Reply With QuoteIf you have a large spend, you're still profitable to them even if you clear at the end of every month.
How about another credit card? Carry another as a back up?
Hello
This is a bit more interesting than just a dumb credit card recommendation so please bear with me.
As part of my job I travel to quite remote and primitive places where often my credit card is the only maningful way of paying for things. ATMs and even currency are often thin on the ground. So my credit card is a bit of a lifeline.
I currently have an MBNA rewards card and for many years I've been pretty happy with it. However over the last few months its gotten to the stage that I get security lockouts on the card almost every other time I use it. The card is cleared every month regardless of the amounts on it.
Not only is this inconvenient its often dangerous and I've been left stranded in remote regions with zero funds and zero communications.
Catch 22 ; card blocked and only way to unblock card is to call up MBNA and only way to pay for communications is with credit card...which is blocked... total nightmare basically. And often I'm dealing with people on the ground who know nothing about credit cards and instantly assume I'm a criminal because the card is not working. I have had guns shoved in my face as a result.
I've just had a very unsatisfactory conversation with MBNA's fraud and customer services department who variously contradicted themselves and gave assurances punctuated with much disinterest and buck passing. I estimate I've had to call MBNA once every three days on average over the last 4 weeks.
A few years ago I shifted from Barclaycard to MBNA for this very same reason . I'm actually getting suspicious that credit card companies do this as a form of harrassment to dump out non-profitable customers after some time. The pattern is almost the same.
So I'm in the market for another credit card; I'm toying with getting a Marriot card as I'm already a platinum rewards member and regularly stay in Marriot hotels (hundreds of days over the course of the year) and this would increase my rewards points. However I'm pretty sure its mastercard and I'd prefer Visa and Amex.
Any recommendations greatly appreciated and thank you for letting me blow off a little steam.
If you have a large spend, you're still profitable to them even if you clear at the end of every month.
How about another credit card? Carry another as a back up?
Look at the BA Amex premium card, earn air miles and if you spend enough you can get a 2-4-1
Yes I'm definitely getting another as backup now . Can't trust the MBNA one any more after all this.Originally Posted by eagletower
I would consider adding an Amex charge card - although not sure about the ATMs and not accepted everywhere they have very good travel cover, offices in most places, a good replacement service etc. etc.
When I traveled a lot for work I used the platinum charge card but now I don't as the fees didn't justify it for me, but if I traveled again I would renew.
By the very nature of what you've said you're a frequent flyer and I would suggest that you look for a credit card that leverages the most you can from that. I think that you should take a look at http://www.headforpoints.com/ which is a website/blog giving a great deal of information on and comparison of what is out there. The owner can get a bit extreme on the sort of pranks he will pull to pick up a few dozen Avios points but most of the stuff there is pretty solid.
I'd also suggest that you get into the habit of having $100 and/or €100 at the back of your wallet and keep it for a rainy day. I suspect the days when $20 was the standard African policeman bribe are long gone. A colleague and myself were in Ladakh a few years ago just after a cloudburst and all comms with the outside world had ceased - we got by with the aid of the Euros/Dollars/STG/Swiss Francs that we had between us.
I use MBNA Reward overseas and they have recently intorduced a simple on-line log where you can enter destinations you're going to so that the card isn't 'interrupted' - seems to work. Their rewards are good, so I'm continuing with them.
Virgin Atlantic Black account, you get a Visa and an AMEX, on the same account. I'm gathering miles at a fantastic rate. £140 fee though.
Well 007, it sounds like you should be speaking to M about this problem :-)
I can't help I'm afraid, but the lifestyle sounds fascinating.
I usually have at least £100 in local cash on me at all times ( and about another £100 in pounds and dollars)but even that can dwindle in some of these places ( back to Kashmir in two days). And the sub on the wrist should be enough to charter a small plane to hop into a safer country if required
Hmm too much I'm afraid . I just went for the Marriot mastercard as I spend about £20k a year in them. Then afterwards I discovered a US only version of the marriot card that gives much better bonuses and is also a Visa rather than mastercard
and apparently the card itself is black metal ..grrr
- - - Updated - - -
Think I'm more like Harry Palmer ; cornflakes and bedsits if I'm lucky. Although there is talk of going to Everest in the next 18 months ; gyming at the moment will need the 18months to get fit enugh I think.
