Holiday spending money - problem!

gax23

Hi all,

Looking to take around £1,500 on holiday with me on 26th August. Have ordered £250 in cash from Travelex, but don't really want to carry too much cash around. However, I'd like to be able to withdraw more as and when I need to.

I applied for the Nationwide debit card weeks ago, but they're so painfully slow - I called up earlier today to find out how long it'd take to get the card and they said 7-10 working days. Now, there's only 7 working days between now and the holiday, so it's cutting it a bit fine. What's my best bet? Wait for Nationwide, take it all in cash via Travelex, or something else?

mymatebob

If you are leaving from an airport with a travelex facility you can leave it until a couple of days before you go and order the money online and pick it up at the airport (Don't forget quidco too for a little bit of saving)

You can also order travellers cheques from them

gax23

mymatebob wrote: »

If you are leaving from an airport with a travelex facility you can leave it until a couple of days before you go and order the money online and pick it up at the airport (Don't forget quidco too for a little bit of saving)

You can also order travellers cheques from them

Aren't travelers cheques hideously expensive? As I said, I don't want to be walking around with £1,500 in my pocket.

mymatebob

gax23 wrote: »

Aren't travelers cheques hideously expensive? As I said, I don't want to be walking around with £1,500 in my pocket.

Don't think so - haven't looked at the rates for a while

You also said one of the options was to take it all in cash, all I was suggesting is that you have a few days yet if that is the road you go down.
There is also the "holiday money" section on the front page of MSE somewhere

dzug1

What cards do you already have? They will be no more expensive than travellers cheques and the better ones may be competitive with travelex.

gax23

dzug1 wrote: »

What cards do you already have? They will be no more expensive than travellers cheques and the better ones may be competitive with travelex.

My current account is with NatWest - Martin's article stated that this should be avoided at all costs with regards to spending abroad. Even Caxton said they're looking at a good couple of weeks for cards to be sent out and couldn't guarantee it'd be ready in time.

We try to save money by booking a last minute deal and then get screwed over by the spending money side of things :mad:

daveyjp

Post Office money card? No idea of costs. In effect travellers cheques on a card and fully insured if it gets lost or stolen.

dzug1

gax23 wrote: »

My current account is with NatWest - Martin's article stated that this should be avoided at all costs with regards to spending abroad.

Well Martin does with all due respect exaggerate a little at times to get his point across.

No not to be avoided 'at all costs' - to be avoided if you can find a cheaper way which in the time available to you is looking difficult. If the alternative costs the same or more as the Natwest card there's no reason to avoid it. And many of the alternatives do cost the same or more.

pennylane99

be careful if you are trying to take a large sum from Travelex in one go on your debit card, your bank/issuer may well refuse if its over the daily cash withdrawal limit

simonSE15

gax23 wrote: »

My current account is with NatWest - Martin's article stated that this should be avoided at all costs with regards to spending abroad.

we've just returned from Spain.

using Natwest card:
Bought €300 from Travelex at Stantsed cost £254.11
Withdrew 2 x €300 in Spain at ATMs charged £247.44 & £249.48 respectively.

crowlands

simonSE15 wrote: »

we've just returned from Spain.

using Natwest card:
Bought €300 from Travelex at Stantsed cost £254.11
Withdrew 2 x €300 in Spain at ATMs charged £247.44 & £249.48 respectively.

Would the difference there be due to the rate?? Cashing with debit card at and ATM abroad incurrs a 2.25(or 2.75)% cash handling fee - do Travelex also charge this fee??