Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

NiftyDigits

geckofabulous wrote: »

I'm going to Japan in a few weeks and so credit card or a debit card is not really an option. Has anyone got any recommendations, as I've tried the TravelMoneyMaximiser and haven't been too impressed by it in terms of accuracy

If in London, Metro Bank can issue a same day debit card. Otherwise Cash Passport Globe is one of the best value prepaid cards and can be picked up within four hours or ordering.
Be aware that not all ATMs in Japan will accept foreign cards. Look out for ATMs outside 7/11 shops.

iabw12

I have a Santander Zero card which is good. However, looking at the weekly email today, I see that it charges 29.9% cash withdrawal interest. WHAT! So If I withdraw (for example) 100 euros whilst I'm in Spain, I'll get charged 130 euros in total. Is this right:(???

zagfles

iabw12 wrote: »

I have a Santander Zero card which is good. However, looking at the weekly email today, I see that it charges 29.9% cash withdrawal interest. WHAT! So If I withdraw (for example) 100 euros whilst I'm in Spain, I'll get charged 130 euros in total. Is this right:(???

No that's the annual rate. Monthly rate is 2.2%.

bouicca21

I am going to Australia later this year. Looking at the advice on this site I understand that a new credit card with no overseas loading would be a good idea. But I shall also need access to actual cash since I have no idea how much I'll spend in readies.

I always pay off monthly, so have no balance to transfer. I'm attracted by the cashback offer on Acqua but not to the ATM withdrawal penalty. Halifax Clarity looks good for ATM withdrawals.

So maybe I should get both? But does applying for 2 new credit cards mean I'll knock my credit score?

John_Pierpoint

Make sure the cash back applies to foreign spending.

zagfles

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Make sure the cash back applies to foreign spending.

It does, see the cheap travel money link above.

murphydavid

KTF wrote: »

Yes, as per the t&c you cant but there is no block in place that prevents you from doing so.

Sometimes they even do it themselves when they apply the £5 'reward' payment and I have yet to have any returned.

I'm interested: Please can you tell me if you have done it and if so in what way it was financialy advantageous? Also what do I do to get a £5.00 reward I only have the clarity card and have never had a reward?
I'm not sure but am I correct: When I use mine overseas (USA) I use it to shop rather than get cash and there is a grace period for paying off in full so no interest. I do of course also use the atm probably max $600 in one trip but pay this off within a week of taking it out and seem to get charged a couple of £s interest.
By the way I have noticed that all the ATMs I use in the USA that used to be free now seem to charge so its getting harder.
The real reason I paid a visit here was to see what the Halifax were getting up to. With my bill came an advanced warning for 26th Nov of change of t&c saying they now intend to describe foreign transaction rates as 'payment scheme exchange rate' I think that at the moment they describe it as the Interbank (official) exchange rate. I found this site

https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/index.html

Anyone know if this is the one they will use in future? As far as I can tell it is the same as the Interbank (official) exchange rate so if so no worries. Need to keep an eye on it just in case it is some other devious move. Also is there a possibilty the 'Interbank (official) exchange rate' could diverge from the 'payment scheme exchange rate' at some point?

KTF

I currently have a positive balance on my Clarity card (for a few months now) as I made a manual payment then they took the direct debit anyway.

The main advantage is that you dont pay any interest on the cash you take out as you are using the positive balance rather.

There were 2 versions of the card initially. The Clarity and Clarity Reward which gave you £5 back if you spent £300(ish) a month on the card.

You are correct in that you will not pay interest on purchases if the bill is paid on time.

I believe that the exchange rate will be the same (interbank one) but they will use a new phrase to describe it.

Suanlum

KTF wrote: »

I currently have a positive balance on my Clarity card (for a few months now) as I made a manual payment then they took the direct debit anyway.

The main advantage is that you dont pay any interest on the cash you take out as you are using the positive balance rather.

There were 2 versions of the card initially. The Clarity and Clarity Reward which gave you £5 back if you spent £300(ish) a month on the card.

You are correct in that you will not pay interest on purchases if the bill is paid on time.

I believe that the exchange rate will be the same (interbank one) but they will use a new phrase to describe it.

Hi,
got my clarity today and when I phoned to activate it I asked all the questions raised here.
1. You cannot preload the card but you can make a payment to the card up to the current balance outstanding even if this is before your statement date.Any attempt to avoid paying interest by preloading will result in the payment being returned.
2. The exchange rate used is the Mastercard rate(as per the link above)
at the time the transaction hits your account(as described above)
The reward card isn't widely advertised but we have a reward saver current account with Halifax so they switched our "standard" clarity to a reward clarity I only get the fiver if I spend £300 in amonth and I continue to meet the requirements of the reward current account.You only get the fiver once so spending £600 doesn't get £6.I guess you need to ask if you want the Reward Clarity"
Cheers

murphydavid

Suanlum wrote: »

Hi,
got my clarity today and when I phoned to activate it I asked all the questions raised here.
1. You cannot preload the card but you can make a payment to the card up to the current balance outstanding even if this is before your statement date.Any attempt to avoid paying interest by preloading will result in the payment being returned.
2. The exchange rate used is the Mastercard rate(as per the link above)
at the time the transaction hits your account(as described above)
The reward card isn't widely advertised but we have a reward saver current account with Halifax so they switched our "standard" clarity to a reward clarity I only get the fiver if I spend £300 in a month and I continue to meet the requirements of the reward current account.You only get the fiver once so spending £600 doesn't get £6.I guess you need to ask if you want the Reward Clarity"
Cheers

I had a look at Halifax web site and found it difficult to follow. I did determine that you can't get your Clarity card upgraded to a Reward Clarity card unless you open a Reward Current account (that requires pay in £1000 a month). To make that effort worth while for me I would need to swap my current account from my current provider to them. As I need to write the odd cheque

Do you know:
Does the Halifax Reward Current Account give you free cheque book's?
I presume you get the £5.00 a month reward added to the Current account just by paying in the £1000 a month so do you then get an additional £5.00 by spending £300 a month on the clarity reward card (ie thats £10 reward in one month).