Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

Bob_the_Saver

Just my thoughts on back-up money.
Never rely on one source of money abroad. $100 dollars or whatever tucked away can be a godsend. We were in China 2-3 years ago when an earthquake off the SE coast & severed the telecom/internet cables. Credit cards/debit cards would not work for a couple of days as the ATM's couldn't contact their servers in the West.
The smaller chinese hotels wouldn't take international credit cards and they wouldn't have worked anyway.
Another time I arrived in a country (can't remember where) but with a non-convertible currency so hadn't bought any before. Got to the ATM & couldn't remember my PIN. Engraved on my heart but couldn't bring it to mind. Hit my head on the wall several times but it didn't help, just dented the wall. I had some £ cash so changed that, OK at a crap rate but at least I could eat. Always have back-ups. I remembered my PIN a couple of hours later. PS. I Usually use Fairfx now

PauperViking

Thanks for the advice, I decided to go with Nationwide Classic credit card in the end, which I will use to secure deposits and hotels. Then I'll use the flexaccount debit card to withdraw cash. The only charge I'll get therefore is the visa charge at 0.84% - soon to be 1%.

I'll be taking cash with me to start with, and will order that online in advance. I think I'll skip the travellers cheques and prepaid cards :]

fitorbust

Hi - I'm looking for a card to use in Canada in September and was thinking about the Santander Zero, but had a quick look at the legal details and this was in the small print.....

Charges:

Charges apply as follows:

• 3% on Balance Transfers (minimum £5).
• 3% on Cash Transactions (minimum £3).
• 3% on Credit Card Cheques (minimum £3).
• 2.95% of the amount of any Transaction in a foreign currency
• £5 for each copy of a statement
• £5 for each copy voucher
• £10 dormancy fee

Does this mean that there IS a charge for transactions in a foreign currency?
If so that seems to knock it off it's top spot as a free card to use abroad.
Any thoughts?
Lesley

fitorbust

Just looked again and the summary box for the specific card comes up with 0% charge for foreign transactions, but when you click on the legal link on the RHS it comes up with the above post details....
Hopefully the summary box applies but it does seem to be giving 2 different amounts on the same page.
Sorry if I've confused matters but it does seem to be an anomaly.

blondie27_2

I am going on holiday to America in 2 weeks time and need some advice about the best/cheapest of spending money whilst i am there please.

I applied for a Post Office Credit Card but got refused.

I am trying to work out whether i should use my Halifax Debit Card or load a Pre-paid card such as Fairfx. I also have a Citibank US Dollar Current Account so was thinking about transferring my money in to that before i go but wasn't too sure if i'd be stung with exchange rates or any other charges?

My intention initially was to get some cash exchanged through Thomas Global before i go but ideally i don't want to be carrying a lot of cash so thought i would pay for hotels/meals/shopping etc on a debit/credit card.

If it works out better i will withdraw larger sums of cash just a few times from my current account whilst i am there.

I have read all the info but still could do with a bit of help in choosing the best way to go about this.

As i said i have a Citibank and Halifax current account.

Thanks in advance!

PauperViking

fitorbust wrote: »

Just looked again and the summary box for the specific card comes up with 0% charge for foreign transactions, but when you click on the legal link on the RHS it comes up with the above post details....
Hopefully the summary box applies but it does seem to be giving 2 different amounts on the same page.
Sorry if I've confused matters but it does seem to be an anomaly.

Can you post the link where you see the charges? I only see the 0% in the summary box, and I doubt those charges you found apply to this card - afterall it is called the Zero card for a reason :]

PauperViking

blondie27 wrote: »

I am going on holiday to America in 2 weeks time and need some advice about the best/cheapest of spending money whilst i am there please.

I applied for a Post Office Credit Card but got refused.

I am trying to work out whether i should use my Halifax Debit Card or load a Pre-paid card such as Fairfx. I also have a Citibank US Dollar Current Account so was thinking about transferring my money in to that before i go but wasn't too sure if i'd be stung with exchange rates or any other charges?

My intention initially was to get some cash exchanged through Thomas Global before i go but ideally i don't want to be carrying a lot of cash so thought i would pay for hotels/meals/shopping etc on a debit/credit card.

If it works out better i will withdraw larger sums of cash just a few times from my current account whilst i am there.

I have read all the info but still could do with a bit of help in choosing the best way to go about this.

As i said i have a Citibank and Halifax current account.

Thanks in advance!

Hi blondie. Well to start off I should warn you about the Halifax debit card, as this not only has a £1.50 withdrawal fee, but also spending penalty of £1.50, topped finally by a 2.75% foreign exchange fee. So I would avoid using this one.

Prepaid cards are relatively cheap, though you do have to pay £1 for cash withdrawal with the FairFX. I personally decided against it as I may need to book rafting trips, hotels etc, and they will require a credit card. I signed up to the nationwide credit card and got accepted - they only charge 0.84% (soon 1%) for foreign transactions, so this worked out the best for me. I had been refused elsewhere for credit card as I am a student and don't have an income. Nationwide were nice about it (helps if you see them in person) and also realised that I had a fair bit of money in their savings account and therefore gave me the card :] Maybe you should think about doing similar thing?

As for carrying cash, unless you could quickly get a Nationwide flexaccount and debit card, I'd suggest travellers cheques which you just cash out when you're in the US. This would give you the best exchange rate (compared to prepaid cards).

fitorbust

http://www.abbey.com/csgs/Satellite?appID=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&c=Page&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1210609016689&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateC2

If you click on the Legal stuff on the RHS it brings up the charges box, but if you click on the summary link on the LHS it brings up the other box...... I'm probably being too pernickety now! lol

greydee

going to the states in ten days had my friends check there bank to see if they do an exchange from gbp to us dollar and got a rate of 1.69** in the states now that sounds like a great deal to me since its between 1.56 to 1.57 in the stores more online 1.61 maybe

Nessie23

fitorbust wrote: »

If you click on the Legal stuff on the RHS it brings up the charges box, but if you click on the summary link on the LHS it brings up the other box...... I'm probably being too pernickety now! lol

That's interesting. I too thought that Zero meant "> 0% foreign exchange fee
If you’re travelling abroad, using your Santander Zero card is a great option. Use it while you’re away to pay for everything from coffee and croissants, to sightseeing trips and take comfort in paying no additional fees." as stated on their webiste :huh:

It might be worth going into an Abbey branch and see what their printed literature says.