Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

gryphon

Hi guys, I am of to Greece in a couple of weeks i have a couple of questions.
1 - I normally take Stirling travellers cheques would i be better taking Euro
cheques.

2 - I have been thinking on a pre paid card dose anybody know if if i can get
a second card for the same account with FairFX or Caxton.

3 - Has anybody encountered problems withdrawing cash on these cards in
Greece.

barnishroader

Similar to above, i am going to Barcelona on Friday and was going to buy euros from Travelex as it was my best option from the Moneybot on this site.

I was just wondering if it would maybe be a better option to get their Cash Passport instead.
Would i be charged for withdrawing money when in Spain?
I would prefer the security of having a card rather than carrying cash but not if i was going to get charged for using the card.
Any help much appreciated.

malc_b

For money I've found the post office to be as competitive as travelex, plus they off more cash back if you use a cash back site such as top cash back. That tipped the balance in the post office's favour. And as a I live in a village it's good to put work the local post office's way.

Brierls

Hi,

I'm heading to South Africa for the World Cup and visited this site to see the best options for withdrawing cash from ATMs over there. Having read the article it looks like the Nationwide Flexaccount Visa Debit card will be the best for me, but I haven't got an account with them, nor do I want to create a current account and have my wage going into there.

I'm particularly interested in the comment "Nationwide wants you use this as your main current account, yet you can sneakily avoid this by setting up a free savings account at the same time as opening the Flexaccount; its e-savings plus account can be opened with just £1. Then you can just pre–load the Flexaccount for spending before travelling abroad." - it sounds like the perfect option for me!

Has anybody been through the process of opening a flex account and e-savings plus account at the same time? I've applied for the flex-account online (at least I think I have!), but didn't see an option to create an e-savings plus account.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Gary

malc_b

My daughters did this for a gap year in Australia. You basically apply for e-saving then when do you need an account to fund form/to and that gets you a flex account. However, they have received notification that their accounts are being "improved" and they are losing the ATMs aboard feature. So whether this will still work I don't know.

Endora_2

Hubby & I off to sunny Cyprus in a few weeks time, although we've bought some euros we do have a TC Credit Card which we applied for last year when we went away on holiday (booked through them). Not sure if best just to take all cash (euros) with us or attempt to use the TC Credit card for some purchases or will the charges be too high? Want to hire a car whilst over there too, what would be best method to pay for that?:A

woodface7

A none-too clued-up relative came back from Nepal with a stack (£150ish) of the local rupees. Like the Indian ones, they can't be bought or sold officially in the UK.

Ebay only seem to ban "Counterfeit Currency", yet I found only single collectors notes on offer.

I thought of travel forums read by people booked to visit Nepal - though there can't be many, and they probably have their own rules about using their site commercially.

So, do any smart MSEers have any ideas on how/where to flog them?

schizometric

I'm going to Mauritius in a week and a half. The currency is Mauritian rupees I think but the hotel mostly accepts Euros. I was planning to just pay on card when there but having JUST read the guide my natwest card probably isnt the best bet..

Really not sure what to do, can one of you clevercloggs advise? Should I take some euros, some rupees (but I guess I can only get some out when over there?)? I guess its too late to get one of the smart current accounts!

bograt2004

Hi All, Here's one for you I have Czech Krona and i'm going to italy shortly so would i be better changing it in the uk which would probably mean changing it to gbp then to euros or waiting until i goto italy and change it there. If the latter is the better option anyone know where toget a reasonable rate ? thanks

Nessie23

bograt2004 wrote: »

Hi All, Here's one for you I have Czech Krona and i'm going to italy shortly so would i be better changing it in the uk which would probably mean changing it to gbp then to euros or waiting until i goto italy and change it there. If the latter is the better option anyone know where toget a reasonable rate ? thanks

You will get charged comission (and sometimes fees on top) each time you exchange currency. So your best bet would be to change the Kronas into Euros directly.

Don't know if you would be able to change Kronas in Euros directly in the UK, but you could check M&S's Bureau de Change, which tends to have competitive rates even for small amounts. You can always give them a ring before visiting the store to find out whether they can do the exchange directly and find out what their rates are.:cool: