What Debit/Credit Card Do You Use When Travelling To The UK?

[audreyh1]

They tried to give me a debit card as an ATM card but it still is a debit card that can be stolen or hacked... I refused..



I have the old ATM only card which can only be used at an ATM..

In Europe your ATM card generally has to have the Visa or Mastercard logo to work in an ATM. This generally means it’s a debit card.

 

[Sunset]

We are currently on last day of 3 weeks in Europe, Spain, England, Amsterdam, Norway, Finland and a day in Estonia. Used United Airlines Visa and no acceptance problems at any of these places. DW collects points and we use this mostly exclusively when traveling. She gets a text within seconds of any charge that includes dollar amount. I have also used a PenFed Visa with no problems. Have noted some places didn’t accept cash, even a WC in England took cards, no cash.

That would solve the issue of needing to find coins in a Hurry!!

I was outside the washrooms in Italy years ago, waiting for DW when a fellow tourist rushed up and didn't have coins, I gave her some.
Later she was telling her hubby to pay me back and get a bunch of coins

 

[brett]

Be careful when selecting an ATM to use.

We noticed a significant increase in the number non bank ATMs when we were in Portugal last year. These are private company ATMs that typically charge large user fees and over the top FX exchange fees.

We passed by three or four of these before locating an actual bank ATM to use. All of them on the main tourist drag.

We never use an ATM at night or in an area where there are no people about. And we try to use one that is in a bank or post office lobby though this is sometimes not possible.

We never use our smart phones for any financial transactions. At home or while traveling. Nor do we keep any financial data on them.

 

[tulak]

Good advice regarding ATMs. I always try to use an ATM that is at a bank location. In some places it’s harder and I’ll make an exception, but it’s rare. I suspect the bank location is also safer from skimmers.

The Schwab card I use is only for travel and I don’t have anything else at Schwab. If it’s compromised, not great, but not the end of the world.

 

[braumeister]

Good advice regarding ATMs. I always try to use an ATM that is at a bank location. In some places it’s harder and I’ll make an exception, but it’s rare. I suspect the bank location is also safer from skimmers.

I agree, but I'm even more paranoid about it, as I have a friend who swore he got skimmed at an ATM that was (as is very common) on the outside wall of a bank for easy access on the sidewalk.

I always look for a bank that has ATMs inside the building in their lobby, because you're not going to get much more secure than that. They're not too hard to find in the heart of the downtown area of most cities.

 

[Texas Proud]

In Europe your ATM card generally has to have the Visa or Mastercard logo to work in an ATM. This generally means it’s a debit card.

Mine works just fine and it is not a debit card..


I was just over there in Italy and Switzerland and had zero problems getting cash... from multiple places..


Edit to add... almost always use bank ATMs... but did use a 'postal' one in Italy that had zero fees.. I do not use the ones that are just hanging around a store or tourist area...

 

[brett]

Mine works just fine and it is not a debit card..


I was just over there in Italy and Switzerland and had zero problems getting cash... from multiple places..


Edit to add... almost always use bank ATMs... but did use a 'postal' one in Italy that had zero fees.. I do not use the ones that are just hanging around a store or tourist area...

We like the post office ATMs in Italy. They have a higher cash withdrawal limit whenever we used them

 

[audreyh1]

I also look for ATMs inside a bank lobby area.

Cash is becoming less and less of a need in Europe.

 

[audreyh1]

These days I think we withdraw a bit of cash in Europe just to keep those cards in good standing. We each have a Schwab and a Fidelity ATM/debit card - different numbers each which provides some backup. They fell out of use during the pandemic and we had to get a few of them reissued before our trip last year.

 

[trirod]

I use whatever credit card I have that has no foreign transaction fees via my iPhone’s Apple Pay. There is not that much need for cash in the UK. I am currently visiting now and all I have used cash for was some parking (in theory the machine took phone app payments but I couldn’t get it to work with a non UK address) and tips in restaurants. You can probably add the tip to the bill but they never ask you that in the UK and they are just expecting you to tap your card or phone to the little machine they bring to you so I always forget to ask. Even the buskers on the street take electronic payment.

