If you pay for something by credit card and the supplier doesn't deliver, or goes bust, the CC company are equally liable so you'll get your money back. This protection doesn't apply to debit cards. They do have a chargeback system, but that is a voluntary scheme and whilst it might work most of the time, its not guaranteed (unlike Section 75). Do be careful though if you pay with a CC via something like Paypal or Curve though because that breaks the chain and means Section 75 doesn't apply.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[VXman]

I hardly ever have to withdraw cash these days I simply pay everything by credit card.
I get that from an ATM any where in Europe - also fee free.
I have the credit card accounts automatically fully paid off from my bank account each month.
All my credit cards and bank accounts are on apps on my phone for instant reference.
Simples

I am the same in terms of not using cash but there are still times where is is not possible to use cards, particularly in foreign countries. You will get charged interest on a credit card when you withdraw cash from the day you draw it out until you pay it off. If your direct debit isn't due until a month after you take cash out that will be 30 days interest, at quite a high rate. You can stop this by making an immediate payment but that's a hassle.

I have always been a credit card user until more recently but I do think debit is simpler. Since you have been able to get good reads on current accounts I made credit cards less appealing. I will still use them in certain circumstances like big purchases/holidays where the extra protection is useful.

Credit - you spend the money and then have to pay it back each month. (Or pay interest)

Debit - the money is there and when you spend it goes out. No need for direct debits, thinking about another account to pay the direct debit with.

 

[VXman]

Most credit card apps give you instant spending notifications and the transaction is listed almost immediately (at least all ours do). We very very rarely use cash (even Germany is getting pretty good with card acceptance these days) and if we need it abroad we can withdraw fee-free from our Nationwide Flex Plus account.

I get the Chase thing right now - but they say the cashback is only for your first year, so for us its too much hassle for what would only be a temporary change. We have multiple current accounts so it'd be a right headache to manage a debit account making sure there's enough in there at all times to avoid going overdrawn. Credit cards are much simpler for us....its not difficult to remember to pay them.....the bills come in at the end of the month and are paid off after payday.

One thing I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned so far: Section 75 protection. If you pay for something by credit card and the supplier doesn't deliver, or goes bust, the CC company are equally liable so you'll get your money back. This protection doesn't apply to debit cards. They do have a chargeback system, but that is a voluntary scheme and whilst it might work most of the time, its not guaranteed (unlike Section 75). Do be careful though if you pay with a CC via something like Paypal or Curve though because that breaks the chain and means Section 75 doesn't apply.

I quite enjoy the juggling of accounts to get the best deals. I will use credit/debits depending on what's best at the time. Recently used Tesco credit cards to get interest free spending for 2 years and double clubcard points. That £12K I didn't spend will sit in a fixed rate savings account for 2 years at nearly 5%.

Yes you get updates on credit card apps but it's not quite the same as it what is going to be at your next statement date - not now (not very well depressed but I'm sure you get my drift). Also on the Chase app you get immediate conversion of the foreign transaction where as (in my experience) you won't get this until statement time on a credit card account.

I agree on the protection point. I use credits cards when transactions will benifit form the additional protection offered. Big purchases, holidays etc. No needed on day to day spending.