The Cheapest Way to Spend Overseas Discussion Area

student100

Itchyfeet wrote:

I don't have a credit card (and don't want one) so I was thinking of putting some cash on one of those new prepaid travelcards or on the egg money card. They all charge for using them abroad (egg money seems cheaper than the prepaid cards) so it would only be for emergencies. Has anyone looked into any of these cards for the purposes of using them abroad or on a long trip?

Well Egg Money is a credit card.

And it would probably be your best bet if you don't want the Nationwide credit card for some reason.

student100

pob wrote:

I'm going to the states next month, will the standard Cash Card (has Link and Cirrus symbols on back) work in any USA ATM's?

Should work in any ATMs with the MasterCard logo.

student100

meshelly wrote:

Can anyone tell me if the Post Office Travel Money Card or Amex Travellers Cheques cards are value for money to use over an Abbey debit card?

My 18 year old son is going to Europe and I am not keen on him carrying cash so these looked, on the face of it, a good idea. However, they both have a fee to obtain in the first place - £10 or £20 and then £2 everytime a withdrawl is made. Would this still be cheaper than a debit card?

Many thanks

It depends. The Abbey debit card is expensive for withdrawing cash (2.75% plus 2% or 2.75% plus £3, whichever is greater - see here).

If there's time, encourage him to open a Nationwide FlexAccount with either cash card or debit card and use that.

blinky

I noticed that Debenhams are now doing a Cirrus based travel card.

http://www.debenhams.com/site_services/article_summary.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=8110895

I'll see if I can get some info about the Co-op one. If not it looks like travellers cheques for me.

tempuscat

Whoops: inadvertently posted this query elsewhere on the board; hopefully, it'll be more at home here.

Here are three transaction records from our recent holiday in Lanzarote. What we'd love to know from wiser heads here is which of the three transactions seems to represent the best value-for-money. . . and which, the worst?

ATM transaction 1. This appears on our latest Royal Bank of Scotland current account bank statement as follows:

Date: June 25 2006 Arrieta-Lanza Esp. GBP 99.69. Rate: 1.0000. ERTF: 0.00. CHARGE: 2.24. Total amount withdrawn: £101.93.


ATM transaction 2. This appears on our bank statement as follows:

Date: June 27 2006 Arrieta-Lanza Esp. EUR 70.00. RATE: 1.4421. ERTF: 1.29. CHARGE: 1.12. Total amount withdrawn: £50.57.


Both transactions used the same ATM. However, the outcomes appear to be bafflingly different (not least because there's absolutely no mention of Euros in the first listing).

Reason for the difference would seem to stem from a screen which flashed up at the ATM offering two options for purchasing the Euros. You were required to pick one or other option, otherwise the transaction would not proceed.

However. . . the ATM screen was bathed in bright sunlight and well-nigh unreadable. Worse than that, neither my wife nor I could make head nor tail of what we were being offered anyway, even though the text was in English. It seemed to have something to do with choosing a bank rate, or a market rate, or, well, a Gawd-knows-what-rate: you had to click an on-screen "button" at bottom left, or an on-screen "button" at bottom right.

For transaction 1, my wife clicked the LEFT on-screen button. For transaction 2, I clicked the RIGHT on-screen button. As the records show, whatever mathematics / charges were used in ATM transaction 1, they were entirely different to those in transaction 2.

Specifically, what on earth is the RATE in transaction 1: listed at 1.000?? What's an ERTF?? And why is it 0.00 in ATM transaction 1, but 1.29 in ATM transaction 2??????

Finally, here's the entry from our Mastercard statement:

Autos Granadilla Deesp: 254.00 EUR. EXCHANGE RATE: 1.420026. AMOUNT: £178.87.

Essentially then, we can understand the MasterCard billing as it's simply explained: Euro total, exchange rate, GBP equivalent. The ATM statements, however, are baffling. So. . .

On the basis of the details given here, can anyone tell us which, er, 'button' we should've pressed on the ATM screen, so that we're better prepared for our return trip to The Canaries in October??? We don't remember having to deal with ATM on-screen multiple choice options before (we think the ATM was operated by Bank of Santander, but can't be sure).

Muchas gracias!

student100

tempuscat wrote:

ATM transaction 1. This appears on our latest Royal Bank of Scotland current account bank statement as follows:

Date: June 25 2006 Arrieta-Lanza Esp. GBP 99.69. Rate: 1.0000. ERTF: 0.00. CHARGE: 2.24. Total amount withdrawn: £101.93.


ATM transaction 2. This appears on our bank statement as follows:

Date: June 27 2006 Arrieta-Lanza Esp. EUR 70.00. RATE: 1.4421. ERTF: 1.29. CHARGE: 1.12. Total amount withdrawn: £50.57.