 

[Alan]

We just back from a few days in Belgium and didn’t use any cash at all. I had 30 euros or so from previous trips which I took along. I have 3 credit cards in my Apple wallet so I set my foreign transaction free card as the default and used my watch to pay for everything. Restaurants and their machines never prompt for a tip so I simply ask the server to add a tip to the total.

 

[audreyh1]

In several cases in Europe last year I just came up with a higher round number and asked the waiter to enter that. In Germany they seem to prefer cash, Belgium, Netherlands they prefer credit.

 

[Alan]

In several cases in Europe last year I just came up with a higher round number and asked the waiter to enter that. In Germany they seem to prefer cash, Belgium, Netherlands they prefer credit.

Same here, I don’t attempt to calculate a percentage or anything.

 

[gutterman]

I spent two weeks in rural Scotland last year. I used a Chase Sapphire card linked to Apple Pay on my phone. I never had to take my card out of my wallet and used my phone everywhere to pay.

 

[target2019]

This trip to the Euro zone I am taking USAA credit card, and a debit card.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

My Fidelity card is ordered and it should be here this week. My son in law will charge the rental car on one of their credit cards. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

 

[Sojourner]

Schwab ATM/debit card for cash withdrawals and Cap One Quicksilver Visa (1.5% cashback) for all other purchases. The Quicksilver card is great because it has no surcharges or fees for international purchases and exactly matches the daily currency conversion rate.

 

[Jimonlimon]

We took our first trip to UK in February and used Visa credit cards with no foreign fees. Most of our cards qualified but not all so check the fine print. I drew 100 pounds from a bank ATM that was in our credit union's network and there was no fee for that either- although it took a real effort to spend the cash.
Generally everywhere we went was contactless and I mostly used my credit card through Apple Pay. I only needed the actual card at some small B&B's with older equipment.

 

[tulak]

I’m currently in Switzerland. I find that I’m using the Fidelity card over Chase Sapphire, probably because it’s the default card on Apple Pay.

I need to consider getting rid of the Chase card. The biggest issue is what card to use for primary rental car insurance if I cancel that card.

 

[audreyh1]

My Fidelity card is ordered and it should be here this week. My son in law will charge the rental car on one of their credit cards. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

Is your son in law traveling with you? I believe that they will be expected to be the driver if it’s their credit card. Rental companies are picky about things like this.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Didn't know that but yes and he'll be the main driver. Maybe I'll get added also if I can but if they don't let me no big deal.

 

[isisdave]

The Fidelity Rewards CC, now that they dropped the foreign transaction fee. Backup is Chase Sapphire Preferred.

ATM card is from Stanford FCU, one of the few international-fee-free ATM cards I could find at the time. It's actually a Visa Debit card, but I only keep a few hundred in the account.

 

[YB88]

AARP offers a no-fee Barclay's card that's not bad for travel. They've heard of Barclay's in Great Britain.

OTOH, it isn't true chip and pin; I had hoped it would be, but have given up on that quest.

 

[meleana]

The last time I visited the UK, I had issues with my Discover Card so I need to find another card to use this time just to be safe.
I know I have an Amazon Visa card that I never use that may be expired so that's probably of no use. I have a Fidelity Cash Management Account but never ordered the debit card, which as I understand it would waive my ATM Fees but unsure if they charge a fee for Foreign transactions and it does not offer any rewards.
What cards do you use when travelling in the UK?

We plan to use a Capital One CC and also BJ’s Mastercard which do not have foreign transaction fees for our trip to Italy.

 

[Martlet]

I'm just back from a trip to Ireland and was also in the UK in September last year. In general the no-forex fee credit card (MC or Visa) from your preferred issuer is a good option. I've noticed a couple of difficulties, though. Some automated purchases (pay at the pump gas and public transport tickets are the main examples) expect a chip+PIN validation method, so don't work with US chip credit cards. The gas station is usually OK as you just go to the shop/kiosk to pay with signature. The railway station can be more of a hassle as the station may be unattended.
Another scenario that posed a problem was a parking app in the UK. It didn't accept a US cellphone for two factor authentication so I had to pay in cash. Of course I didn't have the required coins. In the end, a nice local person took pity on me and gave me the parking fee. So stock up on a few pound coins if you're going to use the public parking garages in Exeter city centre! I think the difficulty is on purpose because the city wants you to use to park and ride parking outside the historic center.