Worldwide Cash Help Needed

mike_p_2

I'm going on holiday in December, I'm going to USA for 3 days then Oz for a month then on to Singapore for 3 days.
My question is what's the best method to use for my travel cash?

(I have a Nationwide a Nationwide gold card which I'll use if I need to make big purchases.)

kiwitraveller

Hi Mike

We have the same query. We are looking for the best options for withdrawing cash from ATM's worldwide. We are off to New Zealand via Singapore.

We have arranged credit cards with SAGA and POst Office for purchases but haven't come up with the cheapest cash option yet. We have looked at pre-paid cards which look ok if you need Euros or US Dollars but not for the rest of the world.

Hope someone out there has some ideas!

CountryGoose

Both of you need to read this: http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/

And read this thread from the end: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1021851

And then post if there's anything you don't understand.

mike_p_2

Thanks for that, countrygoose very useful.

I am now looking at using a Kalixa card for cash, available through moneysupermarket, Nationwide CC and Virgin as back up.

Dibblers

My daughter is going to spend the winter in Austria and then go off to South America for two months. She has a Nationwide Flex account which the money saving expert advises is the cheapest way to withdraw cash but fellow travellers have suggested the Caxton FX card. Can anyone help her on this. She will probably prefer to withdraw small amounts every couple of days rather than large withdrawals.

Donnie

mike_p wrote: »

Thanks for that, countrygoose very useful.

I am now looking at using a Kalixa card for cash, available through moneysupermarket, Nationwide CC and Virgin as back up.

Why would anyone use this card? I certainly wouldn't recommend them to do so in front of the card in front of Fairfx Anywhere.

mike_p_2

Donnie wrote: »

Why would anyone use this card? I certainly wouldn't recommend them to do so in front of the card in front of Fairfx Anywhere.

From Moneysupermarket site
"Our expert says: "This prepaid card has no monthly fees and free transactions. You can load this card for free online or in any Barclays branch but there is a charge of 1.75% if you use your debit or credit card to load. This is a cost effective card for regular use"

The only mention of Fairfax is the Euro currency card and it is behind My Travel Cash card. Also I don't want Euros I want Dollars, US, Oz and Singapore dollars.

CountryGoose

Dibblers wrote: »

My daughter is going to spend the winter in Austria and then go off to South America for two months. She has a Nationwide Flex account which the money saving expert advises is the cheapest way to withdraw cash but fellow travellers have suggested the Caxton FX card. Can anyone help her on this. She will probably prefer to withdraw small amounts every couple of days rather than large withdrawals.

I am normally a nice and helpful person, but did you read anything in the thread before you posted?

Have you read the site guide?

Have you read the thread I pointed out in post 3?

Have you even glanced at any of the other threads in this part of the forum, many of which start "My xxxx is going to xxxx for xxxx and needs to know how to handle their money"

Or did you just sign up here and expect us to help you when you've done nothing to help yourself?

CountryGoose

mike_p wrote: »

From Moneysupermarket site
"Our expert says: "This prepaid card has no monthly fees and free transactions. You can load this card for free online or in any Barclays branch but there is a charge of 1.75% if you use your debit or credit card to load. This is a cost effective card for regular use"

The only mention of Fairfax is the Euro currency card and it is behind My Travel Cash card. Also I don't want Euros I want Dollars, US, Oz and Singapore dollars.

That'll be the expert in getting commission for MoneySupermarket :rotfl:

The card does promise interbank rates until Jan 2011. However, it costs £4.95, charges 1.95% for loading other than through internet banking and a whopping £2.75 for overseas ATM withdrawals.

The only reasons to use a prepaid card are:

1) Can't get a "good" credit card and don't have a "good" debit card
2) Backup cash in case of emergency - leave it loaded with £100 away from other sources of funding.

FairFX Anywhere Card - load with £, spend in anything, 1.5% commission on spends, mastercard rate on the day of spend, no rate loading - is about the best you can get for a general prepaid card.

There is a link on this site for a free card, otherwise loading one with £500 will get you a free card.

mike_p_2

CountryGoose wrote: »

I am normally a nice and helpful person, but did you read anything in the thread before you posted?

Have you read the site guide?

Have you read the thread I pointed out in post 3?

Have you even glanced at any of the other threads in this part of the forum, many of which start "My xxxx is going to xxxx for xxxx and needs to know how to handle their money"

Or did you just sign up here and expect us to help you when you've done nothing to help yourself?

I'll take your word for it that you are normally a nice guy as you're not being nice just now!!!

You'll see from my posts that I'm a newbie not an expert like you.

I did read posts from the first link and I had a look at the end post of the 2nd like you suggested but can't see any link to what I'm look for in that post!

As far as I can see FairFx do only Euro and US Dollar cards which are not what I'm looking for.
As for the Kalixa card it costs nothing to load it online so that's what I'll do. It costs £2.25 not £2.75 when using an international atm.

apt

Norwich and Peterborough's Gold Current account will be a good option for foreign spending from 1 January. http://www.nandp.co.uk/current-account/changes-to-your-current-account/