Two million people with credit cards warned not to use them from Friday onwards

Research by TotallyMoney found how much you could pay in fees for using your credit card with two million heading abroad and leaving the UK over Easter.

Millions of Easter holidaymakers have been warned over making a costly credit card mistake. Research by TotallyMoney found how much you could pay in fees for using your credit card with two million heading abroad and leaving the UK over Easter.

Taking out £20 to buy your family some ice creams and drinks on the way to the beach could actually cost you nearly a fiver in fees alone. Andrew Hagger, personal finance expert, and founder of Moneycomms said: "Although credit cards are useful in helping you manage your day-to-day cash flow and cope with unexpected expenses, using them to take cash out at ATMs overseas can be an extremely expensive way of funding your holiday spending.

"Consider a fee-free credit card or a low-cost debit card as an alternative if you don’t want to see a big chunk of your overseas holiday budget swallowed up by cash withdrawal and non-sterling charges." Alistair Douglas, CEO of TotallyMoney ,said: “Before you go away, double check how much your bank will charge you for using your card abroad.

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"If you’re lucky, you might already have a fee-free option in your wallet — so make sure you stick to using that one. If not, and you’re planning on using credit, then consider applying for a Halifax Clarity or Barclaycard Rewards card —specifically for overseas use. Both offer fee-free purchase and cash withdrawal transactions abroad.”

He went on: “If you need to use your credit card for ATM withdrawals abroad, avoid using it for multiple, low value cash transactions — and instead consider taking out fewer but larger amounts. That way, you can avoid lots of withdrawal fees, which quickly adds up. Let’s say you take out £200 in one go, to cover you for four days, you might incur up to £15.98 in charges. On the other hand, if you take out £50 per day over the four day long weekend, you could end up paying the bank £31.96 — which is twice as much!”

He added: “Whenever you’re paying by card, or withdrawing cash, and you’re asked if you’d like to pay in the local currency, you should almost always pick the local currency. Choosing to pay in pounds sterling will lead to currency conversion fees set by the ATM operator or vendor — and worryingly, there’s no limit to how much they can charge.”