Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

amyzing

My honeymoon is booked and we are jetting off to Thailand on 13 July :j. With the current price dip I would like to take advantage and buy my currency. From what I can see pre paid cards don't cover Thailand, so i have no idea where to go from here! I don't want to be carrying cash.

I have a Nationwide bank account and Halifax bank account. I also have Tesco and MBNA credit cards. Can anyone help me??

NiftyDigits

iabw12 wrote: »

I have a (standard) Barclays Visa which I use here in the UK, I just wasn't sure if I should go for another "best" overseas card. It's currently 0% interest but I assume that would go out the window abroad??

Why do you assume such a thing? If it is 0% for purchases for a period, it does not matter where the purchase is made.
So any interest you pay will be on cash withdrawals, at around 2% per month.
All International transactions will have a separate 2.99% levy.

wdhawkins

I received an interesting email from Santander this morning:

Dear ...,

We’d like to let you know about a new exclusive benefit for you as a Santander Select customer. You now no longer pay foreign transaction fees when you use your 1I2I3 Credit Card for purchases abroad.

All you need to do is, make sure you choose the local currency option when using your card abroad. If you choose sterling, it means that the retailer will handle the conversion and may charge you a fee.

And that’s not all, with summer just around the corner, we are also giving you 1% bonus cashback when you use your 1I2I3 Credit Card to pay for flights, hotels or at travel agents between 1 June and 31 August 2014. See below for more details.

Admitedly, this offer appears to be only available to "Select" cutomers, but if you are using your Santander 123 current account as a savings vehicle, you may well be given that status by Santander if your balance remains high for a period.

murphydavid

wdhawkins wrote: »

I received an interesting email from Santander this morning:

Dear ...,

We’d like to let you know about a new exclusive benefit for you as a Santander Select customer. You now no longer pay foreign transaction fees when you use your 1I2I3 Credit Card for purchases abroad.

All you need to do is, make sure you choose the local currency option when using your card abroad. If you choose sterling, it means that the retailer will handle the conversion and may charge you a fee.

And that’s not all, with summer just around the corner, we are also giving you 1% bonus cashback when you use your 1I2I3 Credit Card to pay for flights, hotels or at travel agents between 1 June and 31 August 2014. See below for more details.

Admitedly, this offer appears to be only available to "Select" cutomers, but if you are using your Santander 123 current account as a savings vehicle, you may well be given that status by Santander if your balance remains high for a period.

Why do they do that? Only give one element of the possible bottom line. Before using a credit card abroad you need to know the fees and the exchange rate differential. One without the other is meaningless.

Kernow666

dzug1 wrote: »

Looks as though you never got a reply to this - mine would have been that you are very unlikely to find anywhere willing to do it. Possibly your own bank if you are personally known there.


Did you ever find anywhere?

travelex money bureaus within tesco/asda/sainsburys will take them back , i know as i work for one of them and we take them back , expect it to be scrutinized though :rotfl:

NiftyDigits

wdhawkins wrote: »

I received an interesting email from Santander this morning:

Dear ...,

We’d like to let you know about a new exclusive benefit for you as a Santander Select customer. You now no longer pay foreign transaction fees when you use your 1I2I3 Credit Card for purchases abroad.

All you need to do is, make sure you choose the local currency option when using your card abroad. If you choose sterling, it means that the retailer will handle the conversion and may charge you a fee.

And that’s not all, with summer just around the corner, we are also giving you 1% bonus cashback when you use your 1I2I3 Credit Card to pay for flights, hotels or at travel agents between 1 June and 31 August 2014. See below for more details.

Admitedly, this offer appears to be only available to "Select" cutomers, but if you are using your Santander 123 current account as a savings vehicle, you may well be given that status by Santander if your balance remains high for a period.

They use the VISA/Mastercard rate.

Non-Sterling Transaction Fee:
2.95% of transaction.

Now it seems that they are waiving the Non-Sterling Transaction Fee for some customers.

Perhaps they should update their website.

