TravelMoneyMax.com Discussion Area

Former_MSE_Dan · 7 July 2009 at 9:07PM

This is the discussion thread for the new travel money comparison at

TravelMoneyMax.com

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Tojo_Ralph · 12 July 2009 at 8:18PM

THE_BLURB wrote:

Urgent warning! Don't change money at the airport ...... Use the MSE Travel Money Maximiser instead.

This site reads more like a cheap infommercial every day. :rolleyes:

jonthedog · 14 July 2009 at 9:23AM

This is a brilliant tool, really simple to use and easy to read.
I would quite like to see the 'real' (i.e. fx traders') exchange rate listed as well, though, so you could see how much margin the dealers were putting on their rates. I personally would love it if this also calculated the percentage margin on the real exchange rate for each retailler, but I understand that this might clutter the look somewhat...maybe it could be an optional column? I believe that having a so-called '0% commisson' deal and then hiding the mark up in the rate isn't obvious and cons a lot of people into thinking they are getting free money. Presenting this information to the public (much like the way you are doing with this tool) could be a great way of getting these rates down.
I must confess to just using my nationwide card to get cash abroad most of the time...I can't understand how they can effectively give money away at the real exchange rate without any charges at all. It makes thomas cook in-store rates look like daylight robbery.
This is one of the reasons why I want to see the 'real' exchange rate listed as I'm trying to make a comparison between the safe option of getting the money in advance or gambling that there will be a cashpoint on arrival at the airport where I can withdraw the free nationwide money.

Reaper · 17 July 2009 at 2:59PM

jonthedog wrote: »

I must confess to just using my nationwide card to get cash abroad most of the time...I can't understand how they can effectively give money away at the real exchange rate without any charges at all.

They don't any more. Most European ATMs withdrawals & credit card purchases are still free but there is now a 1% fee in the rest of the world. Still good, but not as good as it was.

straw_hat_2 · 19 July 2009 at 12:57PM

If you are going on holiday several weeks ahead try Travel Money Services they give great rates for money booked in advance and deliver free on any date agreed. have used them over last 2yr and so have friends so safe to use

jonthedog · 21 July 2009 at 10:50PM

Reaper wrote: »

They don't any more. Most European ATMs withdrawals & credit card purchases are still free but there is now a 1% fee in the rest of the world. Still good, but not as good as it was.

True, but the 0.84% charge is not just 'good', it's at least half the charge of even the best options from the moneymax tool. So the point remains, it would be nice to see the real exchange rate and the total percentage charge applied (including other charges) by each vendor so you could make the comparison.

In fact, I have just looked at the cheap travel money section, and somewhat bizarrely the Santander Zero is rated the top pick. I am only going by the information there, but if they are charging ~28% interest PA, whether you pay the balance off or not, then this equates to an enforced ~2.3% charge on every cash withdrawal. Quite how this beats Nationwide's 0% / 0.84% I'm not sure...anyone with a nationwide account could easily have both a debit and credit card if they wanted, so use the debit for cash and the credit if you really wanted section 75 protection on a big purchase...don't see why you would need to have section 75 protection for 99% of holiday purchases, e.g. food, excursions. Whoever is in charge of maintaining this section should really do their maths again and elevate Nationwide to the top spot overall (I know it is the top debit card, but it really doesn't get quite the same fanfare as the santander zero listed above it, even though it is far, far better at cash withdrawals). It is the benchmark against how ALL methods of aquiring foreign currency should be judged, particularly as the vast majority of travel abroad is to Europe, where free is only beaten by someone actually giving money away.
One elegant solution to over-cluttering the look of the tool with the % mark-up infomation is to simply list the cost of getting the currency with a nationwide debit card whilst abroad alongside all the other currency providers (including the other credit/debit cards for fairness...think they are unlikely to display on the first page of results, though). Then you will be able to see in real terms how much it is costing you to get the money in advance. I stuggle to think of a single place I have travelled to in the last 7 years where it was necessary to get local money in advance, however. Bolivia overland is probably the only place I have been to without a cash point on arrival, & even then it wasn't really a problem.

