Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

cinereus

So after trying 14 different banks, it turns out even Citibank now charge ~90 ARS for ATM withdrawals in Argentina. The fee is approx £4.50 and the maximum withdrawal is about £100 making it an appalling rate. Xoom and other alternatives charge about 3-4% but are less convenient.

I specifically use Halifax Clarity and pre-paid cards to avoid issues like this. Are there really no alternatives?

How do you withdraw cash in Argentina without being hit with huge fees?!

Snapelover

iereboy wrote: »

Post office credit card is free to use abroad. No charges!

So say we apply for and take one of these on holiday in May to Rhodes, we pay for car hire, say 60 euros, all it would cost us would be the equivalent in GBP when we arrive home to pay the card off? No interest on top?

cinereus

cinereus wrote: »

So after trying 14 different banks, it turns out even Citibank now charge ~90 ARS for ATM withdrawals in Argentina. The fee is approx £4.50 and the maximum withdrawal is about £100 making it an appalling rate. Xoom and other alternatives charge about 3-4% but are less convenient.

I specifically use Halifax Clarity and pre-paid cards to avoid issues like this. Are there really no alternatives?

How do you withdraw cash in Argentina without being hit with huge fees?!

I guess there is no solution whatsoever for one of the biggest countries in this continent then. Bummer.

Sunshine_and_Roses

I need some advice on pre-paid currency cards please. I would only use them for euros, and mainly at ATM machines rather than in shops and restaurants.

I have previously used tesco cash passport and the titanium card from the money shop, but both now charge for ATM transactions.

I don't want to carry around too much cash, so these cards used to be ideal, but don't want to pay money each time I use them.

Are there any cards that don't charge? I believe Asda don't, but I don't have one near me.

Thanks for your help.

eDicky

clareski wrote: »

I have previously used tesco cash passport and the titanium card from the money shop, but both now charge for ATM transactions.

I don't want to carry around too much cash, so these cards used to be ideal, but don't want to pay money each time I use them.

There is hefty exchange rate loading in addition to charges for ATM use on the cards you have been using, so they were far from ideal. See the MSE advice:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-travel-cards

manulike

My apologies, if this has already been addressed here.

I have just applied for FairFx Prepaid Travel Card (Euro) using the MSE link and very happy with my £20 - thanks!
Question I have is, will it be possible to get cash advances / money-back from big supermarkets in FRANCE. And, if so, will that be free of charge or will FairFx still charge me €1.50 as if I did that at an ATM machine?

Otherwise, are there any ways of getting CASH on a Travel Card without attracting the €1.50 ATM fee. I noticed that the FairFx bank walk-in/cashier use fee is actually €6.50...

As I live in Cardiff, Wales - the nearest branch of Metro Bank is over 100 miles away!

Thanks!

dj1471

manulike wrote: »

Question I have is, will it be possible to get cash advances / money-back from big supermarkets in FRANCE. And, if so, will that be free of charge or will FairFx still charge me €1.50 as if I did that at an ATM machine?

It's a credit card so you can't get cashback. If you want to withdraw cash then you have applied for the wrong card...

NiftyDigits

dj1471 wrote: »

It's a credit card so you can't get cashback. If you want to withdraw cash then you have applied for the wrong card...

They thought they'd got one over by getting £20. The fact is that at the very least, around £12.35 of that was eaten by the exchange rate differential. The more they loaded initially, the higher the increase.
Perversely, it pays to load the minimum of £600. Then at least you have around £6.50 to cover your ATM withdrawals.
Nothing wrong with FairFx. A decent company. But they need to turn a profit.

manulike

Forgive me, but I am now confused. The card I applied for yesterday was FairFx Prepaid Travel Card (Euro). I had the impression that this may be used as a regular credit-card for purchases, but is meant to be used as a substitute for CASH - in the same way that Traveler's Cheques once were?

My intention was to use my Halifax Clarity where possible, and to only use the FairFx Travel Card when I need cash.

My real hope, was to use it to get free cash advances from merchants in France (hoping that big supermarkets or department stores might do it - in the same way that UK store allow debit card users here to have cash-back when buying something in-store).

Is there such a Travel Card that somehow allows FREE cash withdrawals (from ATM or otherwise?)

Again, many thanks for your patience with me!

Clare_cb

On MSE's advice, I have a Halifax Clarity card. However, on many of my recent holidays to European tourist destinations; Lanzarote, Corfu, Fuerteventura, the exchange rate in the local booze shop has been far better. In future, we'll take a couple of hundred £s to exchange for Euros as well as the card.