AIBU to have never had a credit card?

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Has anyone else never had a credit card? I have literally never had one. Surely I’m not the only one?

Edited to add- I’m in Ireland so the “extra protection” they provide in the uk under section 75, does not apply here

Again,I travel quite a bit and I have never needed one.

No, never have. Never saw what the advantage was. Then applied for a mortgage for the first time in my forties and found out - you build a good credit score. Silly me thought that never having been in any debt in the first place was optimal. Still don't have one though.

What don't you understand though? Genuine question.

What card do you use abroad? We have a Halifax Clarity that doesn’t have charges, I prefer credit card abroad because 1) we’ve had our card cloned abroad twice, much easier to sort with a CC 2) deposits for car hire and hotel, I have no intention of losing access to my cash for that 3) years ago in NY a well known hotel chain put 2 holds on my card the day we left, value of £2000, they took that one without removing the hold, it took a month to get the other £2000 released, I actually did this on a debit card as I was getting cashback at the time, it meant they withheld £2000 on my cash for a whole month. I was fuming, never again (tried everything to get the hold released, no one could help).

Which countries have you travelled to? I've had issues across Asian and South America many times.

I've never had one, don't need one.

I just tap my card or revolut card and/or take out cash before I go.
@Dragonscaledaisy i haven’t been to Asia or south America since I was in my 20’s. Usually Europe, North America and Australia.

Be careful if you go to the US (for various reasons atm 😂) that’s where we have had our card cloned twice.

Possibly because people post in here about things you couldn't possibly be unreasonable about and it becomes self fulfilling 😂

But to answer your question one is never unreasonable to not have something one doesn't want or need

I don’t use my physical card anymore tbh I just tap my phone. I do bring the card with me though. I have no intention of going to the US for a long time tbh. It’s all Europe this year.

Why is it hard to understand, I don't care about my credit rating that isn't even a thing anyway.

I do have a credit card to use for larger purchases of course but I'm not going to make buying a pint of milk a two step process

I suppose if your are Irish and travelling to Europe it is mostly all in Euros and won't have the currency conversion Sterling has and easier to take cash out before you go.

I had heard that there were current account fees in Ireland. Didn't know about lack of credit card perks. However, going to get skewed answers in AIBU rather than Craicnet.

I don't have one now and don't intend on ever having one again. I had one breifly when we were exploring different options to try and curb my spending. My husband has one for emergencies but we don't use it often.

The US aren’t as modern for letting phone tapping as universally as you see elsewhere, I’ve always found it odd how far behind the US is for banking, it was only a few years ago the salesperson was struggling with the newly introduced chip and pin machine they had 🙈 but yeah understand why it won’t be a top destination for a while!

We’ve never had one but sometimes I think it would be a good idea as we’re used to not spending what we can’t afford and you can get bonuses such as air miles etc as I’ve read on Martin Lewis’ website. I’m sure there are people who just use it for the perks rather than spend beyond their means?

I suspect it’s most people tbh, certainly Amex customers, you’d be mental to not pay an Amex card off in full with their rates!!

@whereareallthegods how did you choose which one to go with? I’ve been thinking of getting one for the perks rather than spending what I can’t afford

OP I just googled and Aer Lingus and the Bank of Ireland have a card called Aer Card which collects Avios (Im assuming if it’s Avios it’ll share with other carriers and not limit you to Aer Lingus) If you fly a lot it really is worth looking at.

the charge 6.50 a month for that one…I can see how it would be beneficial for people as it has travel insurance included but i already have travel insurance through my health insurance which is free through work

Yes but you have to compare it to what you’re getting out of it. I pay £300 a year for my Amex, you need to work out the value, it gets me 1.5 points a pound and an upgrade voucher, basically buy one get one free for premium economy and business class flights, even after the fee and taxes it’s literally worth thousands of pounds and far exceeds the £300 fee I pay.

Yeah I would have to sit and work it out I think. The travel insurance included would twist my arm if I didn’t already have it tbh

Yeah it’s definitely worth planning before jumping into anything as no point paying out for something you won’t use. I have a spreadsheet with projected Avios accrual 😂

Do credit cards in Ireland do cashback like in the UK?
If so then yes you're a bit daft. (unless you have issues with financial regulation)

That's not negligible, that's pretty good (assuming the card is free). There's nothing like that available in the UK unless you have a store card for a particular shop or possibly take the rewards in air miles, which are of limited value unless you can use London airports.

If you only took it for the year for the grocery offer, you'd get 300 euro and also the 30 euro Gov Stamp Duty (is this something every one pays)?

Then you just look for another offer. So look at it as being paid 300 euro + for a bit of admin once a year, as well as the benefits of having a credit card.

I only have one as it offers protection against large purchases and helps with your credit score. I use it occasionally and pay it straight off. I've never been one for buying what I can't actually afford.