Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

wookie6

Changing money before you go rather than using ATM's for cash withdrawals could be more expensive, as you are replying on the bureau's exchange rate, however as far as I'm aware a card like the Halifax Clarity card will use the whole sale exchange rate which will be better and make up the shortfall of any interest charges (approximately £1 for every £100 provided you pay the card balanace in full each month)

You may be able to pre-load some debit / credit cards, however I'm not sure this is allowable / will not work under the T's and C's of the Halifax Clarity card, either way it appears you will start getting charged interest from the moment you withdraw / spend.

Thus far, unless anyone can see better I think best bets for using ATM's abroad are:

- Nationwide current account (until 1st November)
- Halifax clarity credit card at 12.9% (balance paid in full each month)
- FairFx prepaid card

Happy to be corrected though!

wookie6

As an aside I'm aware you should tell some banks when you are going away to avoid your card being blocked whilst away, however is it also recommended you inform Halifax (for the clarity credit card) and pre-paid cards (e.g. fairfx) you are going away?

John_Pierpoint

juliakerensa wrote: »

We are going to Indonesia in a few weeks. At the moment the current plan is to change what we think we will spend into the Indonesian currency here and take it rather than use any cards because we won't be at places which accept them. The alternatives are taking cash out at ATMs but we don't want to rack up all the charges. Does anyone have any better ideas?

I have not been to a third world country yet, where the main arrival airport has not got an ATM somewhere. Perhaps MSE should build another database in addition to "buy duty free on arrival" - It could be called "find the ATM on arrival". (Check Lonely Planet/Rough Guide or a travellers forum for the latest information about Indonesia)"

I think the definition of a third world country should be a country where the non productive obsolete agricultural workers are still trying to move to the city to make a living/stay alive.
[London was like that for hundreds of years but when "!!!!!! Wittington" was a lad; moving to a city was more or less guaranteed to shorten your life expectancy with incurable diseases - you would be joining "The Great Unwashed".]

The more depressed the country is, the more likely the local exchange rate is to be better than the London one; in fact there are probably local exchange control regulations about importing and exporting local currency.
Some local governments just have to give up the fight and junk their fiat currency and use the world currency, which is still the USD.
(Zimbabwe Ecuador and for a long time in the past Cuba & Russia) Be a little bit careful about flashing your emergency low denomination green-backs; you don't want to be mugged, and there may well be local laws designed to keep the local population from escaping from the taxation by inflation imposed by their government.

jnm21

wookie6 wrote: »

Thus far, unless anyone can see better I think best bets for using ATM's abroad are:

- Nationwide current account (until 1st November)
- Halifax clarity credit card at 12.9% (balance paid in full each month)
- FairFx prepaid card

Happy to be corrected though!

I am trying to work out this very question - it depends on many things, namely size of withdrawal (consider €20 vs €250 with a €1.5 or 1.5% fee - it does make a huge difference - min 0.6% max 7.5%, with a max 6% difference), the destination (euroland/usa where €/$ cards are an option vs elsewhere, where they are not).

Currently I'm looking at FF (FairFX) anywhere (£, a card I have & use for Ryanair), Caxton € (free € atm withdrawals at a ~0.5% less rate than FF € with it's 1.5€ ATM fee wins for my usage), Rational € (best € rate I can find, £9 topcashback, but 1.5€ ATM fee).

Also, must factor in exchange rate changes - looking at trends, seem lower in winter, but does it look like it will be a bigger difference than the interest lost (anyone know of a prepaid card that awards interest)?

I think I am going to start a rates thread - monitor the rates of my top choices against MC/Visa rates.

1trainer1

does anyone knwo the best place to exchange pounds to south african rands? I am thinking travelex as it is giving me 1099 rands for £100 which i think is good, anyone got any other ideas

jnm21

Check the Travelmoneymaximiser - link on the right of this page.

blehpunk

so now that Nationwide is charging fees is it better to say, use Barclays withdraws from Global Alliance banks (say BNP Paribas in Paris) for cash, or still use Nationwide for purchases? I don't have and don't want a credit card.

dzug1

blehpunk wrote: »

so now that Nationwide is charging fees is it better to say, use Barclays withdraws from Global Alliance banks (say BNP Paribas in Paris) for cash, or still use Nationwide for purchases? I don't have and don't want a credit card.

Until Nationwide hike their fees (November) they continue to be best. Barclays charge 2.75% (or maybe 2.99% - can't remember) with no fee - Nationwide charge 1% with no fee.

After that Nationwide will still be better for transactions over £100 or so.

jnm21

I think that the team should look at santander - seems all current accounts get perfect deals at santander ATMs in Spain - looks like they'll get my main business out of this - well done Nationwide!!!

You can search for them here: https://www.bancosantander.es/cssa/Satellite?pagename=BuscadorOficinas/Page/BOF_FrontEnd&empr=Santander&leng=es_ES

gbysea

I am going to the Caribbean again in January 2011 and as always I find the best way to use cards very confusing.

I use a post office credit card for everyday spending which I pay off in full at the end of each month so don’t pay any charges so I understand this is the best credit card for this use.

I have a with a Nationwide flex account which until now I have always used to withdraw cash at the ATM with out charge and with the best rates however I now understand that Nationwide will charge for cash withdrawals as from November.

SO I would like to know the best way to get cash from ATM’s whilst in the Caribbean