Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

JeffreyWood08

Hi,
What would be the best way to withdraw around £200 each month in Russia, currently we use an MBNA credit card and pay it off as soon as a transation as been posted.

pennystretcher

I use the Nationwide Flex account to withdraw money when I'm abroad. They do not charge a separate withdrawal fee (ATM withdrawals only), so I would recommend that one. I only load up the account before my holiday. I have been very happy with the card and it makes managing my holiday budget much easier.

If you use credit cards abroad, Nationwide credit card doesn't charge extra for the usage abroad.

Check with Nationwide in case they have changed the terms and conditions on these...

hippomaples

benfowler wrote: »

Hi

I travelling to thailand in june but im a bit confused wether to buy my thai baht now before the pound becomes any weaker. Does anyone now or have any experience on what i should do?

Thanks

Ben

Its been hideous watching the baht during the last few months, it went from 65 to 47, so difficult. It is now 48 if you buy in the UK and 54 if you change in Thailand via sterling travellers cheques. I always change in Thailand as the exchange rate is so much better but I suggest watch the baht daily and if it goes over 55 in the UK change. I dont think it will drop anymore as its really at rock bottom now. It went to 55 during the PAD airport take over so if Thailand has anymore civil unrest that would be the time to buy. Thailand is an export country so they need to keep this flowing and if the baht gets too strong against the £ we will choose to import goods from other countries. The Thai tourist industry is also feeling the pinch so resorts and hotels are dropping "specials" into their prices so bargains are still to be had.
The king has subsidised the fuel , just paid 19 baht (36p) per litre so everything is still cheap in Thailand even at 54 baht/£. Travellers cheques always get a better exchange rate in Thailand than anything else. Hope this helps and doesnt confuse you more. Pat

mitsumike

If I use my debit card in UK, I regularly get asked if I require cashback.
Does the same thing happen in France? If so would Visa be aware that I had received cashback and levy additional charges?
Is this a way of obtaining local currency when abroad?

Thanks MM.

rebeccak

I want to get some Icelandic Krona for my holiday and I've found a site that seems to have a good exchange rate. However, it states this:

"However, please note that if paying by credit/debit card, transactions for the purchase of foreign currency and/or travellers cheques will/may be treated as cash advances by your card issuer, for which a charge will/might be levied. This is NOT a charge by Currency Express and we have no control over and have no liability for such charges. No such charge will be levied when payment is made by Switch debit card."

I've got a couple of questions.

Firstly, my card used to be a Switch and then changed to a Maestro and I thought that Maestro was just the new name for Switch. Is that the case or have I no longer got a Switch debit card?

Secondly, I understand that credit cards charge for cash advances but is it normal for debit cards to do so (as they are cards you would normally use to withdraw money, without any additional fees)? My bank is one of the ones that the article lists as really bad for adding lots of additional charges when you withdraw cash abroad (which is why I want to take the cash with me). However, am I just getting charged the same for using the card to buy currency in the UK as I would withdrawing it from an ATM when I get there?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

forexmoney

Maybe the convenient way to spend money abroad is by using credit card. And then just pay it in cash as soon as u got home to avoid interest.

dougz_2

I am confused by the link below. It was posted earlier as being the underlying exchange rate, before loading, for VISA debit cards such as Nationwide. However I have been watching it for a couple of days and it never seems to change. Even stranger is the fact it is saying 1 GBP buys 1.47 USD, which looks way to good to be true, considering the actual rate is around 1.41 USD at the moment?
see http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_results.jsp?from=GBP&to=USD&rate=0.0

So does anyone know how to find out what their actual VISA debit exchange rate is, and also what rate you would get for any refund back to the card in USD?
Same questions go for Mastercard/Maestro cards if anyone knows?
Or do you have to just wait to get your bank statement to find out how much the banks secretly ripped you off?
Basically I am trying to work out which is cheapest to make card purchases in USD, a Nationwide debit card, or a Fairfx USD card? Thanks

WillBFC

PLEASE HELP!

I am visiting Argentina - Chile - New Zealand - Australia - Singapore in just over a month's time, but am having massive problems getting hold of some decent plastic to get myself around the world with. Unfortunately I've only just left University and having only worked temp. jobs and other assorted short-term money making solutions Nationwide have decided to turn me down. I've not tried Abbey but I assume it would be the same story, especially as I'm unlikely to work again before I go so don't technically have a job at present.

So, to combat this I've been looking at pre-paid credit cards. But, and please I'm very ignorant on these matters so don't hesitate to tell me I'm wrong, I understand that FairFX and Caxton are both only euros and US dollars? I really am a little lost with this idea, I assume I can still use them in countries outside the US and those countries with the euro but I won't receive nearly such a competitive rate of exchange?

Secondly does anyone know anything about the STA Travel mastercard, it's not featured on MSE anywhere as far as I can see so I'm guessing it's not massively competitive!?

Would anyone have advice for what I should do for the best? I can't go without some sort of electronic payment, preferably Mastercard/VISA, as I currently only hold a Switch/Maestro HSBC card. Would I be best of just cutting my loses and going for a pre-paid credit card and take whatever strings come attached, or would anyone know of any alternatives?

dougz_2

WillBFC wrote: »

I understand that FairFX and Caxton are both only euros and US dollars? I really am a little lost with this idea, I assume I can still use them in countries outside the US and those countries with the euro but I won't receive nearly such a competitive rate of exchange?

Fairfx FAQ says you can use it for other countries spends which will get the underlying Mastercard exchange rate (whatever that is - see my question above) with zero additional fee. Which sounds as good as an Abbey Zero. However you will have already lost out at fairfx rate of converting to the dollars or euros when prepaying the card in the first place however reasonable that was.

So it might be cheaper to use one of the multitude of sterling prepaid cards (like the one you mentioned) if their exchange rates are reasonable. Be warned there are many such cards boasting 0% fee for foreign use but the actual exchange rate is so bad they are obviously sneakily raking it in that way instead. As to the STA card, their terms say their exchange rates are published on the website, but I can't find them there which probably suggests it is just another hidden rip-off like the rest :mad:

PS: I don't know how Martin can recommend the Travelex card is 0% worldwide when it says this hidden in the terms. Looks horribly like 5.75% to me...

5.8 If a Card transaction or ATM withdrawal is made in a currency other than that loaded on the
Card the amount will be converted into the currency of the Card. The exchange rate used for the
conversion is the wholesale market rate or the government mandated rate determined by Visa in
effect the day the transaction is processed, increased by 5.75 %.

Jacquiesce

Hi everyone, looking for some advice.
I am off to Spain in 3 weeks time to stay in my mums villa and will probably be having a few short trips and hols there throughout the rest of the year. I don't have a very good credit rating so would prob get knocked back from getting a credit card or one of the Nationwide or Abbey bank accounts mentioned. Am thinking my best bet would be to get a pre-pay card, probably Post Office Travel card or other ??
Is the PO card the best to get in regard to ATM fees and exchange rate?
All the percentages and figures been reading around here has got my head pickled !!