JEG78

I just wanted to share my shocking experience at the hands of Fair FX which is currently unresolved. I ordered some Euros online for a holiday over two weeks ago paying for the 'signed for, next day delivery'. The currency never arrived and I have been in touch with Fair FX almost daily since then. Whilst they have admitted the currency has gone astray there is no ownership and they keep passing the blame to Royal Mail when it is they who have failed to provide the goods which I purchased.
When I explained I was about to go on holiday and hadn't go the cash I had paid for they just suggested sourcing some from somewhere else - good job I had access to savings to pay a second time, but many wouldn't have this option.
Since I have returned from holiday this matter has still not been resolved (nor does it seem to have been progressed in my absence) I'm told 'Fair FX can't raise a complaint with Royal Mail until 10 working days have passed' - they have & then 'Royal Mail have a further 10 days to conduct an investigation' - what is their to investigate? the tracking shows the package reaching a regional sorting office and never going any further - logical conclusion is it was stolen otherwise it would have turned up by now.
They have no concept of customer service or ownership of the issue. They can see the currency has not been delivered and is highly unlikey to do so now - over two weeks after it was due. I am out of pocket and out of patience.
Contacting the company is very problematic as trying to find a phone number is difficult and calls often go unanswered, emails are met with a bland response of 'its being looked into'. To make matters worse after the fees for signed for delivery etc. the rate was worse than I could get at my local Post Office.
I would strongly recommend users think twice before using this Far FX based on my experience - I for one will not be using them again.

murphydavid

JEG78 - Sounds awful. You don't say if you have tried contacting Royal Mail direct? If you have their tracking number and can track it as far as a particular Royal Mail depot then no delivery signature, I presume that information has been provided to you by Royal Mail which leaves them culpable I would say.

sjg666

JEG78 wrote: »

I just wanted to share my shocking experience at the hands of Fair FX which is currently unresolved. I ordered some Euros online for a holiday over two weeks ago paying for the 'signed for, next day delivery'. The currency never arrived and I have been in touch with Fair FX almost daily since then. Whilst they have admitted the currency has gone astray there is no ownership and they keep passing the blame to Royal Mail when it is they who have failed to provide the goods which I purchased.
When I explained I was about to go on holiday and hadn't go the cash I had paid for they just suggested sourcing some from somewhere else - good job I had access to savings to pay a second time, but many wouldn't have this option.
Since I have returned from holiday this matter has still not been resolved (nor does it seem to have been progressed in my absence) I'm told 'Fair FX can't raise a complaint with Royal Mail until 10 working days have passed' - they have & then 'Royal Mail have a further 10 days to conduct an investigation' - what is their to investigate? the tracking shows the package reaching a regional sorting office and never going any further - logical conclusion is it was stolen otherwise it would have turned up by now.
They have no concept of customer service or ownership of the issue. They can see the currency has not been delivered and is highly unlikey to do so now - over two weeks after it was due. I am out of pocket and out of patience.
Contacting the company is very problematic as trying to find a phone number is difficult and calls often go unanswered, emails are met with a bland response of 'its being looked into'. To make matters worse after the fees for signed for delivery etc. the rate was worse than I could get at my local Post Office.
I would strongly recommend users think twice before using this Far FX based on my experience - I for one will not be using them again.

Thanks for your story... I ordered a prepaid currency card with £250 (E300ish) on 27th May and it hasn't arrived yet. To be fair their confirmation email does say "Typically our cards arrived within five working days but they can take up to ten days to arrive." but I don't see why it would take 10 days! Getting a bit concerned now!

I only chose them over the Post Office card as it was recommended on here. At least with a currency card I can "withdraw" the cash on my online account but I'm not impressed that I'll lose out on the returning exchange rate if I have to do that!

ATNotts

sjg666

Just had a bad experience with ICICI Bank when trying to register for with them to buy € 1000.00

Despite putting all the correct contact details into the registration form I was refused as they couldn't verify me through their money laundering database. Makes me feel like a criminal, and frankly their Indian based call centre (at least they are an Indian Bank!!) was useless and basically take the stance that if their website doesn't like me - then i can't trade with them.

I'm sure I can't be the only user who's experienced this nonsense and I would hope the Moneysavingexpert may consider removing them from the website.

From your experience I'm reluctant to use Fair FX either!!