also called credit-card cash advance
Using a credit card to withdraw cash or cash-like funds, usually with immediate interest and extra fees.
A cash advance is pulling cash, or something cash-like, off a credit card, and it usually starts charging interest the instant you do, plus a fee. That is what makes it so different from a normal debit card ATM withdrawal, which just takes your own money. Using a credit card like an ATM card abroad is one of the priciest habits on the road.
You are short on local cash abroad and pull some out of an ATM with your credit card. There is no grace period like a purchase gets: interest starts that day, a cash-advance fee is added, and the small convenience ends up costing you more than a nice meal out.
Treating a credit card like an ATM card abroad is one of the most expensive mistakes on the road.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
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