Hot answers tagged payment-cards
23
If you pay by Dollar (or home currency) The hotel will add a charge for this, hence you will be paying more.
If you pay by local currency the exchange rate will be decided by the credit card company or bank. These exchange rates are much better than the hotel rates.
Check this page for more information regarding this service for Visa holders. AFAIK, Other ...
22
Canadian Credit Cards
Many fuel dispensers in the USA (for sure in Hawaii, apparently elsewhere in the USA as well) accept the numbers-only from the postal code of a Canadian billing address followed by two zeros.
So, if your Canadian billing address is right beside Schwartz's Deli in Montreal where the postal code is H2W 1L2, you would enter '21200'. ...
15
Try a credit union. Many of them boast surcharge-free ATMs. Lots of smaller banks don't collect surcharges either. Those that don't often will have a big sign saying so near the ATM. The Credit Union National Association, the Independent Community Bankers Association and The Co-Op Network all have ATM locators on their Web sites.
Ask for cash-back when ...
14
In general, when using your card abroad you get charged (some) of the following fees
Currency exchange fee
A fee levied by your bank for using your card abroad
A fee levied by the ATM operator
In your case (1) will not apply because the currency is the same, but (2) and (3) might still apply. (2) you need to check with your bank, and you should be ...
13
Per http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/crossborder/index_en.htm cross-border payments in Euro within the Eurozone must not be treated differently from national (inter-bank) transactions in Euro. This also applies to ATM fees.
This means that your bank is only allowed to charge fees similar to those for national ATM use at another bank.
Examples ...
12
I would be very surprised if you managed to find an ATM that did not charge you a fee. US card holders are also charged fees if we use an ATM that is not the same bank as our card. Then we usually get a fee from both banks: the ATM's and our bank (for not using one of their ATMs). Some non-US banks that branches in the US; I think that would be the only ...
12
I have a friend of a friend who used a prepaid AMIGO TRAVEL CLUB card in Cuba. They are a bank in Antigua and he was able to open an account online as an American citizen. I think this also involved e-mailing them a copy of his passport and driver's license. Once the account is open, you can charge the account by wire transfer from your bank and then ...
12
UK Credit Cards
I have a UK credit card and have had mixed results using my card at the pump. Sometimes no ZIP code is asked for and it works fine. Also, sometimes entering 00000 does work (I'm guessing because it's not subsequently using the ZIP code entered). In about 80% of cases, though (and it does seem to vary as to where in the US you are), I've had ...
11
In short: no.
Mostly, credit card acceptance in Germany is still the exception rather than the norm. There are a couple of places, however, where you can expect at least Visa and MC to be accepted, most notably ATMs and gas stations.
Be prepared to pay in cash everywhere else.
10
If only need a "OV-chipkaart" for the train, you don't actually need one. can just order the train tickets online and print it at home on paper.
If you need it for the busses, metro, and tram, you indeed need to charge it. Personally I have a OV-chipkaart which is connected to my train reduction card. For about 50 euros per year, you get 40% discount on ...
9
Another issue is if your card supports EMV (known in the UK as Chip and Pin), which many US cards (and from some other countries) don't support.
You may have issues, especially in Europe, if your card doesn't support EMV (i.e. doesn't have a suitable smart chip on it). You're normally OK in hotels and very touristy shops, but outside there you may find your ...
9
One option would be to bring cash with you, convert it to Iranian currency and then buy something called "Gift Card" from a bank. You can easily obtain them from most of the well-known banks without having an account. You can use these cards to buy stuff almost anywhere within the country. They are also password protected and only the owner can use them. In ...
8
Edit: There is an interesting question over at money.stackexchange.com explaining that US-issued magnetic stripe credit cards do not work in many european machines that require the card to have a chip:
Sometimes it works, more often it doesn't. I challenge you to buy a train ticket from a machine anywhere in Europe. It was particularly unnerving ...
8
As far as I'm aware it's just not possible. Visa and Mastercard seem to always have the most coverage, Visa usually more often.
However, take Uzbekistan for example. Yesterday morning in Nukus, there were no ATMs. All banks but one only accepted Visa, and none took Cirrus or Plus cards. And only one bank took Mastercard.
Today in Khiva, there's only ...
8
Check with your bank to be sure, but I would say Yes. I use the Bank of Nova Scotia, and since it's part of the Interac network, I can go to a CIBC or Bank of Montreal machine (or a white label machine in a convenience store) and get cash. The other bank tacks a service charge on which can be 1.50 or 2.00. I would think at a minimum you will be treated the ...
