Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

BOBS

dzug1 wrote: »

Assuming you are buying them from Tesco Travel Money, then AFAICS the answer is yes

thanks - just one of those "is it too good to be true" moments :j:j:j

sae1964

my 17 yr old is off to Canada and the US on a rugby tour in 2 weeks time, what is the cheapest way of him getting money while away? We are considering a Caxton global card but I have read that. as it is mastercard based, it is not widely usable in Canada. He already has an RBS debit card and a santander debit card, both on young persons accounts, would we better to just stick with those for ATM withdrawals?

steve405

Does anyone have any experience of pre-loading this card with credit before travelling and thus not actually paying anything when using it? The guy at Halifax warned against putting it in credit, but maybe someone has actual experience?

Alternatively, I guess I could withdraw cash on day 1 and immediately make a BACS payment oto my card, thus paying 3 or 4 days interest, as opposed to waiting until the statement came?

stilltheone

steve405 wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience of pre-loading this card with credit before travelling and thus not actually paying anything when using it? The guy at Halifax warned against putting it in credit, but maybe someone has actual experience?

Alternatively, I guess I could withdraw cash on day 1 and immediately make a BACS payment oto my card, thus paying 3 or 4 days interest, as opposed to waiting until the statement came?

First is at your own risk. Second is recommended.

stilltheone

sae1964 wrote: »

my 17 yr old is off to Canada and the US on a rugby tour in 2 weeks time, what is the cheapest way of him getting money while away? We are considering a Caxton global card but I have read that. as it is mastercard based, it is not widely usable in Canada. He already has an RBS debit card and a santander debit card, both on young persons accounts, would we better to just stick with those for ATM withdrawals?

If there is an O2 mobile in the family, their Load & Go card is not too bad.

No fees other than a 2.75% forex fee.

alan_p_brown

@steve405...
Said it before, check the T&Cs... preloading is not permitted (what they say is that they will return the payment).
Whether they actually do in practice, I cannot say.
Equally, this means that you would need to ensure that the charge had appeared on your account before the payment reached your account (used faster payments as soon as it appeared a few days later and had negligible charges as a result).
See my earlier post #1410 for additional info (sorry, forum won't let me post a proper link to forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=43607292&postcount=1410).
Hope that helps

Melian_Night

Hi there,

Thanks for all the information already posted on this thread, it's been very helpful!

However, I am just wondering about what to do regarding my incoming trip to Australia in mid-August. I have the Lloyds Airmiles duo cards (Amex and Mastercard), but I was wondering if instead of using them, I would be better off safety-wise and fees-wise getting one of the prepaid cards.

I wouldn't want to apply for the Halifax Clarity card, as having pretty much no credit history in the UK whatsoever (I've only lived here for the last three years, and only got my first local credit card a month or so ago), my application probably would be turned down.

As such, I'd like to hear your thoughts about which one to get, the Travelex card in Australian Dollars or the FairFX sterling card, or whether it would just be best not to worry and go with my current cards?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, comments and advise!

stilltheone

Melian_Night wrote: »

Hi there,

Thanks for all the information already posted on this thread, it's been very helpful!

However, I am just wondering about what to do regarding my incoming trip to Australia in mid-August. I have the Lloyds Airmiles duo cards (Amex and Mastercard), but I was wondering if instead of using them, I would be better off safety-wise and fees-wise getting one of the prepaid cards.

I wouldn't want to apply for the Halifax Clarity card, as having pretty much no credit history in the UK whatsoever (I've only lived here for the last three years, and only got my first local credit card a month or so ago), my application probably would be turned down.

As such, I'd like to hear your thoughts about which one to get, the Travelex card in Australian Dollars or the FairFX sterling card, or whether it would just be best not to worry and go with my current cards?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, comments and advise!

Travelex Cash Passport Globe

Melian_Night

stilltheone wrote: »

Travelex Cash Passport Globe

Thanks for the reply, stilltheone!

Just out of interest, why Globe and not the one in local currency?

stilltheone

Melian_Night wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, stilltheone!

Just out of interest, why Globe and not the one in local currency?

Because it is better. There are many people asking the same question over and over again. Use the search function for more info if necessary.