For transaction 1, you have selected the option for "dynamic currency conversion" (see elsewhere on this site) which means the machine debited your account in Pounds Sterling (GBP). The exchange rate calculation was performed by the ATM. £99.69 was then charged to your account. As the amount is in GBP (and so is your bank account...) RBS's exchnage rate is 1.0000. They haven't done any currency conversion so the ERTF ([SIZE=-1]Exchange Rate Transaction Fee[/SIZE]) is 0. However you still used your card aborad so there is a charge for that.

For transaction 2, you selected to be billed by the ATM in Euros (EUR).
The ATM charged you EUR 70 which RBS converted at a rate of 1.4421. They applied an exchange rate fee of £1.29 and an overseas use charge of £1.12.


Without knowing what the Euro amount for the first transaction is, it's hard to say which is best value, although I guess the dynamic currency conversion (DCC) method (transaction 1) will have been more expensive.

Of course if you had used a Nationwide debit card and no DCC the line on your statement would have shown up as something like:

Date: June 27 2006 Arrieta-Lanza Esp. EUR 70.00. RATE: 1.4421. Total amount withdrawn: £48.54.

blinky

I went to Travelcare, the North-Eastern Co-op's Travel Agency today to enquire about their card. Unfortunately the branch I was in (Kingston Park, Tesco Extra) doesn't have a Bureaux De Change so they didn't have much information but they kindly telephoned another branch.

It's called Cash2Go and it's actually issued by Raphaels Bank / International Currency Exchange but it's really a partnership between them and Mastercard Europe. The website is www.cash2go.com but also look at http://www.cash2go.com/travelmoney/index.htm and https://wwwp.mastercarddebit.com/prepaid/cash2go/


It's a Maestro card - so it should work in any ATM with Maestro / Mastercard Logo

Most of the information is gleaned from http://www.cash2go.com/terms.shtml


According to the website the card is free (as are supplementary cards up to 5 maximum), although the lady in Travelcare said it was £3.

If you lose the card they charge you £3 or 1% of the balance (whichever higher) + courier charges.
Minimum loading is £50, $50 or €50 and the maximum of £5000 / $5000 or €5000

Maximum withdrawal of £500 / $500 / €500 per day in no more than 3 separate tranches from ATM's.

Daily combined maximum for purchases and withdrawals is £5000 / $5000 / €5000 or £2500 / $2500 / €2500 depending on which paragraph of the T&C's you read.

If you have supplemental card you can split these maxima across the card (handy for controlling the kids spending ?)

Card cannot be loaded (topped up) more than 5 times in a calendar month. The total aggregate limit which can be loaded onto the card is £5000 / $5000 / €5000. (FAQ states £/$/€ 2500).

If you top the card up at one of their agents (e.g. Co-op) the maximum top up is £2500 / $2500 / € 2500.

No fees for topping up

Merchant purchases, telephone or internet enquires: Free
Cashpoint ATM fee £1.75 irrespective if it's sterling, US dollars or Euros
Point of sale fee £1.75 for Sterling only.
ATM balance enquiry £1.75 for Sterling only or £0.30 for all three currencies, depending on the paragraph you read.
Internet statement and activity enquiries are free.

As for exchange rates in the FAQ...

Can I use a Cash2Go card in a country which uses a different currency to one purchased?
Yes, regardless of the denomination of the card, you may make purchases or use ATM machines in other currencies. This will be converted in accordance with the conversion rate applied by Maestro and deducted from the balance on your card along with any fees that may be due.

I think I still need some calrification on a number of points before I decide to go for one.

tempuscat

Student? More like expert tutor, I'd've thought. Many thanks for the information -- it certainly sheds light on the dark world of sunshine financing!:beer:

mfhstid

There's lots of very helpful advice on here about converting from Sterling to other currencies. But I want to do the reverse. I have about GBP130 worth of Mexican Pesos. I have the option, of either converting it to US Dollars (either in the UK or in the US) and use for a trip there, or exchanging it for Sterling.

Any advice?

bzd

¡Hola!

Returned recently from a holiday in Spain armed with my new Nationwide Debit Card (thanks for the research and advice all!).

I used this several times in ATMs to withdraw cash (I prefer to pay in cash in cafes, but did use it a couple of times to buy stuff too).

Checking the online statement when I got home, it /appears/ that the Banco Sabadell (I think the ATM read Sabadell Atlantico) has charged a 1.00 GBP fee for using it. Fortunately it was out of order next time I wanted to use it so I also used Caixa Penedes and Telebanco ATMs all without fee incursion!

I was a bit surprised, because the Banco Sabadell ATM tried to confuse me by asking if I wanted to be charged in Euros or GBP, and it clearly said that the GBP would have a 2.75% markup on the exchange rate! Naturally I selected Euros, but it never mentioned anything about a fee. It was still cheaper than the markup, but I would've moved on to another ATM if I'd known! I also find it curious that they've charged a 1.00 GBP fee, and not the equivalent of 1.00 Euro (or 2.00 Euro).

Also, the few times I did use the card to buy, I had to enter my Fish'n'Chip PIN /and/ sign a slip.

Anyway, just to let people know to avoid the Sabadell ATMs.

Ben