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Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

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  • ss4
    ss4 Posts: 85 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    dzug1 wrote: »
    Well it depends on what you mean by best.

    Prepaid cards are highly convenient, safe and fashionable, above all the last of these. They are also in general fairly expensive.

    The best of them (Caxton and Fair Fx) are actually quite good costwise - but I doubt if you could get one delivered in time if you are going next week. The ones you can get over the counter (Post Office and Travelex) are on the expensive side.

    You can't AFAIK get them in Swiss francs - you'd need a sterling one to avoid two sets of exchange costs.

    Spend on your credit card and get cash with your debit card is the best general advice - whether it's the absolute best for you (which I'm defining as cheapest) depends on what cards you have.

    The only debit card I have is a lloyds tsb one (which I know is very expensive) and I have no credit cards.

    Yeah, thats the problem most good prepaid cards only come in dollars or euros.:(
  • Ronan88
    Ronan88 Posts: 9 Forumite
    terryw wrote: »
    Pre-load a Nationwide debit card before you go. No fees to withdraw and paid at the best exchange rate.

    So put in my cash before I leave, and take it out on holiday as Euros?
  • Baldur
    Baldur Posts: 6,565 Forumite
    Ronan88 wrote: »
    So put in my cash before I leave, and take it out on holiday as Euros?
    Yes, or whatever the local currency may be - via ATMs.
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Ronan88 wrote: »
    So put in my cash before I leave, and take it out on holiday as Euros?


    Yes.

    Well not so much put it in - it's your bank account and it's already there. (In theory??:))
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ss4 wrote: »
    The only debit card I have is a lloyds tsb one (which I know is very expensive) and I have no credit cards.

    Yeah, thats the problem most good prepaid cards only come in dollars or euros.:(

    Used sensibly* your debit card will be no worse than the average prepaid card or getting cash here from an average BdeC. I know Martin describes 'cards from hell' but that's a bit of a journalistic exaggeration and is in comparison with 'good' cards, not an absolute thing

    * don't make lots of small withdrawals, just a few large ones
  • nigandjules
    nigandjules Posts: 43 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Baldur wrote: »
    Yes, or whatever the local currency may be - via ATMs.

    Hi, would this work in Egypt, and is it any atm please?
  • Baldur
    Baldur Posts: 6,565 Forumite
    nigandjules wrote: »
    Hi, would this work in Egypt, and is it any atm please?
    I've never used mine in Egypt, but have done so in Australia, South Africa, Dubai (a 1% fee has since been introduced outside the VISA Europe area of operations, as per the link below) & Europe without ATM fees.

    There would be a 1% VISA fee in Egypt - see http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm
  • hypertrottski
    hypertrottski Posts: 1 Newbie
    Like loads of people who seem to be posting here, I'm going on a multi-destination trip (AUS, NZ and Thailand to be precise) and I've got a debit card "from hell" and have no intention of getting a credit card.

    The section on pre-paid cards was very helpful and looked like the best option, so I did a bit more research into what happens if you're not going to countries that use either Euros or Dollars.

    The basic principle is that you'll buy either Euros or Dollars (let's leave out the Travelex multi-currency card for a moment) at a rate set by the pre-pay card issuer.

    The next bit is key: when you make a withdrawal/purchase in a country which uses another currency which isn't EUR/USD a wholesale exchange rate is used between the currency loaded on the card and the local currency. This is the same, official rate that can be found on xe.com or any other fx website!

    However, the article is wrong when it states that that Caxton and Travelex cards have 0% worldwide load - this is only if you stick to the currency that you originally loaded onto the card.

    Caxton add an extra 2.5% onto the wholesale rate on any non-EUR/USD purchase.

    God forbid you should use a Travelex currency card with to purchase in any currency other than the one loaded onto the card: they add a whopping 5.75% load onto the wholesale rate!

    The only card listed that you can load Dollars or Euros onto and then use freely around the globe is the FairFX card. Even though this charges per atm withdrawal, the comission-free currency conversion easily makes up for this and, what is more, it is simple to check the exchange rate that is being used, simply using any fx website.

    So, for anyone planning a trip to several countires which do not use USD or EUR, you do not want to change bank accounts or get a credit card, the FairFX card is DEFINITELY the one for you.

    Finally, as FairFX are open about their exchange rates when you buy the card, it becomes easy to make a calulation of the GBP-other currency exchange rate that you're getting in real terms.

    For instance, I want £100 worth of AUD but I don't want cash and I wan't to know the exchange rate I'll get through the card, I can work it out thusly:

    Today, FairFX will give me US$160 for £103.56. Xe.com tells me that US$160 = AU$180.30 at the wholesale rate. By dividing 180.30 by 103.56 I can work out that my real exchange rate using the FairFX USD card is 1.741 AUD to the pound, a very competitive rate.

    At the moment, using Euros gets you a marginally better rate. 1.743 AUD/GBP, but hey, every little helps!

    Sorry for the size of this post, hope it proves useful to someone!
  • Lieutenant_Thrift
    Lieutenant_Thrift Posts: 98 Forumite
    edited 14 February 2010 at 9:16PM
    Hi,

    I'm headed to the states in a few weeks. I've already got fairfx (which I got to circumvent Lyingair fees) and have used it to book internal flights in the US. Only draw back is the 1.5% transaction fee it adds.

    I've just read the cheap travel money article and notice the bit about prepaid cards apparently neglects to mention the 1.5% fee. I take it I would be avoiding that if I apply for a Santander Zero card. Then, I just need to be careful not to withdraw any cash on it. I can get a smallish amount of cash from the recommended supplier from travelmoneymax.com to cover cash appropriate situation such as going for coffee and so on.

    If I do this and have my fair fx card in reserve, I'll have the best possible deal?

    Thanks,

    LT
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Lieutenant_Thrift wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'm headed to the states in a few weeks. I've already got fairfx (which I got to circumvent Lyingair fees) and have used it to book internal flights in the US. Only draw back is the 1.5% transaction fee it adds.

    I've just read the cheap travel money article and notice the bit about prepaid cards apparently neglects to mention the 1.5% fee. I take it I would be avoiding that if I apply for a Santander Zero card. Then, I just need to be careful not to withdraw any cash on it. I can get a smallish amount of cash from the recommended supplier from travelmoneymax.com to cover cash appropriate situation such as going for coffee and so on.

    If I do this and have my fair fx card in reserve, I'll have the best possible deal?

    Thanks,

    LT

    A very good deal but not quite the best possible

    You will be lucky to get cash here for 1.5% - unless you can you might as well use your prepaid card.

    And if you are going in a few weeks don't bank on getting your Santander zero card up and running - you may do but it's not a cert.
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