Post office travel money card a God send!

twisty78

Hi fellow money savers. I've just come back from my holiday in the States and our plan was to take some currency and then travellers cheques with us and if need be we use our debit cards. When we went into the Post Office the lady at the Bureau De Change told us that we could lose a lot of money doing it this way plus as it was a road trip we might have trouble trying to change cheques. She told us about the Post Office Travel Money Card which is a Visa Electron card which you top up with currency of the destination you are going to. They can be topped up in US Dollars, Euros or Stirling but it's best to top up in the currency of your destination. I asked what the catch was and the only thing they said was there is a fee to withdrawl money from an ATM just £2 or $3/ 3euros and there is no fee to use the card in a store or restaurant etc. Considering that I got charged as much as £7 every time I used my Halifax debit card last time I was in the US I thought it was a good idea. Also the card was accepted in EVERY shop I went to as long as I had photo ID so usually used my driving licence. You can find out about that card on the Post Office website or in the main Post Offices in towns and cities as some smaller ones don't offer the service.

I think the card is a really good idea and saved me a lot of hassle trying to change travellers cheques plus a lot of money everytime I used plastic in America. Also the card can be topped up in any Post Office you just have to provide the long number on the front so someone can top it up for you when you are away or you can just call the Post Office and they'll top it up over the phone. I also think it would be a good way of saving your holiday money in the currency of your destination and therefore you can't spend it before you go away (a little trick of mine) the card lasts for 2 years at a time and is FREE to get. I don't know why the Post Office don't promote this further as it's a great idea.

thatsfabulous

Ive had a Euro one before. The only downside to this euro card is that its election and not everywhere accepts election as everywhere is chip and pin and this card isnt, where is in states you can just sign so dollar one may be ok however i dont really like the euro one. And also the post office euro rates are not always the best. Is the card defo free now?
When i got mine I had to pay £10 for each card you want so £10 for euro card, £10 for dollar card.

I prefer to use my Abbey zero credit card when on holiday. Quite good rates and you dont get charged a penny when withdrawing from cash machine also its back up incase of any unexpected costs./

M4RKM

The exchange rate on this still isn't as good as a fairfx card though, and the fairfx card only charges $2 for a cash withdrawal, so it's not THAT good..

wallbash

Got a similar card from Tesco's .
Gave it to youngest daughter in case of emergencies when she was abroad .
She did not use it , but better safe than sorry.
My only problem came when I went to 'add' some money to the card . at the Large Tesco I had bought it from. Hand over the card . produced £200 in cash .

' please can I have some photo ID ' :eek:

Driving licence was in my other car ........ but wait a minute , WHY did I need ID to put money on a card ???

Must admit I kicked up a little fuss! yes its in the T& C but even the nice guy dealing with me could not explain it.
So he dug out my original paperwork , back in middle of April :T
And photocopied ,,,, the original photo copy .
Every one happy
Well done nice man at Tesco

benjus

Well, since you're comparing it to a Halifax debit card...

If I buy a US dollar Post Office Travel Money card it will convert my money at £1 = $1.5915, while the current exchange rate is £1 = $1.6463 - this is an exchange rate loading of 3.44%. The Halifax debit card charges 2.75% loading + £1.50 per transaction.

Some comparisons:

Purchase of $100:
PO Travel Money card costs £2.09 (3.44%)
Halifax debit card costs £3.17 (£1.50 + 2.75%)

Purchase of $200:
PO Travel Money card costs £4.17 (3.44%)
Halifax debit card costs £3.35 (£1.50 + 2.75%)

Cash withdrawal of $50:
PO Travel Money card costs £2.25 ($2 + 3.44%)
Halifax debit card costs £2.34 (£1.50 + 2.75%)

Cash withdrawal of $100:
PO Travel Money card costs £3.30 ($2 + 3.44%)
Halifax debit card costs £3.17 (£1.50 + 2.75%)

So the PO employee was exaggerating slightly when she said you could save a lot of money... their card is only cheaper than your debit card when used for small transactions, and it's not vastly cheaper even then. It's just that the Halifax charges are more transparent than the Post Office card's.

The best options are the Abbey Zero credit card (free for both purchases and cash withdrawals - but watch out for interest charges on cash withdrawals), the Post Office credit card (free for purchases), and the Nationwide debit card (0.84% charge for purchases and cash withdrawals).

twisty78

As I was making small purchases on card and didn't get charged to make them I thought it was perfect. I know the rate is different but as the rate with Halifax fluctuates each day the rate could've come down when I bought my currency from the Post Office it stuck at that rate. When I bought my currency from Post Office 3 weeks ago it was 1.60 and then came down to 1.56 so I had my currecny at 1.60 so job was a good un.

twisty78

PS yes it was FREE to get now I didn't get charged for the card.

sturll

markymoo wrote: »

The exchange rate on this still isn't as good as a fairfx card though, and the fairfx card only charges $2 for a cash withdrawal, so it's not THAT good..

Was just going to say the same thing.

As far as i am aware there is no card as good as the Fairfx card, in every single respect.

brightonman123

i think ID is required to track down any money launderers..

chigozieo

hi there. if you want to get one of these brilliant cards to shop online in euros or dollars and spend abroad you can get one free through topcashback. if you aren't a member, you would you allow me to refer you and join through the link they sen you, and i will get £2.5 thank you for spreading the word. Oh, and you will get £7.50 for funding the card as a topcashback member!
private message me with the email address you are going to sign up with, and i will get a referral request to you.
thanks everyone, happy shopping.:beer:

dzug1

brightonman123 wrote: »

i think ID is required to track down any money launderers..

Well yes but most places don't start asking for ID until the amount involved is over £500 or even more