Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

Kernow666

loz1959 wrote: »

Hello All, firstly, apologies if I'm posting this to the wrong area !! I have now received my Travelex Supercard, and have linked my two debit cards to it, the one I will mainly use one is a Co-Operative Bank card. The secondary card is a Lloyds card. Can anyone confirm that if I use my Supercard in the USA, I won't be charged ANY fees by either bank, other than for ATM withdrawals ? Many thanks in advance !

your correct only ATM fees

Kernow666

Molly01902 wrote: »

Can anyone advise how I can transfer money from my bank account onto my daughters Sainsbury Cash Passport. She's volunteering in a township near Durban and has run out of money - she didn't take her debit card as we thought the cash passport would be safer but I'm finding it impossible to load money onto her card! Any advice much appreciated. Thank you

what ways have you used


did she get a secondary card ? if so you can reload in bureau
you can also load online & over the phone

alan_p_brown

jey.ph16 wrote: »

Help please should I pay my hotel in euros or sterling ?

Rule of thumb is to pay in the local currency. This way, currency conversion uses the card's rate (just try and use one of the MSE preferred cards, such as Halifax Clarity).
If you pay in Sterling then they could be using any rate they want. If you can, try to do the calculation, their rate against the card's current rate (and loadings). But bear in mind, that if you cannot actually work it out, they may just be trying to confuse you into a poorer rate (in the past, I have made that mistake and had some poor rates).
Recently, I always note the rate they offer but always my Halifax Clarity. Later, at home, I check the rates and the Clarity has always proven to be the correct choice.

Poosy

Hi, my teenage son is going to Zimbabwe for a month. Any advice on how he can get the best exchange rate securely?

eDicky

Poosy wrote: »

Hi, my teenage son is going to Zimbabwe for a month. Any advice on how he can get the best exchange rate securely?

Zimbabwe is currently close to economic collapse. Cash dollars are likely to be most useful, plus further advice in general.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36724874

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36752824

Si01327

Hi.
We go on holiday to Rhodes later on in the summer. Some friends of ours went over last year and took a significant amount of Euros due to the economic climate at the time. These were gratefully received in restaurants and shops and they got the impression that paying by card wasn't really welcome.

Following the advice on this forum we've ordered a Halifax Clarity card purely for use when we're over there. I'm told it'll be fine for places like petrol stations and supermarkets but there still seems to be a preference for cash when eating out or paying for local excursions. I'd really like to avoid travelling with a huge amount of cash on me but accept that I may have to go prepared on this occasion.

Bearing the above in mind, and apologies if this is a silly question, but I'm assuming that the fantastic rates I hear about with the Clarity card only apply to purchases made with it abroad? If I use it to order and pay for Euros in the UK then it makes no difference compared to any other credit card? Is it therefore worth me waiting and using it to withdraw some cash from an ATM in Rhodes to take advantage of any preferential rates?!

I know the card will come in useful but compared to other European destinations it would seem, on the face of it, that it's use may be limited and I end up reverting back to cash for the majority of the holiday instead.

Thanks for any advice.

Si

Kernow666

your right in saying you wont get a better rate if you buy EURO in UK it will end up costing you more , use it when abroad

Si01327

Kernow666 wrote: »

your right in saying you wont get a better rate if you buy EURO in UK it will end up costing you more , use it when abroad

Thanks. So use the Clarity card to purchase Euros when we're out there then?! Or use it to pay for things where possible and just hunt around for the best currency deal here in the UK in order to take some cash out with us when we go?

Apologies if this isn't making sense, I'm just not 100% sure on the benefits of the Clarity card if the area you're travelling to appears to prefer cash! Am I right in thinking that when the articles go on about how good it is for Euros, they're referring to using it to pay for goods or services as oppose to paying for (or withdrawing) cash with it?

We've previously travelled to Spain, Portugal and Cyprus and taken just a minimal amount of cash with us. The majority of things were paid for on a card with no hassle. This is the first time we'll have travelled to Greece and so far it's looking like we'll be doing the complete opposite of previous holidays when it comes to paying for things! Consequently I'm trying to make sure we get as good a deal as possible and don't get hit with any hidden costs, or miss a trick when it comes to getting some Euros!

eDicky

Si01327 wrote: »

So use the Clarity card to purchase Euros when we're out there then?! Or use it to pay for things where possible and just hunt around for the best currency deal here in the UK in order to take some cash out with us when we go?

Apart from the vagaries of exchange rate fluctuations, you will never get as good a deal buying foreign currency in the UK as you will by putting your Clarity card in an ATM at your destination, which you can already do at the airport when you arrive. The straight MasterCard exchange rate is unbeatable and there are no fees, just the daily interest on withdrawals which is insignificant if you clear the balance at the first opportunity. If the ATM offers you a choice, always select 'Without Conversion' or the option that does not mention pounds, so that your card is debited in euros and does its own conversion at the MasterCard rate.

Si01327

eDicky wrote: »

Apart from the vagaries of exchange rate fluctuations, you will never get as good a deal buying foreign currency in the UK as you will by putting your Clarity card in an ATM at your destination, which you can already do at the airport when you arrive. The straight MasterCard exchange rate is unbeatable and there are no fees, just the daily interest on withdrawals which is insignificant if you clear the balance at the first opportunity. If the ATM offers you a choice, always select 'Without Conversion' or the option that does not mention pounds, so that your card is debited in euros and does its own conversion at the MasterCard rate.

Great, thanks for that! So sounds like I need to wait until we get there, find the nearest ATM (should be one in Rhodes airport I would've thought?!), withdraw a chunk of cash and go from there. Thereafter just keep an eye out for ATM's when we're out and about and top up as necessary. When we get back home just pay off the card in full to negate any "avoidable" fees and everything should be ok!

Caution dictates I'll take "some" cash with from the UK in case there are issues over the first few days. I've also just read the article on here called "17 Cheapest Ways to get Travel Money", in particular, point 14. Had always thought drawing cash out on a credit card was a no-no but it would seem for isolated incidents, such as going on holiday, it can be a smart move providing you've got the right card? And at risk of sounding more stupid, I assume I can't transfer an amount of money onto the card prior to departing so that the initial withdrawals come from that?

Thanks again for the advice, much appreciated.