Can you do america without a credit card

[liesauk]

as you said cash or credit card.. I would have to get the cash I suppose..

to be honest I think I am worried more about the day to day expenses.. If I needed the use of a credit card in an emergency then I would have someone at home give me theirs.. ::smile::

So from what I have got from this thread (and its been very helpful ) I will be able to get around without one, not as easily as if i had one.. but I know I will be ok now

thanks all for the great advice

liesa
xxx

 

[wayneg]

So from what I have got from this thread (and its been very helpful ) I will be able to get around without one, not as easily as if i had one.. but I know I will be ok now

thanks all for the great advice

liesa
xxx

I agree, you will manage and find a way around any problems but I think you have around 8 months before you go, if anyway possible I would try get a credit card with as much credit on as poss, even if you don't use it and tear up back home, but your choice.

 

[Snowy-girls]

If I needed the use of a credit card in an emergency then I would have someone at home give me theirs.. ::smile::

This is what was arranged with my Nan+Grandad,thankfully+touch wood i have never had to visit docs or hospital,but if this was the case then they would have helped me out in a situation.I still would'nt get a cc(nothing would make me get a cc)-just my opinion.x.

 

[liesauk]

I agree, you will manage and find a way around any problems but I think you have around 8 months before you go, if anyway possible I would try get a credit card with as much credit on as poss, even if you don't use it and tear up back home, but your choice.

thank you wayne

and thank you snowy xx

 

[dc1964]

you can do it without a credit card, if the hire car is paid up front with the full insurance you do not need a card, cash and travellers cheques (dollar ones) are widely accepted. I have done it without.....but to be honest it is alot easier with one.

 

[madmumof2]

I would definitely recommend the fairfx card. I have one, and although I've not used it in Florida yet (going in October) I have used it here, and I've never had a problem with it.

People have talked about places leaving a shadow, but that is mainly when you have a meal, and pay the tip with the card as well/. They have to do two transactions then, and one is left on the card (meaning you can't use it, ie. $30 dinner plus $5 tip, you won't be able to use $35 of the money on your card until it's cleared).

The easy way to get round that is pay for your meal with the card, and the tip in cash.

As for car hire/hotels etc, they might want a credit card imprint of a certain amount, again you won't be able to use that amount. But you can normally get away with giving a deposit, then getting it back for duty free shopping! I'm not hiring a car so that doesn't worry me.

To get more info, go to www.fairfx.com and have a browse around. I would highly recommend it, it's easy for people with no cc, you can't get into debt, and it has the best rate around. I'll be putting most of my spending money on the card, and taking a little bit of cash for tips. Its a mastercard and is accepted almost everywhere.

 

[islandmum]

we have a Unibancard which is an American based debit card that anyone around the world can get through an agency. We got it through our Fed Ex office. It also gives us a US address if we need to ship anything.

We generally put 2/3 of our cash onto the debit card, take the rest in cash and we take a cc incase we need it. We happily use cc's all year round as we have Amex and clear it monthly but I like to pay for our vaca's out of cash we've collected and when it ends ..... it ends!

 

[whitfields]

hi,

we dont have credit cards either for general use. we use a travelcard from lloyds bank which as and when we want to put cash on it and it goes on at that rate so no wondering how much the rate works out at with currency rate changes.

the card is welcome evrywhere as it has a visa sign and lasts for 2 years which you can extend. you can also withdraw cash at machines at no extra cost...

grab a leaflet or look at lloydstsb.com for deatils

 

[wayneg]

hi,

we dont have credit cards either for general use. we use a travelcard from lloyds bank which as and when we want to put cash on it and it goes on at that rate so no wondering how much the rate works out at with currency rate changes.

the card is welcome evrywhere as it has a visa sign and lasts for 2 years which you can extend. you can also withdraw cash at machines at no extra cost...

grab a leaflet or look at lloydstsb.com for deatils

Reading the fees looks very similar to the FX card, If I have looked at the right info.
http://www.lloydstsb.com/rates_and_charges/travel_money_card_fees.asp

Says here you are charged £1.50 for ATM withdrawal, this will be on top of any fees by the ATM itself, some are free to use.
Plus they take 2.75% when converting the £ to $ & £5 to take your money back out. £7.50 for the card initially.
Seems like a lot of fees to me.

 

[SammieG]

Like Gems we put everything on credit card, at Xmas we spent less than $10 in cash for tolls, everything else on Nationwide fee free card.
Main reason is security, in the past I have lost my wallet with over £500 in(got it back), last year relatives had villa broken into, over £1,000 taken so feel a lot better with plastic.
Also no hassle swapping money, waiting for best deal, getting it wrong.
I am sure you can get by without cc and use debit card & cash but not my choice.
If you do use debit card make sure its a fee free one like Nationwide. I used my Halifax one by mistake about 2 years ago, can't remember exact fee but it doubled the cost of the ice cream I bought with it.

what do you mean fee free Wayne?
We use credit cards all the time in the US and never been charged..... and have all different types Amex, Visa, mastercard.....

 

[wayneg]

what do you mean fee free Wayne?
We use credit cards all the time in the US and never been charged..... and have all different types Amex, Visa, mastercard.....

Majority of credit cards used abroad charge a fee, sometimes its not itemized on your statement, for eg my Mother in law has a Lloyds TSB card, used it for 1 transaction at Xmas, on same day I used my Nationwide card, My purchases on that day went thru at $1.45 the full corperate Visa rate with no fees, hers went thru at $1.41 as they charge 2.99% but nothing on her statement to tell her that.

There are only a few fee free, Nationwide & Post Office are the main 2.

For debit cards its even more a minefield, look at the table near bottom of this page titled "size of savings". shows you how much using a Halifax debit card costs compared to a Nationwide card, HX would cost you £121.60 in fees NW £0
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#topcards

If you tell me name of cards you use I will tell you how much fees they charge.

 

[Frances999]

what do you mean fee free Wayne?
We use credit cards all the time in the US and never been charged..... and have all different types Amex, Visa, mastercard.....

Unless you used a Post Office MasterCard, Audi Card, Abbey Zero or Nationwide Card, your fee would have been built into your conversion rate; for most CC companies it doesn't appear as a separate charge but rather just gives you a lower exchange rate.

 

[Claire L]

I knwo alot of credit cards if you read the back of the statement say there is a fee of about 2.75 for foreign currency transactions and it is usually in the form of a lower rate of exchange as Wayne and Frances have already said. I like the Thomas Cook Visa as it is fee free and has cash back in the form of TC points.

Claire