Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

karmachilovething

Hi,
I'm off on around the world trip for 5 weeks in September/October, and my plan was to take the Aqua card for card purchese and a Travelex for cash. I will be going through several currancies (US/NZ/AUS $s) which is why the Travelex seems the best option.

[although klint's post about barclaycard cash withdrawls will have me checking the T&C on my old "emergency" card tonight . . . ]

BUT, I'm confused about the load currencies. Do you load in the home currancy (GBP) of the debit card bank account? Or should I pick a currency to buy when I upload, eg. US$? But will the second option mean I'm being charged by my bank account for "purchasing" forign currency? And if I upload in one currency currency (say US$ or GBP) what effect does that have when I withdraw as another (NZ$ for example)?

Does that all make sense even?!
Thanks,
KarmaChi

NiftyDigits

karmachilovething wrote: »

Hi,
I'm off on around the world trip for 5 weeks in September/October, and my plan was to take the Aqua card for card purchese and a Travelex for cash. I will be going through several currancies (US/NZ/AUS $s) which is why the Travelex seems the best option.

[although klint's post about barclaycard cash withdrawls will have me checking the T&C on my old "emergency" card tonight . . . ]

BUT, I'm confused about the load currencies. Do you load in the home currancy (GBP) of the debit card bank account? Or should I pick a currency to buy when I upload, eg. US$? But will the second option mean I'm being charged by my bank account for "purchasing" forign currency? And if I upload in one currency currency (say US$ or GBP) what effect does that have when I withdraw as another (NZ$ for example)?

Does that all make sense even?!
Thanks,
KarmaChi

Have you actually looked at the website??

Cash Passport Globe is a MasterCard® prepaid card designed to save you money on your overseas spending.

The card can be loaded with British Pounds which are then converted to the local currency when you use it abroad.

Mastercard rate minus 1.49% for any currency. Purchase or ATM withdrawal.

robwild

Hi, I got stung with bank charges when buying from Moneycorp on my last trip. Do any of the providers giving the better rates allow one to order online or by phone and pay cash on collection?

twisterfreak

I currently have £1000 worth of Turkish Lira.
Today i have £650 that will be assigned to the holiday.
I will have another £600 next pay day.
I will also have about £1400 in my Santander Account (due to being paid while im in Turkey)
I am torn between buying a Pre-Paid card, and just taking sterling.
The reason i'm torn is because the last time i paid for currency i got charged by Santander.
I'd happily take a Pre-Paid card if i could take £650 cash and just pay for it, and not have to pay Santander anything.
Or maybe i should buy £650 worth of Euro's and take those with me.
Aaaaarrggghh!!:eek:

Any Help
Darren

KTF

With 7 weeks to go, apply for the Halifax Clarity card then you dont have to take cash with you.

lfc84

this site isnt in the MSE list

http://www.raphaelsbank.com/foreign-exchange/index.html

NiftyDigits

lfc84 wrote: »

this site isnt in the MSE list

http://www.raphaelsbank.com/foreign-exchange/index.html

Is there a reason as to why it should be?

PHIL.B_7

scarlet_macaw wrote: »

As a regular traveller, I have always thought the cheapest way to fund overseas travelling would be to get a foreign currency account with debit card facilities and fund it using "wholesale rate" transfers. The only problem is finding the banks that will offer this service as the main UK provider, Citibank, requires high minimum balances.

Does anyone know which foreign banks will provide a full banking service to non residents (possibly an idea for an article here). At present I am particularly intersted in the Eurozone, US Dollar and NZ Dollar accounts.

We have just returned from Orlando with 5 of us having the FairFX card loaded in dollars,fine to use as a debit card,couldn`t find an ATM in 14 days you could withdraw from!!!!
Won`t be taking again.!!

Jigsawn

So I've checked out the useful MoneySavingExpert pages on travel cards but I'm still unclear as to what the cheapest option is for withdrawing cash from ATMs abroad - bearing in mind I'll be in multiple countries across SE Asia, Australia and more.

What are the cheapest card options for withdrawing cash from ATMs abroad - including hidden fees? I was going to get a pre-paid card but it seems like the ATM fees are on a par with debit cards. Currently I only have a standard Halifax debit card (horrible rates), and a Halifax Clarity card. I was going to leave the standard Hali debit card at home, but then I still need another card or two for backups in case the Clarity is lost/stolen.

The Clarity which I already have, has a reasonable charge rate for ATMs but is there still a cheaper option? Note that I don't have any bank accounts apart from Halifax at the moment, nor do I have time to set up a new account with a new bank before I go.

Finally on the lovemoney webiste, it makes the AA Worldwide Travel Currency Card sound like a great option on its comparison table - no withdrawal fee if you withdraw over $50. Too good to be true?!

Thanks for any advice!

KTF

The Clarity is the cheapest option as you get the inter bank exchange rate with no loading.

If you pre-load it before you go or pay it off as soon as you take some money out then you can minimise the interest charge as well.