Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

iblametheparents

Infidel wrote: »

I heard Nationwide are about to start charging £1 for cash withdrawals abroad (even in Europe). Sad times, sad times.

Does anyone know from which date this will be effective?

It'll soon be time to ship out.......are there any cheaper alternatives?

Not only that, they will be loading by 2% too.

Read the last couple of pages of this thread for alternatives.

psb87

I am visiting crete on the 26th Aug and would like to know the best way to get Euros. I have a Nationwide flex account. I want 700 euros, would i be best off changing my money for 700 euros in the UK withdrawing 700 euros from a cash machine when I am there?

CountryGoose

Withdraw from the Flex Account in Crete next week.

dzug1

Infidel wrote: »

I heard Nationwide are about to start charging £1 for cash withdrawals abroad (even in Europe). Sad times, sad times.

Does anyone know from which date this will be effective?

It'll soon be time to ship out.......are there any cheaper alternatives?

Starts 1 November

For debit cards metrobank are the only widely available free alternative, and even then you have to visit their London branch to get an account

radman_2

Right, okay, I think I get the hang of all this.

I'm just gonna initially repeat here what I think I understand, just to make sure I know what's going on:

When you load money on the FairFX Euro card, the exchange rate is 1.5%-2% lower than the regular Mastercard rates.
- There's a 1.50 euro charge if you withdraw money from an ATM.
- No charge for purchases though.

The FairFX Anywhere card uses Mastercard's exchange rates.
- Charges 1.5% for ATM withdrawals AND purchases.

The Halifax Clarity has Mastercard's exchange rates
- Interest at 12.9% upwards (depending upon the rate they offer the applicant) on cash withdrawals from the day of the withdrawal. If you pay off by the next bill, this would be equivalent to probably about 1% charge on the exchange rate.
- Interest at same rate but only from the date of the next bill for purchases.

However, at the moment I already have a Nationwide Credit Card, which I know isn't THAT hot for ATM withdrawals abroad, but for purchases has either a 0% fee, or 1% worldwide.

I also have an Alliance & Leicester current account, which will give me free cash withdrawals from Santander ATMs in Spain.

I also have a Nationwide current account, which is still good to use before November, when the charges go up to £2 + 1%.

So, am I right in thinking that after November:

1. Best bet is to use cash a little as possible and use my existing Nationwide card for purchases, which is going to be as cheap as you can get for European use (or get a FairFX or Clarity card for Worldwide use).
2. For any cash I do need, if I'm in Spain use the A&L debit card, otherwise get the FairFX Anywhere card - Unless I have a Halifax Clarity credit card by then, in which case I may as well just use that and pay it all off at the end of the month.

The only problem I can see with this though, is that I'd probably put too much money on the FairFX card to make sure I took enough with me, but would then still have to pay the 1.5% fee to get this surplus money out when I got back to the UK.

Is this all correct? Have I made any mistakes - The information seems to be dotted around lots of different postings and is a little different from Martin's page of information.

CountryGoose

You're still looking at a load of 2.75% on the Santander Debit Card, even if they don't charge ATM fees.

But your basic premise is correct, post November:

1) Use a low cost Credit Card for as much spending as possible. Do not draw cash on it.

2) Use FairFX Anywhere or Halifax Clarity for cash.

Clarity - make a payment ASAP for all the cash you take, don't wait to be billed.

FairFX - top-up as you go along with texts, or online if you're able.

jnm21

CountryGoose wrote: »

You're still looking at a load of 2.75% on the Santander Debit Card, even if they don't charge ATM fees.

WRONG: http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/StaticBS?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application/pdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1223405223597&cachecontrol=immediate&ssbinary=true&maxage=3600

Santander cash-machine fees in Spain – for adult current account customers paying in a minimum of £1,000 each month

Withdrawal from a Santander cash machine in Spain: Free

Currency conversion for using a Santander cash machine in Spain: Free

I really think that the MSE team should include Santander in the guide (i.e. a "Going to Spain?" section).

Radman, I think I posted a link to where you can find Santander ATMs in Spain - let me know if you need me to find it.

Edit: Radman, I think you are spot on in your post.

rendo84

I've been through this thread from page 1 to page 43 but I am no clearer on the best option for me.

I'm going away end of October to Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Thailand. Hoping to take away a small amount of currency (£100/200's worth) for each place to use initally then cash in a travellers cheque when that runs out, with a c/card in case of emergency. I was considering the Post Office C/Card but after reading through I'm unsure whether this would be the best option and if I should apply for a pre-paid one.

A lot of the posts relate appear to travel in Europe and cards being mostly available in US$ or the Euro so I'm a bit confused.

Can anyone please offer some advice on what could be a better option for me?

Thanks in advance.

CountryGoose

You're right - Santander card holders do get free withdrawals in Spain, only if they pay in £1000/month, making this their only account

If you don't pay in, or have a Zero account, you pay the fees.

The OP didn't say the A&L account was their main a/c.

Just having free withdrawals in Spain, only at Santander ATMs and needing to fund it with £1000/month does not make it a good buy IMHO. YMMV if you only visit Spain, are always near a Santander ATM and are prepared to have your main UK account with them......

CountryGoose

rendo84 wrote: »

I've been through this thread from page 1 to page 43 but I am no clearer on the best option for me.

I'm going away end of October to Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Thailand. Hoping to take away a small amount of currency (£100/200's worth) for each place to use initally then cash in a travellers cheque when that runs out, with a c/card in case of emergency. I was considering the Post Office C/Card but after reading through I'm unsure whether this would be the best option and if I should apply for a pre-paid one.

A lot of the posts relate appear to travel in Europe and cards being mostly available in US$ or the Euro so I'm a bit confused.

Can anyone please offer some advice on what could be a better option for me?

Thanks in advance.

IMHO - get one of the MSE recommended Credit Cards and use that for as much as your spending as you can. Set a direct debit at home to clear the full balance automatically.

For cash, load up a FairFX anywhere card in sterling. You can top-up online, so you don't need to put all your cash on at once. If there are two of you travelling, there's no harm in getting two cards and sharing the cash, just in case one gets stolen. This will cost you 1.5% of the cash you withdraw, with as close to a commercial rate as you can get. The beauty of this is you can take small amounts of of the cash machines towards the end of your trip to limit the amount of cash you have left.

Keep £100 in cash and another credit card for emergencies away from everything else and you should be set.

The only issue is Thailand, where all cash machines will charge 150THB (£3) for using a foreign card, so take as much as you can/need and plan accordingly. I really don't know if you can get around the charge by getting an over the counter cash advance in a bank branch.

Forget Travellers Cheques - I had some old sterling ones and couldn't find a booth in Thailand or HK that would take them. I paid them into my bank account at home!