Credit card charges abroad
It is always a good idea to double check the terms and conditions on using your credit or debit cards abroad as you dont want to get caught out by the hidden charges added onto your transactions, resulting in quite a costly usage.
Foreign usage loading
Foreign usage loading refers to the amount of commission that your credit card issuer charges when you spend money abroad. You can check how much you will be charged in your terms and conditions. The amount varies and depends upon your card issuer; some can be as high as 2.75% so it could be worth looking into finding a credit card with a lower rate or even no charge at all.
Cash machine costs
Most credit and debit cards will also charge a cash handling fee of around 1.5% for withdrawing cash abroad, this will be in addition to your loading fee. In some countries, the US for example, will also add a charge of $1 or $2 on top of all this for every use of the cash machine. So be sure to double check how you will be affected as you could end up paying an extra 6 for every 100 that you withdraw. When withdrawing cash on your credit card it is also worth remembering that issuers will charge interest immediately, without the interest free period.
Good deals available
Nationwide visa card and the Lombard Direct credit card are two cards that dont have any foreign currency loading charges, therefore foreign exchange transactions on these cards are extremely good value. The Nationwide card also has the lowest credit card handling fee of just 0.50 or 0.5% (whichever works out less) and its debit card has no cash handling fee. So if you already have a debit/credit card it may be worth considering setting up a Nationwide account for use when abroad and then you can pay off the bill immediately on your return to ensure there are no additional interest charges.