Last edited by Mr.D; 7th May 2015 at 10:21.
Rewards are good ( I usually get £500 a year in vouchers ...pays for christmas). I've used the online travel flag and called up in person and its made no real difference. After two transactions the card gets blocked ; last time it was for Amazon of all things.
So what is your occupation Mr.D. ?
I've been looking at those VA White [free] and Black [£140] accounts; quite interested, as I may be flying more with them in the future.
But as an innocent in these things, can you tell me what the advantage of two cards on the a/c is, ie one Amex and one Visa; and why one (the Amex) earns more miles than the other (Visa)? Cheers.
Gotta be the old African American Express
You try using your Amex! The card you want is a black Amex but I'd prefer a BA card as the buy one flight get one free (2-4-1) is a better deal especially if you pay using miles in a cabin nearest the pilot.
Film industrySo what is your occupation Mr.D. ?
Sorry mate why - because they're not as widely accepted?
Yes because the retailers pay a higher rate.
Got it, thank you. So the account has an Amex for when you can use it and a Visa for better coverage.
Only one card! You should have a selection, amex, visa, mastercard and local cash.
Yep, there are people that do manufactured spend too so they can earn the miles and get this 2-4-1 which can be very valuable if you pick first class.
Yep I have a selection as phoning you credit card or bank from abroad when in another time zone is a nightmare especially if they have no 24hr service.
I have the virgin Atlantic white Amex and Visa cards, you have to text them to tell them you are travelling but then no issues with lockouts. The miles accumulate quickly, particularly if you book VA upper class flights on the Amex. Me and the Mrs are off to Cuba at the end of the month, flying upper class using my miles :)
i dont understand why traveling in remote areas you wouldn't take at least some cash?
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Very nice, the bar is a nice place to hang out during the flight. Just wish they would have belts on the bar stools for turbulence and for when you over indulge.
If you travel a lot you need a minimum three cards Visa, MC and Amex and always look to the airline and hotel group you use the most to maximise the rewards I use Amex platinum combined with Hilton and BA the Amex black Centurion card is still by invitation only and carries a very high fee.
I also carry in my case a Nationwide for free overseas transactions card and Halifax and the Post office have similar ones but always have some cash and dollars are still the currency of choice.
Also Rolex is also a good backup.
Last edited by mart broad; 8th May 2015 at 12:34.
I travel regularly to some fairly out-of-the-way places and echo what has already been said. A selection of cards is essential; although my RBS Mastercard has never been blocked it isn't accepted in the few and far between ATMs in Havana for example. Halifax Clarity (also Mastercard) for VFM, and Nationwide Visa (which I discovered does work in Cuban cash points) as an alternative work for me. A good wedge of dollars as a fall-back and some advanced local knowledge from contacts helps.
I've just got a Centtrip card.
Its a MasterCard that's preloaded before you travel so in effect it acts as a debit card. Think there is 12 currencies available on there, and the beauty of it is there is no markup on every transaction and the exchange rate is at the interbank rates.
Got a friend who reckons he saves about 10% of his costs on a normal c/card, though guess if you're travelling to some remote parts of the world, they might not have that currency on the card yet.
Malc
Only just got this , very funny
In the case of Cuba any cards ie Amex that are American or have USA headquarters will not work due to the great threat that Country poses to the Statesmight alter in the near future.
I never said I had one card. The MBNA account comes as a Visa and Amex and I have a nationwide flexplus cashcard which also has a Visa debit. I've recently closed an HSBC current account and a Barclaycard mastercard as they hadn't been used for years. I had too many cards in the wallet.
