Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

luci

kevnlilley wrote: »

I need to pay a relative approx £4000 in euros.
I have a Santander Zero card and was thinking of paying £4000 onto the card then withdrawing the cash in euros from French ATMS. By doing this I'll get the wholesale exchange rate, no loading charge and, because I'll have pre-loaded the card with the cash, no APR on the money I withdraw.

Does anyone know which French ATMS do not charge for withdrawals ?

Have I got this right ? Or am I making a costly mistake...

Most credit cards do not allow you to have a positive balance. You will need to check the T&C's of the card.

dzug1

kevnlilley wrote: »

I need to pay a relative approx £4000 in euros.
I have a Santander Zero card and was thinking of paying £4000 onto the card then withdrawing the cash in euros from French ATMS. By doing this I'll get the wholesale exchange rate, no loading charge and, because I'll have pre-loaded the card with the cash, no APR on the money I withdraw.

Does anyone know which French ATMS do not charge for withdrawals ?

Have I got this right ? Or am I making a costly mistake...

Few French ATMs charge anything - garage, convenience stores and the like may, just like here.

It will take quite a while to withdraw that sort of sum though - several weeks possibly.
Depends on daily withdrawal limits.

The other snag is that Santander may turn nasty as putting the card into credit will breach the T&Cs. What they will actually do about it and how long they will take to notice I've no idea, but it could kibosh the whole plan if for example they return the cash to you.

Mee

I've stupidly purchased this card assuming that it charged the same as FairFx other currency cards, but it charges 1.5% FOR ALL USAGE. I've only loaded £100 on it - should I cancel it or keep it for emergencies?
Thanks

dzug1

If 1.5% is all it charges that's dirt cheap. use it anyway.

Beverley

I'm taking my daughter to Disneyland Paris for a long weekend at the end of this month. I haven't been abroad in 20 years and all of the planning and arranging was done by my mother so I'm pretty clueless.

Should I buy some Euros here or should I just use my debit card when we get there?

Thanks for reading

fox2319

On Friday evening, I had a delay of around 3 hours on a flight from Bristol to Belfast, poss just more or less, not sure which but immaterial to the main problem.

After spending my £3 voucher on 3/4 of a Panini, I phoned my hire car at the other end to confirm whether they would be available. My flight was due to depart at 2110, it eventually left around 0010 and got in after 0100. The guy at Hertz was trying to be as helpful as possible but he finished at 2300 although he could stay on till as late as 0100 in exceptional circumstances if it was absolutely guaranteed that I would get in. The easyjet staff on the ground were noticeable by their absence so I couldn't give this guarantee.

In the end I had to ask my brother to drive to the airport and pick up the keys. This incurred an extra charge of just over £10. Additionally, he needed fuel for his car as he pretty much got there on fumes and had no cash to top it up. I put around £30 in which we both thought fair.

Given that the alternative to the above was to spend 6 hours on a couch at the airport, waiting for the desk to reopen, would it be reasonable to ask easyjet to refund my extra costs? If so, how do I go about doing it?

Ta for any advice

crystyl

Hiya, I have asked this question on another thread but no-one has answered it, so could someone please help?

I am going on holiday to Tunisia and know that I can only get the currrency over there but what is the best option? To take travellers cheques - sterling or euros? or plastic so I can withdraw cash from the atms?

Any help would be gratefully received, thanks

watpoae

Unfortunately due to bank problems I've been unable to buy my currency online this year so I'm having to buy it instore.

Does anyone know the best place to buy US Dollars from at the minute?

Thanks

Nessie23

crystyl wrote: »

Hiya, I have asked this question on another thread but no-one has answered it, so could someone please help?

I am going on holiday to Tunisia and know that I can only get the currrency over there but what is the best option? To take travellers cheques - sterling or euros? or plastic so I can withdraw cash from the atms?

Any help would be gratefully received, thanks

Hi I went to Tunisia about two years ago. The best option at the time was to take sterling in cash and I exchange it at the banks there. You can shop around to see which bank gives you a better rate, but in general the rates for most banks were quite similar.
Sterling was widely accepted at money exchange desks.
I wouldn't bother changing Sterling into Euros or dollars prior to going there as each time you exchange you lose money on fees and comissions.

Be warned however that the exchange rates at the airports bureau de change points are very poor, so try to change the least possible at the airport and do your most of your exchanging at bank branches in town.

I personally didn't use cards there, but they could be a useful backup; there were many ATMs available in the main cities.

John_Pierpoint

Beverley wrote: »

I'm taking my daughter to Disneyland Paris for a long weekend at the end of this month. I haven't been abroad in 20 years and all of the planning and arranging was done by my mother so I'm pretty clueless.

Should I buy some Euros here or should I just use my debit card when we get there?

Thanks for reading

The standard answer is use a Nationwide debit card in a BANK's ATM on arrival (Beware if Dynamic Currency Conversion) but how are you getting to Disney Land ? - you don't want to spend precious time on arrival looking for an ATM.