Cash advice for 5 month USA Trip

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  • tiger_eyes
    tiger_eyes Posts: 1,006 Forumite
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    I just got back from a month's trip to the USA and the Halifax Clarity card did great.
  • jackieblack
    jackieblack Posts: 10,316 Forumite
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    NiftyDigits wrote: »
    I thought about that too, but the FlexPlus TI won't be applicable on a five month trip, so would be a waste of money.
    Yes, that's true
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  • Starbrite
    Starbrite Posts: 947 Forumite
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    I spent 3 weeks in USA back in May/June.

    I used a combination of:
    Cash took £300 in US dollar with me
    Clarity Credit card - used for big things like payment of Las Vagas Hotel, Train ticket etc
    and used my Barclay debit card to withdraw cash and to pay things with..

    Cash with drawel rates were $200 visa exchange rate 1.44, so £143.33 gave me $200
    Card payments were 1.41

    Hope this helps
    Aspiring to be financially independent.... from my parents!
  • NiftyDigits
    NiftyDigits Posts: 10,459 Forumite
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    Starbrite wrote: »
    I spent 3 weeks in USA back in May/June.

    I used a combination of:
    Cash took £300 in US dollar with me
    Clarity Credit card - used for big things like payment of Las Vagas Hotel, Train ticket etc
    and used my Barclay debit card to withdraw cash and to pay things with..

    Cash with drawel rates were $200 visa exchange rate 1.44, so £143.33 gave me $200
    Card payments were 1.41

    Hope this helps

    It doesn't.

    You've muddled your figures and your usage. I hope no one follows that advice.

    Mastercard rates on the 1st of June were 1.450299. That's what you would have received with the Clarity.
    You would have received considerably less using a Barclaycard Debit.
  • malky39
    malky39 Posts: 700 Forumite
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    NiftyDigits wrote: »
    I know that, but they didn't write FlexPlus(which costs £10 per month). They wrote FlexDirect and they didn't specify which credit card.

    Apologies I did mean the flex plus account, sorry. We already paid for it so worked out for us regarding savings on travel insurance etc. So was a bonus that it was free to use abroad.
    To be honest we rarly had to take cash out. Everything just went on the credit card
  • Richie_D_2
    Richie_D_2 Posts: 12 Forumite
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    thanks again for all the responses, you guys have been very helpful.

    Clarity is what I needed and it turns out that Clarity is what I need. It's almost like the Halifax thought about it before they named their creditcard!

    I will take some cash, I'm not sure how much yet and the rest I will do through the Clarity card. I will also take a backup card.
  • blindman
    blindman Posts: 5,659 Forumite
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    edited 7 October 2016 at 11:31AM
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    Richie_D wrote: »
    thanks again for all the responses, you guys have been very helpful.

    Clarity is what I needed and it turns out that Clarity is what I need. It's almost like the Halifax thought about it before they named their creditcard!

    I will take some cash, I'm not sure how much yet and the rest I will do through the Clarity card. I will also take a backup card.

    We always take the N&P debit card but mainly use the Travelex Supercard which is linked to one of my FF cards.

    I take the Santander Zero card (no longer available to new users) as a back up for when (not If) the Supercard fails...
    Only happened a couple of times this time.

    Can't see why you need £35K for 5 months!!! and TBHO you rarely need ca$h in the USA.

    Have fun.

    On our last USA holiday (three weeks) we completed the final few states of the 50.

    Been there, done that :cool:

    ETA
    Looks Like the N&P card is now a no go
  • Richie_D_2
    Richie_D_2 Posts: 12 Forumite
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    blindman wrote: »
    We always take the N&P debit card but mainly use the Travelex Supercard which is linked to one of my FF cards.

    I take the Santander Zero card (no longer available to new users) as a back up for when (not If) the Supercard fails...
    Only happened a couple of times this time.

    Can't see why you need £35K for 5 months!!! and TBHO you rarely need ca$h in the USA.

    Have fun.

    On our last USA holiday (three weeks) we completed the final few states of the 50.

    Been there, done that :cool:

    ETA
    Looks Like the N&P card is now a no go
    What is the difference between the Travelex Supercard and the Halifax Clarity card? You're the first person to suggest it?

    Also £35000 for 5 months is doing it on a budget (for most of the time). Car hire is circa £4500 for period of time, plus fuel. We do not have a planned route, only a loose one, because we want to be able to go where we feel like. So we can't book hotels in advance and it therefore harder to get deals. Eating is obviously going to be the next big expense, although we will not be dining out in high end restaurants much. It all adds up when you're there for 150+ days.
  • PeacefulWaters
    PeacefulWaters Posts: 8,495 Forumite
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    Richie_D wrote: »
    What is the difference between the Travelex Supercard and the Halifax Clarity card? You're the first person to suggest it?
    You could link Supercard to a credit card that earns rewards.

    There's also a2.99% cash fee on Supercard, so only use it for purchases.
    Also £35000 for 5 months is doing it on a budget (for most of the time). Car hire is circa £4500 for period of time, plus fuel. We do not have a planned route, only a loose one, because we want to be able to go where we feel like. So we can't book hotels in advance and it therefore harder to get deals.
    Turn up and haggle. If they've got empty rooms they might as well let you have one cheap than not at all. If you have an AA membership card take that too. Many chains will knock 10% off.

    When booking in advance, Topcashback > hotels.com is often best value for cashback and free nights.
  • NiftyDigits
    NiftyDigits Posts: 10,459 Forumite
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    Richie_D wrote: »
    What is the difference between the Travelex Supercard and the Halifax Clarity card? You're the first person to suggest it?

    Also £35000 for 5 months is doing it on a budget (for most of the time). Car hire is circa £4500 for period of time, plus fuel. We do not have a planned route, only a loose one, because we want to be able to go where we feel like. So we can't book hotels in advance and it therefore harder to get deals. Eating is obviously going to be the next big expense, although we will not be dining out in high end restaurants much. It all adds up when you're there for 150+ days.

    Cheaper to chop your car rental up into smaller periods of say, two months at a time. That way, you will also get full insurance included in the quote.
    That will save perhaps £2000 or more on a full size car.
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