Current account or savings account abroad

Retire

I have a Halifax reward current account and a Halifax reward savings account and I will be going to Ireland next week.

What account would be cheapest to withdraw euros from at an ATM or would the charges it be the same?

I normally keep the minimum in my current account but I can of course deposit money from my savings account into my current account before I go.

I won't have Internet access and don't want it when I am away. After all I will be on holiday and my desktop won't fit in my luggage.

innovate

Have you read Martin's guide on travel money?

Retire

Have you read Martin's guide on travel money?

Yes I have.

It does not answer my question.

agrinnall

Assuming you have a full debit card for the savings account then I can see no reason why the charge for withdrawing from either account would be different.Having said that, I did find something in the T&Cs for the Web Saver Reward account that says

"From mid 2011 any replacement cards we issue will
allow you to withdraw money from cash machines
abroad, subject to a charge. We will give you full
details when we send out the replacement card."

Whether that means cards issued earlier than mid-2011 won't work abroad I don't know, you should probably ring Halifax and check with them (and at the same time tell them that you'll be abroad so they don't block your card when you use it).

Retire

I have just noticed that my reward savings account does not have a chip on it.

Whether that will be a problem or not I don't know.

I will just transfer the money I need to my current account before I go.

It will just be a one off withdrawal anyway.

What's a £1 or £2 when you're on holiday anyway?

missile

The cheapest is to visit a good currency exchange shop before you go and take euros with you.

If you don't want to, use your current account debit card. Note some ATM machines will make another charge in addition to your bank charges. Check Halifax website for bank charges. It will be more than £1 or £2 per withdrawal.

You cannot withdraw from your savings account.

Enjoy your holiday!

opinions4u

Halifax savings account ATM cards don't work overseas.

Halifax current account debit cards do, but they're expensive to use. If you have to use it do it for bigger amounts and as few times as necessary. Paying £1.50 for withdrawing £9 in Euros isn't a good idea.

When you use your debit card abroad to pay for goods and services, or to withdraw cash at cash machines, the exchange rate we use will be the Visa Reference Exchange Rate. We will charge a conversion fee of 2.75% of the amount of the transaction and a fee of £1.50 for each payment.

You've probably left it too late for a Halifax Clarity Reward Credit Card (apply in branch for the possible £5 a month bonus if you spend £300+). The link takes you to the non-Reward version.

You could even just take the foreign currency with you.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/holidayservices/holidayservices.asp