Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

BossC

My mother is taking my daughter to Canada on the 6th of August so I came here to get advice on getting some cash converted to Canadian & US Dollars. I decided to use Travelex (your second place recommendation), sorted my transaction, got to the end and saw that I needed a valid passport to collect my money - small problem, I don't have one, I'm not going! Contacted Travelex straight away and after 4 exchanges of email it turns out I can't collect the currency I've paid for, they can only refund me!


Here's the capper... "I will get the refund arranged for you, please note that the refund will take roughly 5 - 9 days for the funds to be released into your account." Even though the money was due for collection on the 6th.

How do I then arrange to get the funds elsewhere in the time remaining!?!

And just to add insult to injury, Last sentence of the email...
"Sorry for the inconvenience.

Regards"

Comments?

chuckie79

I'm off to Lanzarote in just over 6 weeks and not sure what to do about our currency. Previously we have always taken a small amount of Euros and the rest in travellers cheques with a credit card in case we needed it.

I was thinking of the doing the same but on reading this thread I'm now confused. My husband has a Nationwide account, not used it for a while but still open, so would we be better putting money in there instead of travellers cheques? And should we apply for the Abbey credit card or stick with the Halifax one I already have?

Any help appreciated, thanks.

dzug1

abbo wrote: »

As long as you pay the £500 before the statement is issued, the DD will just collect whatever is outstanding.

If the £500 was paid after the statement was issued, but before the DD is taken, that sounds potentially risky. However, you would think the process would be intelligent enough to see what is owing at the point the DD is taken. I know for a fact that this is the case with an Egg credit card, as I have done it.

Alternatively, you could just cancel the DD and pay via a BACS transfer.

It is potentially risky - depends on the card. Some will collect the full DD on the statement regardless of any subsequent payments - others will take account of the payment, though obviously there is a cut-off date which may be earlier than you think if the DD is prepared in advance of the day it is submitted.

benjus

chuckie79 wrote: »

I'm off to Lanzarote in just over 6 weeks and not sure what to do about our currency. Previously we have always taken a small amount of Euros and the rest in travellers cheques with a credit card in case we needed it.

I was thinking of the doing the same but on reading this thread I'm now confused. My husband has a Nationwide account, not used it for a while but still open, so would we be better putting money in there instead of travellers cheques? And should we apply for the Abbey credit card or stick with the Halifax one I already have?

Any help appreciated, thanks.

Personally I would just stick to the Nationwide card for both spending and withdrawing cash, and take any other cards you have as backup. A bit of cash in case you can't find an ATM at the airport isn't a bad idea (I sometimes have problems at Alicante, where one ATM never accepts my card and another is frequently out of order).

Some people recommend not using a debit card for purchases abroad. I can see some logic to this but personally I don't have a problem with using my debit card for purchases abroad. If you would feel happier using a credit card for purchases, go ahead with your application for the Abbey Zero.

SeasideSam

Going on first cruise with Royal Caribbean in September.
Understand all onboard transactions are in dollars, but when Brits come to pay at cruise end they insist on converting at a poor rate into sterling. Someone suggested paying the night before when they may not have converted. If try to do this what dollar card etc. could I use.
Beyond that is that the cruise goes to some euro countries, and some not in the eurozone. What would be the best card/combo card/other tool to take?
Any ideas much appreciated, thanks.:rotfl:

cerip1974

I'm looking to order some travel money online for a trip next month.
Does anyone have any experience of any of the online agencies mentioned on the site.
They are all much of a muchness in terems or rates.

Thanks in advance

chuckie79

benjus wrote: »

Personally I would just stick to the Nationwide card for both spending and withdrawing cash, and take any other cards you have as backup. A bit of cash in case you can't find an ATM at the airport isn't a bad idea (I sometimes have problems at Alicante, where one ATM never accepts my card and another is frequently out of order).

Some people recommend not using a debit card for purchases abroad. I can see some logic to this but personally I don't have a problem with using my debit card for purchases abroad. If you would feel happier using a credit card for purchases, go ahead with your application for the Abbey Zero.

Thanks for your help, will put the money in the Nationwide account.

hope_123

I'm going to Bulgaria in 2 weeks...

I was initially thinking of getting about £500 worth of Bulgarian Levs over here (exchange rate quoted from local travel agent : 2.27 BGL = £1 GBP)...but a friend of a friend has just come back from there and they were getting 2.4 BGL per £1 GBP over there)...so should I just take about £200 worth first ?

but then what about withdrawing/exchanging cash over there (from ATM's or from bureau de changes)...will it end up costing me more in the long run ?

I have a Halifax debit card and and MBNA credit card...without ringing them up and asking them - does anyone know how much they charge (per transaction) for withdrawing cash abroad ?

or shall I take the £ cash with me and exchange over there ?

and help or advice much appreciated

brryssn

My 16 year old daughter is competing for GB in Sydney at the end of August.
I wondered what the best options are for her money wise.
She'll be there almost two weeks, so I don't want her to take all cash.
Would some cash & the rest in Travellers Cheques be best?
She has a Halifax Expresscash Card, which she sometimes uses in Europe when she's run out of Euros - but I know not everywhere accepts these - plus I'm not sure if there are charges each time you use it abroad - I'm sure there are!
Any advice would be most welcome!

Copetribe

wiggy2007 wrote: »

Hi,

I opened up a Flex account with Nationwide at the beginning of June as I was to travel around europe in the 21st of June. I transfered approx £1100 from my Halifax current account into my nationwide via a halifax cheque.

However 1 day before my departure on my holiday, Nationwide had froze my account. The money I had put into the Nationwide account had been taken out my halifax, however I had a zero balance in my Nationwide!! This was an extremeley stressful time and eventually, I was put through to someone from Nationwide who told me my cheque had bounced and my account is being investigated by the fraud team!

So from the start of my holiday I had no money to take away with me, and I spent the first 3 days on holiday trying to sort the situation out. Nationwide eventually accepted fault for the situation and my account was unfrozen with the money became available.

I sent a letter of complaint when I returned, and recently I received a phone call from nationwide apologising for the inconvenience. They are willing to pay back all the charges I incurred on my phone bill, credit card charges etc and they have also said they will give me an additional compensation for my inconvenience.

This is my problem...the manager of Nationwide has asked me what amount of compensation I was thinking?? So I have told them I will contact them back in the next few days.

I am unsure how much to ask for! Has anyone got any advice or even legal advice regarding what amount I should ask for?

Thanks.

If you ask for £100 you may get that. If you ask for more it could take ages to get very little more. Been there, done that and learned by the experience.