Caxton FX vs Nationwide Flex account for trip to Thailand

Dan_0f_War

Hi everyone,

I'm getting myself pretty confused trying to work out which card will offer me the best value for my money whilst I'm abroad in Thailand in a few weeks time.

I've been looking all over this website, and the internet in general and based on how I want to use my money abroad, I'm pretty happy to narrow it down to two cards - Caxton FX Global Traveller card, and my current Nationwide Flex account.

Now, I will end up taking both cards as back ups, but I cannot decide which is the best to use as my primary method to manage my funds.

I understand there is a 2% conversion exchange fee, plus £1 fee for withdrawals from Nationwide, and that Caxton has the 2.5% FX mark up, but I'm pretty shabby on my maths and cannot decide which overall is the best to use.

So, specifically between these two cards (and just these two cards), can anyone enlighten me as to how these different fees effect say, a withdrawal of £100 in Thai Baht?

Any help would be really appreciated - sorry for my noobiness but I think I'm best just asking for help now.

c45arlo

I used a FairFx card in Thailand a couple of weeks ago and had no problems at all ( also in Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, New Zealand,Europe). I suspect the same would be for Caxton. After my travelling companions problems with a UK mainstream bank card I would definitely take a pre-paid card in addition to any standard bank/credit cards you may have. The issuing bank were notified of travel plans but still blocked and re-blocked the card. Regardless of which card you use there will still be a Thai withdrawal charge of 150 Baht per transaction at all ATM's which is levied on all foreign cards.:j

ERICS_MUM

The main difference between the two is that the bank account is protected by the FSA's deposit protection scheme whereas the pre-paid card is not.

This is enough to stop me ever having a pre-paid card of any sort (Caxton, Fairfx etc).

Dan_0f_War

Thanks for the replies guys - although it has left me with two conflicting opinions haha!

I'm mainly concerned not so much about the functionality of the cards and their security etc, but more so the amount of Baht I actually get for my money using either card when I say, with £100.

This is taking into account Caxton's 2.5% foreign exchange mark up, and then the charges Nationwide make despite their better exchange rate. I messing up my maths and can't work out which is better value.

dzug1

Dan_0f_War wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys - although it has left me with two conflicting opinions haha!

I'm mainly concerned not so much about the functionality of the cards and their security etc, but more so the amount of Baht I actually get for my money using either card when I say, with £100.

This is taking into account Caxton's 2.5% foreign exchange mark up, and then the charges Nationwide make despite their better exchange rate. I messing up my maths and can't work out which is better value.

Very little in it - but for small amounts Caxton has a slight edge.

stilltheone

Assuming a 50 baht per £ exchange rate(for simplicity) and using £100 as your example.

Caxton Global would give you 48.75 baht to the £. 4875 baht for £100 or 5000 baht for £102.56.

Nationwide would give you 48 baht to the £. 4800 baht for £100 or 5000 baht for £103.04.

The figures will vary for larger withdrawals and don't take into account the extra 150 baht(£3) charge by the Thai ATM networks...apart from AEON.

Next time, choose Travelex Global Cash Passport. Just a 1.49% flat fee.
So 5000 baht would cost £101.49.

Metro Bank; 5000 baht would cost £100.

templei

possibly not much help to you Dan of War, but for anybody else looking in i've actually been researching this and N and P appear to be the best for cash withdrawals abroad:

http://www.nandp.co.uk/current-account/

Free card usage abroad**
No cash withdrawal and retail transaction charges or handling fees when using your N&P VISA debit card overseas.

** Please note an overseas ATM or retailer may add a charge. You would be told about this at the time of transaction.

sound good to me and i have applied this morning, I think nationwide used to offer the same but have since changed

Cheers

Dan_0f_War

templei wrote: »

possibly not much help to you Dan of War, but for anybody else looking in i've actually been researching this and N and P appear to be the best for cash withdrawals abroad:


Free card usage abroad**
No cash withdrawal and retail transaction charges or handling fees when using your N&P VISA debit card overseas.

** Please note an overseas ATM or retailer may add a charge. You would be told about this at the time of transaction.

sound good to me and i have applied this morning, I think nationwide used to offer the same but have since changed

Cheers

I did see this N&P building society current account card which looked pretty good, however I think the fact that the only way I would qualify is if I continually transferred money from my nationwide account into the N&P account every month. I dunno, if done correctly that shouldn't be a problem, but I'd rather not have to deal with having my money in multiple places on my first long-term venture abroad.

Maybe next time I go abroad I'll see if I can get myself an account with them.


Cheers everyone for the tips, and thank you for the actual cash comparison to stilltheone - I'm currently looking into the Travelex card as we speak, might not be too late to get one. I've been reviewing loads of different options for the past few months but this one seems to have completely avoided me haha!

Dan_0f_War

stilltheone wrote: »

Assuming a 50 baht per £ exchange rate(for simplicity) and using £100 as your example.

Caxton Global would give you 48.75 baht to the £. 4875 baht for £100 or 5000 baht for £102.56.

Nationwide would give you 48 baht to the £. 4800 baht for £100 or 5000 baht for £103.04.

The figures will vary for larger withdrawals and don't take into account the extra 150 baht(£3) charge by the Thai ATM networks...apart from AEON.

Next time, choose Travelex Global Cash Passport. Just a 1.49% flat fee.
So 5000 baht would cost £101.49.

Metro Bank; 5000 baht would cost £100.

Hey stilltheone

Thank you for the advice. I don't suppose you would mind explaining how you got these figures so that I can try and work out what I would get if I withdraw larger sums of money. I'm essentially trying to work out which card is best when I need to withdraw a lot and which is best when I only need to withdraw a few hundred £.

I'll probably be withdrawing £200-£300 a time throughout the majority of my trip, however early on in my trip I will need to withdraw around £1700 to finish paying for a course I'm attending.

Any more help you can offer is much appreciated!

stilltheone

Dan_0f_War wrote: »

Hey stilltheone

Thank you for the advice. I don't suppose you would mind explaining how you got these figures so that I can try and work out what I would get if I withdraw larger sums of money. I'm essentially trying to work out which card is best when I need to withdraw a lot and which is best when I only need to withdraw a few hundred £.

I'll probably be withdrawing £200-£300 a time throughout the majority of my trip, however early on in my trip I will need to withdraw around £1700 to finish paying for a course I'm attending.

Any more help you can offer is much appreciated!

A problem for you is Nationwide's withdrawal charge.
How many withdrawals will you need to make to get £1700 out of a cash point?
Perhaps you can withdraw this amount inside a local bank.
If they allow you to withdraw that much cash at once, then it may be cheaper than Caxton on that occasion. Check Nationwide's policy on over the counter withdrawals.

It's quite simple.

If using £300 as an example:
Nationwide charge 2% + £1 equalling £7.
Caxton 2.5% equalling £7.50.
TCPG 1.49% equalling £4.47.
Metro Bank, no charge.


Travelex Cash Passport Globe second best with Metro bank being the best.

No stress getting a TCPG as you can order one four hours in advance and pick it up at the airport.

Use my link in order to be sure you are getting the correct product.

pini

im pretty sure the caxton fx only charges 2.5% if you pay in a different currency to the card "2.5% of transaction amount where the transaction is performed in a different currency to the card"

so by that im assuming that if i load it with dollars and pay in dollar i aint getting charged?

(RIGHT JUST REALISED THIS IS A THREAD FOR PEOPLE GOING TO THAILAND)