Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

hairygrape

I hope I'm not making a stupid mistake, but when I try and purchase the supposedly free Cash Passport Globe, the Travelex website says the cost is 1000 GBP, yes £1,000! Has anyone else encountered this issue or does anyone know how to get around it? I am quite confused...

KTF

If you click on the amount on the 'Options for your order' page you can change it to whatever you want.

NiftyDigits

hairygrape wrote: »

I hope I'm not making a stupid mistake, but when I try and purchase the supposedly free Cash Passport Globe, the Travelex website says the cost is 1000 GBP, yes £1,000! Has anyone else encountered this issue or does anyone know how to get around it? I am quite confused...

You just have to click on the £1000 amount, which will open this box:

You can change the amount there. Leave everything else alone.

hairygrape

thanks for the replies, seems it was me being simple.

annoying that they charge a £2 admin fee unless you put on over £100, then £4 for delivery unless you put on over £500 - think i will suck up the £4 delivery, all the collection points are awkward to get to.

i live in london and have seen the metro bank debit card being recommended. is it free to obtain? what are its advantages/disadvantages over the globe card? i was considering getting both.

these are for a backpacking trip across asia which begins in a few weeks... i can't wait!

Losinmoney

I have a FairFX card with about 700 dollars on it, from an earlier trip when I couldn't access it for most of the holiday due to entering the Pin number wrong and getting it blocked! I got it sorted mostly by email and only one short costly phonecall to establish my ID. But I didn't get all the money spent.

I'm off to China next. I know I can use the FairFX US$ card in cash machines there, but then I'm paying 2 lots of exchange fees, UK£ to US$ then US$ to Chinese currency.

Has anyone any helpful ideas for what best to do, other than going to America again or another country whose currency is the dollar (??Bermuda..any others??), to make best use of this card?

KTF

hairygrape wrote: »

i live in london and have seen the metro bank debit card being recommended. is it free to obtain? what are its advantages/disadvantages over the globe card? i was considering getting both.

these are for a backpacking trip across asia which begins in a few weeks... i can't wait!

Metrobank is just another 'high street' bank and the card is attached to a current account. Its free top open like any other bank account.

It gives you the best rate you can get with no loading anywhere in the world so if you are near a branch its much better than the Travelex card.

NiftyDigits

hairygrape wrote: »

thanks for the replies, seems it was me being simple.

annoying that they charge a £2 admin fee unless you put on over £100, then £4 for delivery unless you put on over £500 - think i will suck up the £4 delivery, all the collection points are awkward to get to.

i live in london and have seen the metro bank debit card being recommended. is it free to obtain? what are its advantages/disadvantages over the globe card? i was considering getting both.

these are for a backpacking trip across asia which begins in a few weeks... i can't wait!

As KTF has mentioned....get down to Metro Bank with your relevant ID and some cash and open an account and get your card on the spot. It is the best debit card for travel, along with N&P's offering.

If you have already ordered the GLOBE card, it is still a useful card as a backup. Hope you ticked to receive the free extra card.

hairygrape

thank you very much for the clear advice you have both kindly given me.

i haven't aplied for either yet/ i think i will apply for both so I have more than one option/a backup if something goes awry. will definitely tick to recieve the free extra backup card, thanks for that pointer ND.

zagfles

hairygrape wrote: »

thank you very much for the clear advice you have both kindly given me.

i haven't aplied for either yet/ i think i will apply for both so I have more than one option/a backup if something goes awry. will definitely tick to recieve the free extra backup card, thanks for that pointer ND.

If you have time it'd be better to have a credit card like the Clarity as backup - then you don't need to tie up any money, as you would with a pre-paid card. Also it's likely to be cheaper.

ellielovesem

Hi All

I was recently in Paris and made an ATM withdrawal at a BNP branch with my Nationwide debit card. When I got back I checked my statement and was horrified to see how much I had been charged for this! I had wrongly thought that withdrawals in Europe were free but having checked the Nationwide website I see they are charging 2% plus £1 across the board. I'm sure I would have received a letter about this but it must have passed me by :cool:

Of course I have now learnt a valuable lesson but was wondering if anyone knows when Nationwide brought these new charges in? Just curious mainly.

Thanks!