Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

welunja

If I purchase a pre-paid card i.e. Travelex CP am not sure if I am supposed to always load it with the currency of the country am going to? Whose exchange rate applies? can anyone please enlighten me? Wel

Aaron

welunja wrote: »

If I purchase a pre-paid card i.e. Travelex CP am not sure if I am supposed to always load it with the currency of the country am going to? Whose exchange rate applies? can anyone please enlighten me?

If you load it with the currency of the country you're going to, then the exchange rate is the card issuer's exchange rate at the time you load it. It might not be the best rate, but at least you know what rate you get before you spend, which is difficult with sterling cards abroad.

If you load it with a different currency, it will probably be the card issuer's sterling-to-different exchange rate at the time you load it and their different-to-target-currency rate when you spend it.

As long as you avoid the evil "dynamic currency conversion" (see the main article), then you're probably getting the best rate you can with that card. The above was true for the prepaid cards I've used and I expect it's the same with Travelex.

straggler

Hi all,

I'll be travelling to Morocco in April and am wondering whether it's better to get Dirham in the UK or to change money over there? I know that the Dirham isn't supposed to be taken out of Morocco but I'm told that this law is not enforced.

If it's better for me to change in the UK does anyone know a good forex bureau? I'm guessing I'd need a specialist place.

Thanks.

murphydavid

straggler wrote: »

Hi all,

I'll be travelling to Morocco in April and am wondering whether it's better to get Dirham in the UK or to change money over there? I know that the Dirham isn't supposed to be taken out of Morocco but I'm told that this law is not enforced.

If it's better for me to change in the UK does anyone know a good forex bureau? I'm guessing I'd need a specialist place.

Thanks.

Just a little tip, I found that
You can do an international ATM search on the web and if you can find ATM's that take your overseas ATM card (as per Martins article on getting cash overseas - Halifax Clarity or similar) near the place where you are staying or at the airport you arrive in then it is fine to withdraw local currency there to save carrying cash.
Obviously take all the normal precautions at the ATM and maybe pre-warn your card issuer of your intentions and make sure they have your up-to-date mobile number so they know not to bar your card when it is used in an unusual place.

trish.2rd

We are off to Disneyland Paris on 1st April - planning on taking about 800 euros to spend and if we need anymore will use Debit card. Can anyone advise if this is the best was to pay for items there and if so any advise on the best place to buy my Euros.

Thanks in advance
Trish:)

mikezoe65

POST OFFICE PRE-PAY VISA-ELECTRON CARD DROPPED- What a disaster! I decided to experiment with this method of carrying cash and bought a sterling Post Office Card about 6 months ago mainly to avoid the debit card charges disgracefully being levied by Flybe with online tickets. I have not yet been able to spend any money on the card as it has been refused by card machines in all types of outlets, online payment etc. I found out today that the PO have ended the card about two weeks ago and will be refunding balances by post- all this without letting me know by mail. Bloody disgrace! The scheme is run by the Bank of Ireland so why the Post Office has lent its good reputation to this card God only knows. IMHO the brand has been damaged badly by this venture. Hope I get my dosh back within the 8 weeks period advised by their help line. Anyone else had trouble with this card?

ajmcg_2

I've just checked out the travelmoneymax web-site with a view to purchasing South African Rand. The top rated seller seems to be Onlinefx who appear to be offering nearly R4,450 in exchange for £400. However by the time you go through to their web-site, spend time registering your personal details and then submitting your application this has slipped to R4,300. This appears to me to be a bit of a con and I'm disappointed that Martin Lewis should be seen to be associated with it.

tallhoward

chaddy2 wrote: »

If you have a current account with the santander group of banks ( abbey alliance & leicester bradford & bingley ) and you pay in a minimum of £1000 per month you can make withdraw'als from any santander branch in spain or the canaries and you will receive the bank rate with no charges at all.

I too got this info from santander website and so searched out a santander atm, outside a main bank branch in the capital town in Lanzarote, Canaries. However, the screen and my receipt told me I would be charged 0% commission and 2% markup!!Other banks in canaries charge no commission or 'markup'!
What a con. I deposit my money in a Santander current account and allow Santander to use/borrow that money until I need it, and then when I try to take my money out they keep 2% of it!

Keith_Harvey

If I pre load a Santander Zero credit card, will this not avoid the monthly interest charges? It would seem more sensible to pre load a zero fee credit card rather than the specialist pre loaded cards. Do they allow you to do this?

murphydavid

tallhoward wrote: »

I too got this info from santander website and so searched out a santander atm, outside a main bank branch in the capital town in Lanzarote, Canaries. However, the screen and my receipt told me I would be charged 0% commission and 2% markup!!Other banks in canaries charge no commission or 'markup'!
What a con. I deposit my money in a Santander current account and allow Santander to use/borrow that money until I need it, and then when I try to take my money out they keep 2% of it!

A general comment. Some ATMs charge and some don't. Ive not had a Santander card but isn't it backed by Visa or Mastercard? All mine are. If so you can go to virtually any ATM and thus find one whoes owner does not charge.