Confused. Trav Cheques, Travel Card ?

keasy

Hi guys.

First time poster, long time lurker.


My family and I are away to Majorca for a fortnight in about a weeks time and I'm very confused as to what form in which to take our spending money.

Last time I bought Travellers Cheques I got stung on the buy back and it has scared me off, but I do love the security they offer.

We are thinking of taking a couple of hundred cash, a good whack on a Travel Card and a good whack on Travellers cheques.

I've been looking into The Post Office travel card and it seems like a pretty sweet deal. If I get the Euro card then it will only cost me 2 Euros to withdraw from a cash machine when on holiday, but I'm not sure as to how much the ATM operator may charge me. Can anyone advise me on this ?
I don't mind paying 2 Euros every three or so days but I would mind paying an additional 5 Euros for example.

Also, I thought that The Post Office Travellers Cheques sounded like a good deal too but again, I'm confused (I get confused a lot).
Does anyone know what they charge to buy back in any unused Travellers Cheques ?

Thanks for any advice offered.

zagfles

Are you talking GBP traveller's cheques? If so you don't need to cash them in, just pay them into your bank account like any other cheques.

You will get ripped off cashing in Euro TC's, and your bank will probably charge you a fair amount if you pay them into your account.

But you're probably better off simply withdrawing cash from ATMs as you would in the UK. Most banks charge but it's usually cheaper than using TC's or changing cash. For future, get a Halifax Clarity or one of the fee-free cards (see the article on the main site).

catokelly

keasy wrote: »

Hi guys.

First time poster, long time lurker.


My family and I are away to Majorca for a fortnight in about a weeks time and I'm very confused as to what form in which to take our spending money.

Last time I bought Travellers Cheques I got stung on the buy back and it has scared me off, but I do love the security they offer.

We are thinking of taking a couple of hundred cash, a good whack on a Travel Card and a good whack on Travellers cheques.

I've been looking into The Post Office travel card and it seems like a pretty sweet deal. If I get the Euro card then it will only cost me 2 Euros to withdraw from a cash machine when on holiday, but I'm not sure as to how much the ATM operator may charge me. Can anyone advise me on this ?
I don't mind paying 2 Euros every three or so days but I would mind paying an additional 5 Euros for example.

Also, I thought that The Post Office Travellers Cheques sounded like a good deal too but again, I'm confused (I get confused a lot).
Does anyone know what they charge to buy back in any unused Travellers Cheques ?

Thanks for any advice offered.

I think that you are better with the traditional paper American Express Traveller Cheques.

With the Plastic Traveller Chq Cards there are extra charges for withdrawing from ATMs and if there is any technical problem with the card you are left in limbo with no cash and sometimes you get charged extra if you dont use them within a certain period of time.

Whereas with the traditional Traveller Cheques you can cash them abroad for no extra fee and they are much easier to use. There is no expiry date on the paper traveller cheques, so you don't have to necessarilly have to change them up when you return to the UK, you could keep them for your next holiday. However,if you do wish to get a good buyback rate, Thomas Exchange www.thomasexchange.co.uk give the same buyback rate for Euro cash or Traveller cheques - so you wont pay any extra fee.

keasy

Yeah, I know I could keep them but the amount I plan/hope to not spend unfortunately dictates that I would have to have them bought back.

Does anyone know how much I would be charged ?

Zagfles...I didn't know I could pay TC's straight into my bank account.
Surely there is a charge for this ?

catokelly

keasy wrote: »

Yeah, I know I could keep them but the amount I plan/hope to not spend unfortunately dictates that I would have to have them bought back.

Does anyone know how much I would be charged ?

Zagfles...I didn't know I could pay TC's straight into my bank account.
Surely there is a charge for this ?

Only with Sterling TCs you can put them into your UK bank ac and will get face value with no charge, but then you are subject to the GBP to Euro exchange rate when using your traveller cheques abroad. With Euro TCs your bank would charge to change them to Sterling. I know that Thomas Exchange www.thomasexchange.co.uk dont charge a fee to buyback TCs, they give the same buyback rate as for Euro cash.

stilltheone

keasy wrote: »

Hi guys.

First time poster, long time lurker.


My family and I are away to Majorca for a fortnight in about a weeks time and I'm very confused as to what form in which to take our spending money.

Last time I bought Travellers Cheques I got stung on the buy back and it has scared me off, but I do love the security they offer.

We are thinking of taking a couple of hundred cash, a good whack on a Travel Card and a good whack on Travellers cheques.

I've been looking into The Post Office travel card and it seems like a pretty sweet deal. If I get the Euro card then it will only cost me 2 Euros to withdraw from a cash machine when on holiday, but I'm not sure as to how much the ATM operator may charge me. Can anyone advise me on this ?
I don't mind paying 2 Euros every three or so days but I would mind paying an additional 5 Euros for example.

Also, I thought that The Post Office Travellers Cheques sounded like a good deal too but again, I'm confused (I get confused a lot).
Does anyone know what they charge to buy back in any unused Travellers Cheques ?

Thanks for any advice offered.

Too complicated. Get Travelex Cash Passport Globe. Use it to withdraw cash or for purchases whilst you are abroad. It's cheap and convenient.

Please don't give yourself a headache by trying to figure it all out. Get the card(it's denominated in Pounds) and once you have ordered, call ahead and ask them to produce a free extra card.

zagfles

keasy wrote: »

Yeah, I know I could keep them but the amount I plan/hope to not spend unfortunately dictates that I would have to have them bought back.

Does anyone know how much I would be charged ?

Zagfles...I didn't know I could pay TC's straight into my bank account.
Surely there is a charge for this ?

TC's are basically cheques, so you can pay them into your account just like any other cheque. If they're GBP then there won't be a charge any more than there is paying any cheque in. If they're foreign currency your bank will probably charge you a fee like they would if you got any foreign currency cheque.

catokelly

I have seen quite a few bad reviews on the Travelex Cash Passport http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews140874.html so I dont think I would use one

stilltheone

catokelly wrote: »

I have seen quite a few bad reviews on the Travelex Cash Passport http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews140874.html so I dont think I would use one

They are not the same card.

Read a little before you post, otherwise you are doing your fellow readers a disservice.

keasy

The TC's are very tempting now. I like the ieda of the TravelEx too but my wife is against it, she trusts the Post Office and no one else.

When I go to Majorca which lets just say is Spain don't I have to use Euro TC's ? Meaning I would get stung on return to home when placing in the bank.

Or if I take sterling TC's to Spain then how does that work ?

Would I then be charged to convert my Sterling/GBP TC's to Euros in cash ?

zagfles

keasy wrote: »

The TC's are very tempting now. I like the ieda of the TravelEx too but my wife is against it, she trusts the Post Office and no one else.

When I go to Majorca which lets just say is Spain don't I have to use Euro TC's ? Meaning I would get stung on return to home when placing in the bank.

Or if I take sterling TC's to Spain then how does that work ?

Would I then be charged to convert my Sterling/GBP TC's to Euros in cash ?

With Sterling TCs you need to use a bank/BDC abroad to convert them. In general you get better rate abroad than in the UK, or at least you always used to (its years since I exchanged cash or TCs, I just withdraw from ATMs). And it's a lot cheaper if you have some over.

The only time I've ever got foreign curreny TCs is for the USA, where changing currency is a major hassle...