Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

Oldtraveller

I'm a newbie here, so please be gentle with me! And I KNOW the answer to this is probably buried somewhere within the 92 pages of this thread, but... life's too short and the pain of reading all that too great (with every due respect to all posters).

The thing is... I'm planning a ~7 week driving holiday in the USA and Canada, so will be using LOTS of motels / hotels, diners / restaurants and such traveller-related places, all OVER.

Obviously, it'll have to be a mix of cash and plastic - the cash to be withdrawn from ATM's. Best strategy for minimising the cost of that mix by planning upfront, anyone? Please?

Looks like a prepaid card could be good, but how widely acceptable are they, and what are the pitfalls involved with pre-loading them from my bank or Visa account? Any circumstances in which a 'straight' credit or debit card would be better?

Would it be advisable to set up TWO cards so as to hedge against loss of one, or 'card-declined' episodes and, well just to have a spare as backup?

Any advice gratefully appreciated, and as above sorry if the answer is somewhere within the thread...

KTF

Have a read of this then come back and ask questions:

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

Oldtraveller

KTF wrote: »

Have a read of this then come back and ask questions:


Thanks KTF. Good stuff, all.

In relation to that big US trip, how does a pre-loaded FairFX for cash ($2 withdrawals), and a Halifax Clarity for 'flash-the-plastic-card-payments' sound as a strategy..?

I'm guessing that as a Mastercard, the Clarity would be generally accepted in most places in the States?

Wammer

I've never had a problem using any Mastercard or Visa in the US, apart from when the Nationwide Gold card was blocked as I hadn't advised them I was going abroad. Is was despite their website still clearly stating at the time that there was no need to advise them.

I now advise all my card providers when I am going away, whether I expect to use their card or not.

blimeyjo

Dint make the mistake I did! Ordered from ICICI thinking that this was the cheapest rate. Paid with M & S card and got stung for £25 cash advance fee! Would've been cheaper to order from them direct. Very frustrating... first time I'd actually taken the ime to find the best rate.

KTF

I have used the Clarity card both in the US and Europe with no problems at all. you can 'pre-load' it as well if you want to avoid interest charges for the cash withdrawals.

I dont take any cash with me anymore, just find the nearest ATM when I land and get it there.

Oldtraveller

I have used the Clarity card both in the US and Europe with no problems at all. you can 'pre-load' it as well if you want to avoid interest charges for the cash withdrawals.

I dont take any cash with me anymore, just find the nearest ATM when I land and getutthere.

---

Thanks that, KTF

You say 'Pre-load it', but how d'you reckon they'll react to that when their FAQ's say:
'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.'

And yes, I reckon I can guess how that will be answered, having now had a flavour of the posts on here.

Cheers.

KTF

From experience this isnt checked based on me deliberately pre-loading the card prior to a trip and also Halifax doing it by mistake - adding on the £5 reward payment or taking a direct debit after I had manually made a payment a few days before.

I am aware that it against the t&c but to date it is not enforced. This may or may not change in the future although I doubt it.

Oldtraveller

KTF wrote: »

From experience this isnt checked based on me deliberately pre-loading the card prior to a trip and also Halifax doing it by mistake - adding on the £5 reward payment or taking a direct debit after I had manually made a payment a few days before.

I am aware that it against the t&c but to date it is not enforced. This may or may not change in the future although I doubt it.

---

Thanks again. Might be 'interesting' when I try to pre-load a couple of GRAND onto it - for my ~ 7-week trip. I'll give it a try and report back the outcome...

KTF

I take my netbook with me and drip feed it via instant payments from a Halifax current account when I am away for a couple of weeks.