Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

NiftyDigits

SteveBentley wrote: »

I normally use a Caxton fx card, but I've just moved my current account to Santander and I understand I can use their ATMs in Spain without charge. Any advice on which is likely to be the cheapest option?

Cheers

Santander. As there is no 2.75% conversion charge.

SteveBentley

Perfect, thanks

ukclarkkent

hello all,

can someone please help me with this real life scenario? i'll try and be brief.

i took 465 euros out of a greek atm yesterday (tues) morning using my halifax clarity credit card. i got back to the uk last night (tues) but called halifax call centre this morning (weds) to ask how many £'s that cash advance worked out as. the guy said it was £375 so i paid that much onto my credit card to avoid paying any interest.

but when i asked how i could pay the cash advance specifically no one in the call centre or in my local branch knew if i could do this. a call operator said that i'd have to wait until the entry appears on my transaction list but then i'd incur a few days interest and that would be defeating the object. 1 guy said that the money i paid today would go towards existing transactions.

it felt like i was the 1st person on earth to ask this question and as this was the 1st ever cash advance i'd made (i've made plenty of "normal" credit card transactions abroad) i'm sort of inexperienced.

in the end i've paid £100's more just to clear all of my transactions earlier in the holiday just to get my balance to £0 today but it just sounds like no one in halifax knew the answer.

has anyone got any ideas please?

thanks in advance,
me

NiftyDigits

ukclarkkent wrote: »

hello all,

can someone please help me with this real life scenario? i'll try and be brief.

i took 465 euros out of a greek atm yesterday (tues) morning using my halifax clarity credit card. i got back to the uk last night (tues) but called halifax call centre this morning (weds) to ask how many £'s that cash advance worked out as. the guy said it was £375 so i paid that much onto my credit card to avoid paying any interest.

but when i asked how i could pay the cash advance specifically no one in the call centre or in my local branch knew if i could do this. a call operator said that i'd have to wait until the entry appears on my transaction list but then i'd incur a few days interest and that would be defeating the object. 1 guy said that the money i paid today would go towards existing transactions.

it felt like i was the 1st person on earth to ask this question and as this was the 1st ever cash advance i'd made (i've made plenty of "normal" credit card transactions abroad) i'm sort of inexperienced.

in the end i've paid £100's more just to clear all of my transactions earlier in the holiday just to get my balance to £0 today but it just sounds like no one in halifax knew the answer.

has anyone got any ideas please?

thanks in advance,
me

They won't know the exact amount until it is settled, so he could only give you an approx. figure.
Amount with the highest rate of interest will get paid off first.
But if the interest rates are the same(if you don't have an 0% Interest free period for purchases):

ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS

6.1 We use any payments you make to pay off Transactions that appear on your statement starting with those on which we charge the highest rate of interest, and so on down to the lowest rate of interest. If the payment is not enough to pay off all Transactions at a particular interest rate, we will pay off Transactions charged at that interest rate in the following order:- Cash Withdrawals, Purchases, Balance Transfers and Cheques

dzug1

NiftyDigits wrote: »

They won't know the exact amount until it is settled, so he could only give you an approx. figure.
Amount with the highest rate of interest will get paid off first.
But if the interest rates are the same(if you don't have an 0% Interest free period for purchases):

You didn't embolden this bit:



6.1 We use any payments you make to pay off Transactions that appear on your statement


So if the cash advance hasn't appeared on a monthly statement, it won't get repaid until items that have, have.

Brian123

I have one of these which was used succesfully a couple of years ago but didn't realise there were charges for inactivity.
Should I try to reload this card or will I be hit with deductions if I do.

Also anyone have any experiences of the difference in acceptance between Mastercard and Visa Electron ie: Thomas Cook and Tesco.
The Tesco one operated by Cardwiz seems to be Travelex anyway

Kernow666

Brian123 wrote: »

I have one of these which was used succesfully a couple of years ago but didn't realise there were charges for inactivity.
Should I try to reload this card or will I be hit with deductions if I do.

Also anyone have any experiences of the difference in acceptance between Mastercard and Visa Electron ie: Thomas Cook and Tesco.
The Tesco one operated by Cardwiz seems to be Travelex anyway

the tesco one had a monthly inactivity fee as you said , it will take out €3/$3.50 every month after 12months until its reloaded or runs out of money , if you have nothing on there it cant take it off , if you reload after say 18months/2years you wont be hit with any extra fees

the tesco one is indeed run by travelex , same as the sainsburys/asda ones

Brian123

Thanks, the card I had/still have was direct from Travelex so presumably the statement about not being hit by charges if I reload it still applies.

It just occured to me that getting a new card and cancelling this one might be a better option.

The new card option allows for paying cash onto the card in the local high street which is not possible on the original.

MrMoonface

I am slightly confused by all this... some advice please!?

I am normally the type of person to change money and take cash abroad but I feel that it may be a bit silly (and risky!).

I am going away 3 times between now and October all to Eurozone destinations.

I only have a Lloyds Debit Card and Barclaycard. I was looking at Prepaid cards and taking the Credit card for emergencies. I would doubt I could get a new credit card so that option seems to be out.

I have looked at a Pre-paid Post Office Card but not sure this is the best deal. I doubt i'd be putting more than £500 at a time either.

Thanks in advance!

NiftyDigits

MrMoonface wrote: »

I am slightly confused by all this... some advice please!?

I am normally the type of person to change money and take cash abroad but I feel that it may be a bit silly (and risky!).

I am going away 3 times between now and October all to Eurozone destinations.

I only have a Lloyds Debit Card and Barclaycard. I was looking at Prepaid cards and taking the Credit card for emergencies. I would doubt I could get a new credit card so that option seems to be out.

I have looked at a Pre-paid Post Office Card but not sure this is the best deal. I doubt i'd be putting more than £500 at a time either.

Thanks in advance!

If in or near London, a Metro Bank Debit card...and their CC if you can get one. You'll may be able to walk out with the Debit card within an hour.

If not;

Kalixa Pay Prepaid Mastercard is unbeatable for when it comes to purchases. No charges levied at all.
Compare their(Kalixa Pay) offered rates (Your currency is GBP)
For withdrawals it has a flat fee of £2.25 when abroad, so take out a decent chunk each time.
The equivalent of £100 will cost out at 2.25%. £200, 1.5%, £300, 0.75%
Considering that other currency cards shave 2% to 3% off the exchange rate, it's easy to see that you can match or better them when it comes to withdrawing cash.