Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

Somebody

daveround wrote: »

I'm looking to open a new account for a few trips abroad. The stand-out cards seem to be the Santander zero card and the Nationwide Flex card. I've also heard mention of the pre-paid cards.

Surely the best solution is the pre-pay on the Santander card though. There doesn't appear to be a fee for this, there is no fee for paying on card abroad and you can even withdraw cash for free = totally free?? - am i missing something?

For me Nationwide would be the next best because I'd only get hit with a 1% charge and their introductory cash offer more than covers this.

You have to pay interest on the cash withdrawn with the Abbey Zero card. Taken from the MSE cheap-travel-money article: " The only negative is its high 27.9% cash withdrawal interest rate, which you pay even if you clear the card in full. Yet as that’s roughly £2 for a month per £100, it's still cheaper than paying interest PLUS the cash withdrawal fees on other cards."

On the Nationwide FlexAccount if you ask for the the base cash card (Cirrus - part of Mastercard) then there is no Visa F/X charge.

janh_2

sarahvashti wrote: »

Just to advise everyone to be aware. We changed our money by ordering online and collecting from the post office as it said there were no charges over £500 and they would not charge us for using our debit card. We still got charged 5 quid though and they said the bank will have done it. So things are not always as good a deal as they first appear!

My husband got euros at Tesco & the same thing happened to him - I had told him to withdraw cash first & pay with that, but he innocently :rolleyes: thought that because the cashier didn't warn him of a charge there wouldn't be one.

We got stung £2.95 by A&L for only 100 euros (min charge presumably). I'm thinking he should go back to Tesco & complain but he probably won't.

daveround

Somebody wrote: »

You have to pay interest on the cash withdrawn with the Abbey Zero card. Taken from the MSE cheap-travel-money article: " The only negative is its high 27.9% cash withdrawal interest rate, which you pay even if you clear the card in full. Yet as that’s roughly £2 for a month per £100, it's still cheaper than paying interest PLUS the cash withdrawal fees on other cards."

On the Nationwide FlexAccount if you ask for the the base cash card (Cirrus - part of Mastercard) then there is no Visa F/X charge.

Thanks - are you saying that you can avoid the c1% charge with nationwide using the base cash card?

Re Santander Zero: I (think) I can see how the interest is charged....basically from the day you take out cash, interest is charged @27.9%...until this is paid off in full, so worst case scenario if you take out cash on day 1 and pay it off on day 31 you will be charged a months interest (or c. £2 on £100).

What I am thinking of though is - e.g. if you credit £100 to the card on day 1 (say prior to your hol). You then withdraw £100. You shouldn't be charged any interest because there is no balance outstanding

janh_2

Incidentally the Nationwide debit card gives a fantastic exchange rate - purchases on our egg card last month have come through at between 1.11 & 1.13, cash withdrawals on Flexaccount card were all over 1.16!

Somebody

daveround wrote: »

Thanks - are you saying that you can avoid the c1% charge with nationwide using the base cash card?

Yes, as it doesn't go through the VISA network.

daveround wrote: »

Re Santander Zero: I (think) I can see how the interest is charged....basically from the day you take out cash, interest is charged @27.9%...until this is paid off in full, so worst case scenario if you take out cash on day 1 and pay it off on day 31 you will be charged a months interest (or c. £2 on £100).

What I am thinking of though is - e.g. if you credit £100 to the card on day 1 (say prior to your hol). You then withdraw £100. You shouldn't be charged any interest because there is no balance outstanding

Not sure. You will have to read the small print as to how they treat and allocate the cash.

gloucesteroldspot

I needed to change some holiday money today and went to the The Moneyshop as they seemed to have the best rate locally (like all good moneysavers I did the sums about driving and parking costs and worked out it wasn't worth it to go further afield for a slightly better rate) but BEWARE! It was only when I got home that I realised I had been charged a fee of £2.99 for a 'buy back guarantee'. This fee wasn't stated on the bureau's stated rates (which are in theory commission free) and wasn't mentioned by the cashier in the course of the transaction, but is only in the small print on the receipt. I have subsequently checked their web site, where it is not mentioned. I suspect it contravenes all sorts of financial service regulations.

I have contacted the company's head office and await a response with interest, but in the meantime beware....:mad:!

alex_b_2

Hello,

I am going away for 6 months at the end of the year and want to know what the best option is for exchanging money when out there.

I'm going to Asia and S.Ameria so the currency will vary greatly. I have an Abbey debit card at the moment - is it worth applying for a different credit card that has no withdrawal fees or should I rely on travellers' cheques?

Thanks!

golly99

Hi all

Going to New York in September, already have the Nationwide debit card was going to use this to get our dollars and then arrange a CaxtonFX card for a backup - does this sound like a good plan? I've been reserving my hotel rooms on my Amex Platinum cashback card - so presuming that's ok for paying the hotel and just use the Nationwide or Caxton card for purchases?

Thanks all

John_Halsey

I am taking advice and intend using a prepaid $ card for my holiday in the USA ,the 2 best Cards seem to be internet based and are Mastercard
the ones I am able to buy over the counter are Visa Electron is there any disadvantage with this choice of card regards using in shops or ATM's?

Nessie23

alex_b wrote: »

Hello,

I am going away for 6 months at the end of the year and want to know what the best option is for exchanging money when out there.

I'm going to Asia and S.Ameria so the currency will vary greatly. I have an Abbey debit card at the moment - is it worth applying for a different credit card that has no withdrawal fees or should I rely on travellers' cheques?

Thanks!

Hi Alex,

For cash you could use a Nationwide flex account with a Visa Debit card wich will charge just the 0.84% VISA exchange or the Nationwide basic account with a cash card. You could load a Nationwide account and use the card to withdraw cash as and when required.

It might be worth getting a credit such as the Santander Zero or the Post Office credit card. These cards have 0% loading on foreign currency, and will also be a good backup if your other card goes missing or gets damaged.

I have used travellers cheques before, the main advantage is the security of them. However, sometimes it was dificult to somehwere to change them and when you could change them the exchange rate was not always competitive plus some banks will charge you a fee ontop for changing the money.
Useful though to have a small amount in travellers cheques which can be used for emergencies.