Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

jess1_2

Hi I am travelling to colombia for 6 weeks and have no idea what to do with my cash. shall i spend on a credit card and withdraw cash with my debit? I have a natwest student acc.

Any ideas please?

clairecut100

I am moving to Barcelona in 6 weeks, currently I just have a LLoyds TSB visa debit card. What would be the best type of card to have my salary paid into and use on a day to day basis over there? Or would it be a case of using my LLoyds card to ohave salary paid into and then transfer money online to anoter type of card for general spending?

rawy

Be warned! - First Choice Travel Money Preaid Card

I took out a euro card as I was offered a better rate on my whole currency purchase (£3000) if I took a card out.

I put £500 on a card and took the rest in cash.

When I tried to use it in Mallorca I was asked for ID, Which they refused as the name on the card wasn't mine. It just stated A Traveller, which my ID obviously didn't. I tried to explain it was a prepaid card but they didn't understand.

So I returned to the UK with 270euro on the card. (I managed to use it at the car hire place) and ask to convert it back to £ Cash.

When I took the card out as I asked about what happened if I returned with money on the card & I was told that I would get the same rate as when I put money on the card, as this was a big selling point. I specifically asked as I knew that with cash you always loose money.

So it was a big suprise when they said my 270 euros were worth £180, as the card has a set exchange rate when you cash in the card & it is not very favourable. It is also not listed anywhere on any of the paperwork.

That rate is less that £1- 1Euro.

After standing in the shop for 45mins & suggesting the card was a con (putting other customers off in the shop) they agreed to give me a better rate (It wasn't what was promised) but at least it only meant loosing ~£10 rather than ~£50.

I will be sending a complaint letter to first choice for a explination.

Be Warned!

Rawy

romyp

spambot wrote: »

I think Barclays should be added to the list of cards from hell. Went to Borneo recently and was charged £34 for 4 transactions on my debit card. That's almost £9 a transaction. Might as well have drawn cash on a credit card.

I am so glad i'm not the only one diddled by Barclays. I recently paid for some flights on my debit card but because the airline was a spanish airline they charged in euros which cost me a £16.77 handling charge. All that just to save myself £6.50 credit card charge cause I thought the debit card was free - how wrong was I.

iblametheparents

romyp wrote: »

I am so glad i'm not the only one diddled by Barclays. I recently paid for some flights on my debit card but because the airline was a spanish airline they charged in euros which cost me a £16.77 handling charge. All that just to save myself £6.50 credit card charge cause I thought the debit card was free - how wrong was I.

A 2.75% charge in the currency conversion is good compared to most debit cards!

jane_xphile

We are off to Moroco in July and our daughter (17) has a Nationwide Flexaccount. Anything to stop us loading her account for her to extract the cash while we're out there (just to clarify, she is coming with us!)

JASN_2

My daughter is travelling to 5 countries in eastern europe in 4 weeks time. She is 18 and currently has an e-saver account and current account (electron card) with Abbey. We had planned to get a pre-paid card for her but now realise only two of the countries she will be visiting use euros. As she is unlikely to be offered a Santander Zero credit card is it still best to get the pre-paid euro card and exchange it to local currency when required?

Joe65_2

clairecut100 wrote: »

I am moving to Barcelona in 6 weeks, currently I just have a LLoyds TSB visa debit card. What would be the best type of card to have my salary paid into and use on a day to day basis over there? Or would it be a case of using my LLoyds card to ohave salary paid into and then transfer money online to anoter type of card for general spending?

While Lloyds TSB have a great current account (4%on up to 7K), isn't their debit card one of those from Hell for using abroad.

See the article:-
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

If you must have a UK Bank Account, then wouldn't a Nationwide FlexAccount be much better for using abroad,as this post nicely confirms (eg 4.5 % better)
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.html?u=5532

davew578

I'm off on a jolly to Dubai next month. I intend to take cash with me. Can anyone advise me of the best currency to take, Dirhams, GBP or Dollars?

Picasso7

dadoallen wrote: »

We run a charity for Nepali children and have been using Nationwide to pay donations into the account in the UK and an ATM in Kathamndu to withdraw. This incurred no bank charges.
As Nationwide are about to impose charges what now be recommended?
Thanks

:T I've just checked w Nationwide. They are not imposing commission or charges but are passing on a Visa charge Their website says: We pass on the charge made by Visa for converting transactions made in foreign currencies outside the Visa Europe region. This charge will be included in the sterling amount which appears on your statement. For details of the countries affected please click here. The charge at the moment is 0.84% of transaction amount. That link was pasted from their website. If it doesn't work, click here.