8
Having visited South Africa last year (Johannesberg and Cape Town), I had zero issues using an Australian-issued MasterCard credit card and Visa debit card. This was used in restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions, ATMs, etc.
We travelled with no Rand and got out a couple of hundred dollars in Rand from an ATM in the airport on arrival. I've found that ...
7
I've been living in Europe now for about 5 years but still make the bulk of my income from the US (where I'm from). I have tried many US banks and all the debit cards you can imagine. Most promises of low transaction fees and hassle-free transactions are lies.
Here's what I've learned.
Bank of America (BofA)
I used BofA for all my ATM transactions for 2 ...
7
Would getting a nominative card enable me to recharge it through the website without a Dutch banking card?
No it wouldn't. Last time I've checked, online payments were done via IDEAL, which only works with Dutch banks. Also it's really crappy solution, where you pay on-line, but then you actually have to find physical terminal to put the credit on the ...
7
What Mark Mayo said is basically correct. Some other tips/notes:
You should have no problems making purchases with a credit card in
any petrol station in Bulgaria. Same applies to international chains
such as McDonalds, Subway, Billa, Metro, Lidl etc.
Coffee shops, bars and restaurants, as well as clothing and apparel
stores will usually accept credit ...
7
I believe it depends on both the credit card you have, and the country it was issued in.
Taking one example, if you have an American Express Platinum card then you get access to quite a few worldwide lounges at any time, and several airline lounges when flying with that airline in any class. The current list of lounges for US customers is here. The country ...
7
It turns out I didn't put 2 and 2 together because the answer is not spelled out obviously enough for somebody in a mild panic to spot.
You can call the US "Global Card Assistance Service" from anywhere in the world using Skype even though it's a toll-free number:
+1 800 847 2911
If there's no Visa Card office in the country you are in it doesn't ...
7
As others have noted, you are almost always better off paying in local currency as the credit card company's exchange rate will be at least as good as the hotels.
The only possible exception is if your booking specified the price in dollars. In this (rather rare) scenario, in order to pay in local currency, the hotel will convert your price into local ...
7
There's really two answers to this question - the answer that normally applies, and the real answer that rarely applies...
Whenever you purchase a ticket with United, during the process it will often advise you that "The credit card used for this purchase must be available at check-in". In theory at least, if you are unable to provide the credit card then ...
7
The cash advance fee is charged by your credit-card company and is part of your contract with them.
To minimize the cash advance fee, do not take cash advances. You can do this by adding money to your account so that the credit-card owes you money. In this case you will be charged a transaction fee which is usually smaller, since you are not borrowing any ...
6
NAB currently charge a fee of $4 plus 2% on foreign cash withdrawls, and 2% on foreign transactions (other than cash withdrawls). However, if you have a NAB Gold account (which has a monthly fee unless you pay in a lot each month), then there are no foreign transaction fees (including no fees on foreign cash withdrawls). So, if you want to take money out ...
6
is it likely that my US-issued card will be generally usable in the UK
and other countries with the chip-and-pin system, or should I be ready
to exchange cash?
You should be able to use your card at most places, in the UK and other countries too. At least ATMs and most shops accept it, while some vending machines may require a chip-and-pin (i.e. ...
6
Indeed, Mastercard South Africa even has an ATM search to show you where the best ATMs would be that support it.
How much cash? That depends on how much you're planning to spend. Or are willing to keep on you at all times. Depending on which study you read, Johannesburg (I assume one of the cities you're visiting) is the crime capital of the world. I ...
6
It appears the answer is "yes". From the online card member info, I see that it is called the "Worldwide Car Rental Loss & Damage Insurance Coverage":
Auto Rental Insurance
Worldwide Car Rental Loss & Damage Insurance Coverage, which provides coverage in excess of other insurance, is underwritten by Federal Insurance Company, a member insurer ...
6
There is no issues with one person paying and another flying. That's how unaccompanied minors fly all the time.
If you look at required documents for international travel from United it will tell you what you need to get to your flight.
The only problem can arise if your friend dispute the charges before your flight registration, which will effectively ...
5
all info should be here: https://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/?taal=en but since the company in charge of this system is incapable of getting anything right, I'm not surprised the English translation is lacking.
In short it seems you can recharge it at certain ticket offices. My guess is the ticket offices at the bigger train stations are your best bet.
Other than ...
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