Post Office Money Platinum credit card review – a great card for travelling

This is my review of the Post Office Money Platinum credit card.

Link to apply: The Post Office Money Platinum credit card application page

Key facts:  No annual fee, representative APR 17.8% variable

The Post Office credit card is provided by Bank of Ireland UK.  Post Office Ltd is a credit broker and not a lender.

This review was first published in January 2015 and was updated in May 2016.  All of the information is correct as of that date.

Head for Points mainly looks at credit cards which give you frequent flyer miles or hotel points when you spend on them. After all, that is what this site is all about.

However, it is important to remember that credit card miles are not free miles. You need to compare the miles you get against what you could get from a cashback credit card. When travelling abroad, you need to see if the miles you earn justify the foreign exchange fee charged by your credit card company.

It is almost always a bad idea to use a mileage card for overseas spend. This is because all miles and points cards – and indeed almost all other UK credit and debit cards – charge a foreign exchange fee of 2.75% to 2.99%. Most card issuers hide this fee so you don’t realise you are paying it, because they simply adjust their exchange rate by 2.75%-2.99% rather than breaking the fee out.

This is why I like the look of the Post Office Money Platinum credit card.

It does NOT offer you any loyalty points when you use. It DOES, however, make everything you buy abroad up to 2.99% cheaper than it would be if you used a different credit card. And that is a substantially better deal.

There are about five credit cards on the market which do not charge foreign exchange fees on purchases. However, some of them have an annual fee (eg Lloyds) whilst others (eg Nationwide) are only available if you have a cheque account as well.

The Post Office credit card keep everything nice and simple:

There is no annual fee for the card

There is no foreign transaction fee. Your transactions are converted at the wholesale exchange rate set by MasterCard, which to all intents and purposes is the ‘spot’ rates.

You do not pay commission when using the card to purchase travel money at a Post Office.

You pay 0% interest on all purchases for the first three months

At the time of writing, you can make 0% balance transfers – good for 22 months – for no fee within your first three months of having the card

As a Mastercard, it is widely accepted wherever you travel

The only point which is not made entirely clear in their advertising is that the ‘no FX fee’ deal only applies to purchases. If you use your credit card to withdraw cash from a foreign ATM, you will be charged a 3% foreign exchange fee as well as the standard cash withdrawal fee. This is not a major problem for most people, though.

How do I apply?

Overall, I rate The Post Office Platinum credit card as a worthwhile addition to your wallet when travelling. You won’t earn any airline miles or points when using it, but you will get a 3% smaller credit card bill when you get home – and I know which is the better deal.

You can apply online via this link – there is no need to visit a Post Office branch to sign-up.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

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You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.