Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

dzug1

Wheel_nut wrote: »

Also, is it against the T's&C's to put the Clarity Card account into surplus? Can anybody point me to the salient term.

Can I put money on my card to increase my available credit whilst on holiday?
Credit cards are not designed to be used this way. Using the card in this way breaches the product's Terms & Conditions, which state:
7.7 You must not make payments or transfer funds from another credit or store card to your account that would leave a credit balance on your account. We may return any funds that exceed the balance owing on your account to the account from which the money was sent.

John_Pierpoint

My Nationwide credit card always included a two figure positive interest free loan to Nationwide - I figured that it would make it more difficult to close it. Nothing was ever said and I used to get a quarterly statement.

[Before the thought police rush in and blame me for the attitude of the current boss of Nationwide - may I say that I had the bulk of my near cash savings with NW, a NW bank account and the NW credit card used to be my daily CC when it paid a worthwhile cash back - as things stand currently the savings are looking for better rates, the bank account balances will be off to Metro bank and I now have a Halifax "clarity" CC.]
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iblametheparents

Just received an email from FairFX.

Their charge for their Anywhere card is being reduced from 1.5% to 1.4% however there will now be an ATM fee of £1. I don't think I'll be using my card again, will have to look elsewhere.

metalstardust

Hi

Changes kick in 1st March
The e-mail contains some errors in the table. I am going to complain.

The £1 fee you refer to is if you use the anywhere card outside the UK to withdraw cash from an ATM. It was 1.5% now 1.4% + £1.

The UK ATM fee goes from 1.5% to £1.50 so if you withdraw more than £100 you are better off.

Change to the Euro/Dollar cards is if you use the card outside it's currency zone you get hit with a 1.4% Fee.

So for me I am better off.

I use an anywhere card for Ryanair and dodgy websites .
That drops from 1.5% to 1.4%.

I use Euro cards only in Euro countries. So no change.

FairFX still offer great rates, excellent customer service and easy fast ways of topping cards up.

SCowley88

So I'm going to be in South America for 6 months and I've been planning our best to be a travelling MSE.
If I get both a Metro current account and apply for the Halifax Clarity (providing I get accepted) and the use them. Primarily spending on metro but using Halifax for when Mastercard isn't available and as a back up if one gets lost or stolen.
Then also carry a small supply of US dollars hidden somewhere very secret in my bag just in case.
Do people think this will be the best way in terms of avoiding fees? I plan to spend mainly in cash so will be withdrawing from atms mostly and only using my cards direct for big purchases.

jago25_98

Yes, Metrobank for cash and Clarity as backup is the conclusion I came to too. See you there in 2 weeks!

If you use the Clarity remember to pay off straightaway. Also, be aware there's sometimes cash withdrawal fees added by the bank owning the ATM. In Argentina this as far as I can see is every bank using foreign withdrawals and you can't avoid this. Only way to cut it down is to carry big wads of cash at a time.

SCowley88 wrote: »

So I'm going to be in South America for 6 months and I've been planning our best to be a travelling MSE.
If I get both a Metro current account and apply for the Halifax Clarity (providing I get accepted) and the use them. Primarily spending on metro but using Halifax for when Mastercard isn't available and as a back up if one gets lost or stolen.
Then also carry a small supply of US dollars hidden somewhere very secret in my bag just in case.
Do people think this will be the best way in terms of avoiding fees? I plan to spend mainly in cash so will be withdrawing from atms mostly and only using my cards direct for big purchases.

CountryGoose

SCowley88 wrote: »

So I'm going to be in South America for 6 months and I've been planning our best to be a travelling MSE.
If I get both a Metro current account and apply for the Halifax Clarity (providing I get accepted) and the use them. Primarily spending on metro but using Halifax for when Mastercard isn't available and as a back up if one gets lost or stolen.
Then also carry a small supply of US dollars hidden somewhere very secret in my bag just in case.
Do people think this will be the best way in terms of avoiding fees? I plan to spend mainly in cash so will be withdrawing from atms mostly and only using my cards direct for big purchases.

Spend all you can on Clarity, limit the exposure to your Metrobank card to avoid skimming/thefts. As I've said before - any money taken from a current account YOU need to fight the bank for. Any money stolen on a credit card, the bank has to fight YOU for!

Get another free pre-paid card with £100 as a back-up. A free Travelex Cash Passport Globe from the airport as you leave may be the best bet - you can add to this if either of your primary cards goes up in smoke.

If it's a long trip, you may want to take along another credit card, if you already have one, just in case of extreme emergency.

Keep spare cash around your bags.

I have one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0041O4GT2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0040Y27I0&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1EGCSXP75ZDZKQSREGSM
in my travel bag. It fits a €100 note, but $100 would be better for South America.

John_Pierpoint

My experience in Ecuador was that cards worked or they didn't.
Some ATM's demanded a fee some didn't.

In a big town like Quito the capital this did not matter much; perhaps it is Sunday night and someone need to reset the computer or something; try again tomorrow. So beware of getting stuck in a rural area with only one ATM in a radius of 100 miles and it decides not to pay out.

cf China - things work in China.

SCowley88

Just realised that Clarity is a mastercard as well. Don't seem to be any Visa cards which offer cheap spending abroad. The Travelex prepaid is now also a mastercard so can't get that. Anyone got any suggestions.
@Countrygoose think I'm going to spend mainly on the debit as I feel safer spending money and worrying about paying the credit card off in time. Plus I got offered the Clarity at 17.9% so it's going to cost me more than it could. Still worth it I think just 1.4% rather than 1%, beats the cards from hell anyway.

dand2202

Hi

Hoping someone can help me as I am a little confused! I am going to America later in the year but need to pay for some things in dollars before I get there (over the internet). I was wondering if there is a prepaid credit card that I can use that will not have this loading fee. I've read the cheap travel money section and it seem thats I am going to get charged a loading fee because this is not the local currency.

Any help much appreicated.