FairFX or CaxtonFX - Which would be best for me?

stilltheone

Si67 wrote: »

I know about their exchange rates and charges for foreign transactions, but in my last post I was talking about sterling transactions.

From the CaxtonFX website (it wouldn't let me post a link):
Domestic (UK) ATM Transaction :
£1.50 per transaction (Global Traveller Card)

I might not have made it clear (sorry!), but I have 2 separate aims.

(1) To buy Ryanair flights in pounds sterling
(2) To find an alternative to my Nationwide debit card for Eurozone ATM withdrawals.

Currently, the CaxtonFX Global Traveller card looks better for (1); whilst FairFX Anywhere card looks better for (2).

Sorry, but you line of thought is tenous at best. You write that you want a card for buying 'limited cheap' Ryanair flights. How many of those Ryanair flights are over £100?

Paying for any flights under £100 and you are losing out. So effectively you are obtaining a Global Traveller card solely to pay for Ryanair Flights considerably over £100.

Of course it's a good idea to have a card available as a back-up. But your reasons don't make sense.

My solution? FairFx Anywhere and Travelex Cash Passport Globe as back-up. Forget about Caxton. it's not for you. Let it go.

stilltheone

For someone with a set amount of Euros to spend, the Caxton Euro card is good.
For your more general usage, stick with the cards aforementioned.

Si67

So effectively you are obtaining a Global Traveller card solely to pay for Ryanair Flights considerably over £100.

Yes that's right. When I say 'cheap' Ryanair flights, I mean cheaper than other airlines; not sub £100. I'm talking about return flights for a family of 4 taken during school holidays, so the total price is always considerably more than £100.

As you know, paying with anything other than a prepaid Mastercard adds £40 to the price straight away.

Obviously the prepaid card fee for a flight of less than £100 would be [FONT=&quot]negligible [/FONT]whichever card were used.

stilltheone

Ok, makes sense now.

MCGONIS

Hello. I was planning on getting the Caxton card for the purpose of booking with Ryanair and instead got one from www.mytravelcash.com

They charge just 50p for each transaction. They are cheaper than FairFX (unless the booking is for under £36 odds - then FairFX is best!)

Not sure if that helps you any.

Si67

Looks good. Presumably you're talking about the Multi-Currency (GB £) card.

I'm still not allowed to post a link (I'm new therefore I'm a spammer:mad:) but, according to their website, the fees are actually slightly more than FairFX.

A small charge of 1.5% is added to the MasterCard exchange rate each time you use your card.

Which is the same as the FairFX Anywhere card.

ATM Withdrawals £1.00 (£1.50 in the UK )

Which doesn't apply to the FairFX Anywhere card.

Still good though.

I did notice that they only charge 15p for a balance enquiry via SMS, whereas FairFX now charges 50p.

Whilst on the subject...

Balance enquiry via SMS (in addition to any network charges)
CaxtonFX: NIL
My Travel Cash: 15p
FairFX: 50p (& you cannot load via SMS without first doing a balance enquiry)


Customer service telephone enquiries - pence per minute
CaxtonFX: Peak: 3.36p. Off peak: 0.085 (less than 1p)
My Travel Cash: "standard UK local call rates" (0845 number)
FairFX: 80p

Si67

Not sure if anyone's still reading this thread, but anyway....

To add to the confusion (well, mine), I've received my FairFX Anywhere card; and the letter onto which it was attached says

A great exchange rate, fixed before you travel

Now, I thought that, with the Anywhere card, the exchange rate is applied on the day each transaction is processed.

Anyone...?

CountryGoose

Si67 wrote: »

Not sure if anyone's still reading this thread, but anyway....

To add to the confusion (well, mine), I've received my FairFX Anywhere card; and the letter onto which it was attached says



Now, I thought that, with the Anywhere card, the exchange rate is applied on the day each transaction is processed.

Anyone...?

Poor cut and paste from the letter originally written for the other cards.