Reaper · 28 July 2009 at 9:37AM

Note your 0.84% figure is out of date. It rose to 1% on 1st July 2009. Still good though as I say.

I could add plenty of other places I have been to where ATMs were a problem. Most of Guatemala, all of Myanmar (Burma) and even Delhi airport (though maybe just because it was being renovated at the time).

I always like to arrive with some foreign cash. I enjoy backpacking and often arrive with nothing booked in advance, so it would be disaterous to find all nearby ATMs out of order.

BroFergie · 3 August 2009 at 6:43PM

Recently got a Santander Zero card as I'm off to Thailand on holiday. The cashier told me that I could withdraw cash from an ATM in Thailand without any charge and that no charges would apply as long as I paid the balance on the account by the statement due date. I found this very hard to believe but was assured that there was no charge. However, I then asked the question can I transfer money from my current account to the Zero card account? The answer was yes, so I transferred money from my current account to the Zero card account putting me in credit. Surely this must be the best way to overcome any charges for foreign cash transactions from an ATM abroad?

jonthedog · 5 August 2009 at 10:15PM

Reaper wrote: »

Note your 0.84% figure is out of date. It rose to 1% on 1st July 2009. Still good though as I say.

Actually, it is 0.84% still. To quote the Nationwide web site: "The Visa fee increase to 1% scheduled for 1 July will no longer take place and the fee will remain at 0.84%. Consequently Nationwide will also keep the fee at 0.84%." This notice has been there for a couple of months.

I would suggest that you probably didn't get your burmese currency in advance through travelex...isn't it a closed currency? A stash of emergency dollars (that usually never end up being used) is all you need for backpacking, in the unlikely event you don't encounter a cashpoint within the first few hours of entering.

I've just received a postal invitation to get a Santander Zero card...it actually looks really good. If BroFergie's genius suggestion of pre-crediting the card is allowed, then it edges the nationwide debitcard, but is a couple of quid's worth of saving worth me filling in the application form, i wonder? Technically it does say in the T&Cs that you shouldn't make payments that put your account in credit, but the 'penalty' for doing this seems only to be to reduce your credit limit by the credited amount that month...not a problem if you don't intend to go into debit anyway.
This is all getting away from the original point of the thread, the point is that both of these cards are cheaper alternatives than ordering your cash in advance and deserve to be listed alongside (or technically above) the other ways of getting your cash, as this is the true way of maximising your travel money. Possibly the third time I have said this, so I'll shut up now...maybe I should email the suggestion instead?

Mosh · 8 August 2009 at 10:26AM

BroFergie wrote: »

Recently got a Santander Zero card as I'm off to Thailand on holiday. The cashier told me that I could withdraw cash from an ATM in Thailand without any charge

This is technically true, but you'll have to dig around for a cash machine that doesn't charge. As of March this year, a large number of Thai banks have started levying a 150Baht (£2.75 or thereabouts) charge on foreign cards when making a withdrawal.

You *will* be warned before the money is dispensed, so you can cancel. As of this morning, I can tell you:

HSBC - no charge
Bank of Ayudhya - no charge (unless you're Dutch, it seems)
Government Savings Bank - no charge
UOB - no charge

Note that GSB only accepts Visa cards, and I think the same holds for HSBC. I'm using a Nationwide card for my withdrawals.

Mosh · 8 August 2009 at 10:31AM

jonthedog wrote: »

I would suggest that you probably didn't get your burmese currency in advance through travelex...isn't it a closed currency?

Yes, it is. Although arriving with US Dollars is fine. Just, for crying out loud, don't change them at the airport. You get the government's official exchange rate of around 6.5 Kyat to the Dollar.

Wait till you get into Yangon and a nice man in a tailor's shop or a jeweller's will give you nearer 1200 Kyat per Dollar... And no, that's not a mis-type. Don't forget you're visiting a country with one of the most disgustingly corrupt governments in the world.

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