The Nationwide card now won't work in most of the cash machines outside big cities as they read the mag strip in India rather than the chip; the atms are badly maintained which wears the mag stripe off the cards after a couple of months. In fact I've been issued with a new one now as a direct result... but thats in the UK and I'm about to head to Kashmir ( again). This sucks as there are no foreign transaction fees...which is why I got the flexplus account in the first place.
Currently the only one that reliably works in any cash machine is the MBNA Visa card. However I usually prefer to use the Amex for transactions as I get more points on it. But its magstrip has gone.
The missus will be fedexing the new Nationwide card and the new Marriot card over to me just as soon as I get back to a large city.
My problem is not being unprepared... my problem is that in the current circumstances I'm down to using the MBNA credit cards for all transactions including getting cash. This would be fine but MBNA seem to have become over active on the security front and its not that easy for me to contact them to remove the block that results seemingly every time I use the card.
I'm here for months at a time working fellas not gallavanting around
The Virgin Atlantic cards I have are issued by mbna and I have to let them know ahead of any travel (just country and date of travel by text). Are you sure there is no similar requirements for your cards?I never said I had one card. The MBNA account comes as a Visa and Amex and I have a nationwide flexplus cashcard which also has a Visa debit. I've recently closed an HSBC current account and a Barclaycard mastercard as they hadn't been used for years. I had too many cards in the wallet.
The Nationwide card now won't work in most of the cash machines outside big cities as they read the mag strip in India rather than the chip; the atms are badly maintained which wears the mag stripe off the cards after a couple of months. In fact I've been issued with a new one now as a direct result... but thats in the UK and I'm about to head to Kashmir ( again). This sucks as there are no foreign transaction fees...which is why I got the flexplus account in the first place.
Currently the only one that reliably works in any cash machine is the MBNA Visa card. However I usually prefer to use the Amex for transactions as I get more points on it. But its magstrip has gone.
The missus will be fedexing the new Nationwide card and the new Marriot card over to me just as soon as I get back to a large city.
My problem is not being unprepared... my problem is that in the current circumstances I'm down to using the MBNA credit cards for all transactions including getting cash. This would be fine but MBNA seem to have become over active on the security front and its not that easy for me to contact them to remove the block that results seemingly every time I use the card.
I'm here for months at a time working fellas not gallavanting around
#12
Rewards are good ( I usually get £500 a year in vouchers ...pays for christmas). I've used the online travel flag and called up in person and its made no real difference. After two transactions the card gets blocked ; last time it was for Amazon of all things.
I think VA cards are no longer issued by MBNA but rather by Virgin Money. Would also suggest Post Office Master Card issued by Bank of Ireland? which doesn't charge FX commission, only cash withdrawal fee which is normal for any cc.
Last edited by VDG; 7th May 2015 at 20:44.
My personal tesco clubcard Mastercard has worked in places where my company lloyds and barclay cards have not.
Think of the cc points you could earn which could be traded for goldsmiths vouchers in the double or triple points exchange
What about a couple of prepaid cards with some credit on them, one GBP the other USD.
I looked at these yesterday cos of this thread. Still issued by MBNA.
The problem you seem to have is the Fraud, Sanctions, and AML checking that is being carried out - in reality it's not going to make too much difference which card you go for as most UK banks are utilising very similar filter lists and profiling (though perhaps Barclay's seem to be the most keen to block on the fraud front - certainly in my experience). Your best bet might be to go for a private bank / high net worth bank / cc provider that therefore is more accustomed to customers being overseas - and keep them informed of overseas trips and locations (especially if you're heading to places like India or Russia).
Remote and primitive places? Carry $USD.
Problem solved.
http://www.mobell.co.uk/buy-satellit...rsat/postpaid/
Get them to call you back it's free.
I used one years ago.
Not really helping you but if anyone is looking at the BA Amex I'd advise going for the one with the annual fee.
You get the free companion ticket at £10k annual spend (rather than £20k), and the voucher is valid for 2 years (instead of 1). I just changed and got one for the wife that I'll use as I hit £20k most years.
Just booked 2 club tickets to St Lucia for 150,000 miles and the taxes on top.
Posting Permissions
