Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

Kauptd

We are heading to Spain next week. We are taking £s with us to exchange into Euros at a small bureau we have used in recent years and which always offers more Euros for our £s than we can get here.

But we will also need to make ATM withdrawals after those £s / Euros have been spent.

All the ATMs in the area seem to be Bank of Santander and whilst the ATM on-screen instructions seem easy to follow, some others here have warned to be careful of "dynamic currency exchange" and not to pick the "wrong" option when making a withdrawal from a Bank of Santander ATM.

I'm not very bright where these dynamic thingies are concerned so could anyone advise just what are the two exchange options offered by Bank of Santander ATMs.. . and which of those options is the one to be avoided???

PS: we have a Royal Bank of Scotland debit card (Maestro). Somewhere on the 'money maximiser' page of MSE there is a small table which shows that the RBS debit card does not charge a fee -- I cannot find the link now so hope I haven't dreamt it, I only read it this morning. However I have now also read the sections on Debit Cards from Hell and the RBS debit card is listed as being one to avoid at all costs.

Unfortunately we cannot move our current account to Nationwide so as to get the Nationwide debit card so we seem to be stuck.

Our only other card is a Tesco credit card (MasterCard) but surely using a credit card to withdraw Euros from an ATM in Spain is going to be even more expensive than using the card-from-hell RBS Maestro???

We use the Tesco credit card for shopping purchases, eating out, travel etc in Spain but have never thought of using it in an ATM, so I wonder if we have been doing this all wrong?

Chuffy2

Kauptd,

I would probably recommend the Nationwide credit card, as it is fee free on spending. I would not recommend using either the Nationwide or Tesco credit card in an ATM as I reckon they would both cost, but you could use the Nationwide credit card to pay for purchases (meals, etc) where ever you see the Visa sign. This would cut down the need for an ATM, and the money you change over at your friendly bureau might be enough 'money in your pocket' for the whole of your hols.

Hope this helps.

Chuffy

Kauptd

Thanks Chuffy! We're going to have to look into this whole Nationwide thing when we get back. As things stand it's going to be a case of carrying cash, which we don't like but don't have much option.

Chuffy2

When you look into it, the link below gives a good oversight.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

Always bear in mind that alot of ATM transactions abroad will incur a flat fee, even if it is just a flat fee being applied by the bank who's ATM you are using (applies to Nationwide as well, as they have no control over this fee). While these fees are not usually very high, it is best to get value from the transaction and take a decent amount of money out in one go.

Also, depending on how much you are into moneysaving, bear in mind that while the Nationwide account is the best account for spending abroad, it is probably not the best current account around. On that basis the best solution might be to use Nationwide as your holiday account, but have a current account somewhere else that has a higher rate of interest.

wwwd

Hi everyone, I'm off to New York in late December just before Xmas and have been reading all the money saving tips on the website.

From what I've gathered, it would be best to take over some cash (say £200 worth) and then put the rest on a Nationwide Credit Card. Is that right?

I understand that the rate with Nationwide is one of the best so it's worth using it abroad. But my concern is that currently the rate for the dollar is around 1.53, but if by Xmas the rate falls to say something like 1.0 for instance (which seems to be possible with the global recession) then is it worth just changing all my spends for cash now rather than later when the rate get worse?

What would you guys suggest doing? As I am looking to spend around £700-£1000 when I'm over there.

JonF_2

wwwd wrote: »

Hi everyone, I'm off to New York in late December just before Xmas and have been reading all the money saving tips on the website.

From what I've gathered, it would be best to take over some cash (say £200 worth) and then put the rest on a Nationwide Credit Card. Is that right?

I understand that the rate with Nationwide is one of the best so it's worth using it abroad. But my concern is that currently the rate for the dollar is around 1.53, but if by Xmas the rate falls to say something like 1.0 for instance (which seems to be possible with the global recession) then is it worth just changing all my spends for cash now rather than later when the rate get worse?

What would you guys suggest doing? As I am looking to spend around £700-£1000 when I'm over there.

wwwd,

I'm also off to NYC over Christmas and I've been a bit concerned by the drop in GBP to USD. I'm thinking of purchasing some of my spends upfront each month, keeping an eye on the exchange rate at the same time.

Unfortunately the exchange rate is not something anyone can predict so I'm just going to try and minimise the impact as best I can.

Kicking myself for not buying earlier in the year though when it was 1.95 to the pound!!!!

wwwd

JonF wrote: »

wwwd,

I'm also off to NYC over Christmas and I've been a bit concerned by the drop in GBP to USD. I'm thinking of purchasing some of my spends upfront each month, keeping an eye on the exchange rate at the same time.

Unfortunately the exchange rate is not something anyone can predict so I'm just going to try and minimise the impact as best I can.

Kicking myself for not buying earlier in the year though when it was 1.95 to the pound!!!!

Hi JonF,

Unfortunately I've found that is the case. I bought some dollars yesterday via the Post Office website at 1.49, since last week it was 1.53 and I thought it would get worse in the next few weeks. But today, the Post Office website currently has the rate of 1.51 so by changing £500's worth I lost 7 dollars. Not a massive difference I know, but still annoying nevertheless!

All of this is a gamble, but from what most people have told me in the short term (i.e. before Xmas) things are going to get worse before they get better in the New Year so it's worth stocking up now.

And knowing my luck in January the rate will shoot back up! :rolleyes:

gelmo

The Nationwide debit card has been great on our travels throughout Europe and other parts of the world-it always gives a favourable exchange rate with no commission/fees BUT on a recent trip to Budapest we found that certain Hungarian ATMs would not accept it. This was particularly alarming at the airport-with no alternative as long as the Hungarians stick to the forint( although I believe the euro is imminent in 2009?). It may be worth exchanging enough forints in the UK (preorder online at Travelex and collect at airport)- sufficient for the 300 forint train journey into the city.

kateco

nopainnogain wrote: »

Before I went on Holiday I bought my euros from M&S and got a good rate so I was happy.
On my return I was less than happy at the rate offered to exchange my excess euros back to sterling. I felt I was being ripped off.

My solution - I advertised the excess euros to my work colleagues.

The result was it took less than 3 minutes before my works notice board ad was answered.

My colleague got a slightly better rate than M&S offered, I got a much better rate than M&S (or anyone else for that matter) would have given me and I didn't have to travel to M&S to be ripped off. :j

eurochange ( who supply m & s with their foreign money ) buy back any left over currency at the same rate you bought it at. obviously you need to keep your receipt.

robbie_save

I used a card off Fair fx last time for going to US (no fees, good rate)

You can buy travel money with the best rates delivered to your door orpost offixce I think.

Check here -
Get travel money cards

Online rates are much better than in a shop.