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Hi everyone.
Has anyone used an Amex abroad (with the 3% transaction fee). I’ve read a few comments that the Amex exchange rate is better than the Mastercard one. With the 3% fee, I’d be using the Amex Gold – therefore get 2 MR points per £1 spend. For myself, I tend to use the virgin and a companion voucher so each MR point is worth 3-4p for myself. Therefore I feel like the fee would be balanced out by the benefits at the very least.
In the past I’ve always used the Halifax clarity but now thinking of switching over?
If you value the points/2-4-1 rather than the savings then that’s ok…
The Amex interbank rate is good.
You are ‘paying’ a 3% fee for 2 MR points plus work towards the 2-4-1..not unreasonable if you can’t make the 2-4-1 spend target in the UK alone.
Note if you’re planning to use Amex in the EU, acceptance is very variable from non-existent to just some places. The USA..no worries.
Also dynamic currency conversion is much more widespread, initially just Spain etc but now it’s even in Best Buy in the USA..Amex bans this.
Would you say using the BA Amex Premium card is worth using in UAE to pay for Marriott hotel booking?
Would you say using the BA Amex Premium card is worth using in UAE to pay for Marriott hotel booking?
Depends how desperate you are for avios. You get 1.5 avios per £ but you pay 3% (or even more) fees. You are effectively buying avios for 2p.
Save that using a fx fee free card and buy avios in avios boost for 0.9p.Great idea. Thank you.
Is there any comparisons between something like the Halifax clarity which uses the Mastercard mid market rate vs Amex rate + 3% Forex fee?
I wonder if there’s a huge amount in it when you then factor in the 2MR/£1 spendIs there any comparisons between something like the Halifax clarity which uses the Mastercard mid market rate vs Amex rate + 3% Forex fee?
I wonder if there’s a huge amount in it when you then factor in the 2MR/£1 spendWell 2MR per/£1 is 2% return at best, so you’re still paying 3% to get 2% back – so 1% loss in fees. Depends who you listen to re: exact excahnge rates MC/Visa/Amex as you’ll find somebody claiming each of them was best at some point – so they probably vary, but there’s definitely no way there’s anything lika a 1% difference betwen their rates;
Unless you have a bonus that you would otherwise miss, there’s really no way the maths ever stacks up using Amex abroad. Even more so if you have something like MBNA Horizon, or you are in Eurozone and can use Virgin: where they are FX-fee free AND you get a points/cashback return.
It only really makes sense to compare rates between MC and Visa. Visa’s rate is published in advance at midnight GMT, mastercard’s rate is published at 1505 US Eastern Time but it is difficult to work out exactly which day’s rate is used for any particular transaction
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