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Credit Card Advice (Travel)

post #1 of 4
7/21/11 at 7:23am
Thread Starter 

Hi there, I did do a search and found some overlapping threads, but thought it might be best to start my own to address my own concerns. I have never owned a credit card before but I am interested in getting one because I think it might be the safest card that I could carry when travelling abroad for a prolonged period of time. However, as I'm so uneducated in the matter, I don't really know what I should be looking for. What are the main things to look for when getting a card? Will I be limited in choice because of my lack of credit history? Is getting a card for travel a good idea? I was planning on taking the credit card, then paying this amount off immediately from my debit account each month. Thoughts? Thank you very much

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post #2 of 4
7/21/11 at 10:57am
if you're going international, get a capital one credit card. no foreign fee charges. It will be harder to get a good card with rewards with limited credit history.
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post #3 of 4
7/21/11 at 11:09am
If you have no history at all, you might have to get a secured card. That said, if you hang out in a university lounge there are probably a half-dozen credit cards being given out to students, so maybe not. I'm not sure what the situation is like these days for people with no history.

If you're using for travel you probably want a minimum limit of 1.5-2k otherwise it will be a real pain in the ass to book flights. In effect, you'll have to give the bank 2k and they'll give you a card with a 2k limit in return. If you can't get an unsecured card, it's the best way to build credit. Visa or MC are probably the way to go if it's going to be your only card, since they're accepted more places than anything else. If you want your score to actually improve, paying minimum isn't enough so don't max it out unless you're going to get the balance back under 20-30% each month.
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post #4 of 4
7/21/11 at 12:00pm
Universities tend to have lots of credit card booths around especially around September. Might be a little difficult to hunt down right now.

I got my first credit card at 17 in my first year of university. Wasn't secured and they gave me $1500 in limit.

Get one as soon as you can, start using it to pay for everything and pay it off as soon as possible. Never have a balance (even if you intend to pay it off before the cycle is done) exceeding 80% of your limit. That way, you can ensure that you get as high a credit rating as you can. You'll need that to increase your limit when you can to allow you to spend easier.

It's only been 4 years with a credit card for me and I'm using an Amex with $8000 limit. I don't intend to get anywhere near that, but having that high limit allows me to purchase things without having to worry about approaching that 60-80% of my limit.

As for using overseas, the only credit card that doesn't charge for foreign transactions is Capital One as facebookdigg mentioned. All other cards charge a certain % for usage, in addition to the currency conversion factor.
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