Spending money for Mexico - best way

mystra

I'm totally baffled on the best way to take our spending money to Mexico (Playa del Carmen) in a few weeks!

OH is getting his peso's from the Post Office and seems to be quite happy taking it as cash... i find this to be utter madness!

We haven't been on holiday for years so this is a big trip for us and we've saved plenty of spending money.

According to MSE best thing is to get a credit card for overseas (then pay off on return) but I've recently had a new credit card - the Natwest points one - i never thought to get one for overseas til after.

What are my options. I've used traveler's cheques before but it was a pain in the bum! and I'd rather just have some sort of card where i can withdraw cash out than faff with cheques all the time

I was looking at the Post Office card that you just load money on but it only comes in £, Euros or $ so would be paying another exchange rate on top with those.

Any suggestions? I don't know whether to just apply for another cc just for this but it could harm my rating surely? Natwest said i have excellent credit in their eyes (i know that's not the official verdict lol) I don't want to ruin credit for the sake of some holiday money that i already have technically!

I just don't fancy bringing a wad of peso's on holiday!

NiftyDigits

Best is Metro Bank debit card. If you live in London, you can get one today.
Next is Norwich & Peterborough Gold account.

Then the Halifax Clarity.

If haste is necessary, Cash Passport Globe, as you can order online and pick it up at the airport with four hours notice.

benjus

If you don't want to apply for a new credit card or a new current account (which is the cheapest way to get foreign currency) the cheapest prepaid cards for overseas use are:

• TravelEx Cash Passport Globe - you get a great exchange rate (the Mastercard wholesale rate, i.e. the best you can get, with 1.49% deducted). No extra fees for cash withdrawals abroad.
• Kalixa - you get a perfect exchange rate (the Mastercard wholesale rate with no deductions), but there's a charge for cash withdrawals. So it's great for purchases and withdrawing more than £150 at a time.

Notice that both of these cards are in £, like the Post Office card you looked at. There's nothing wrong with this, as you don't pay anything to load money onto the card, so the only charge is when you actually use it abroad. These cards are clearly the best choice when going to somewhere that doesn't use EUR or USD, but what is not so obvious is that they are actually cheaper than EUR cards when visiting Europe, or USD cards when visiting the USA. This is because the EUR and USD cards give you a relatively poor exchange rate when you load money onto the card.

mystra

awesome - some interesting options there

I'm not going to make any huge purchases - in fact i'll probably be drawing bits and bobs from the ATM and using the card in restaurants etc

We leave on the 30th so not a huge amount of time!

time to way up the usual pros and cons...

globetraveller

The exchange rate is a lot better in the resort. Even our hotel reception had a better exchange rate than the uk- and hotels rates are usually lousy.

richardw

Playa del Carmen has lots of ATM's, some issue pesos and some US dollars.

mystra

richardw wrote: »

Playa del Carmen has lots of ATM's, some issue pesos and some US dollars.

LOL just to confuse me! that's really odd... i've heard some places let you pay in US$ but give you change in pesos

NiftyDigits

mystra wrote: »

awesome - some interesting options there

I'm not going to make any huge purchases - in fact i'll probably be drawing bits and bobs from the ATM and using the card in restaurants etc

We leave on the 30th so not a huge amount of time!

time to way up the usual pros and cons...

So Metro Bank debit or Cash Passport Globe(take the option of the free extra card. If you intend to pick up in person, call through to the pick up outlet to request it), in that order.

mystra

well, i wont be recommending that blinking card to anybody!

Card wouldn't work in majority of cash points and shops etc even for small amounts. Customer services was atrocious, took us round in circles and we had to walk miles in midday heat (i know i know first world problems LOL) to find some mysterious Western Union office - which we could never find! All of this on our first day which was very stressful and upsetting. When i asked why this card wouldn't work (both my card and my OH's - separate accounts) they just said sorry for the inconvenience but beyond the non existent Western Union offer to transfer our money to us (which no doubt would have cost us somehow) I got really upset at one point and the woman hung up! I never raised my voice once however.

Luckily we found a HSBC - where the card would allow us to draw out money. Purely by chance and it was quite out of the way of the 'tourist zone'. I would rather carry the cash on me now, never, ever EVER again! My phone bill (i took it only for emergencies such as this - i almost didn't!) has come in at over £100 because of all the calls/internet usage trying to find false addresses etc.

Nightmare!

By the way I'm not blaming anyone for the recommendation!

Just a warning, although the majority seem to have got on ok :beer:

zagfles

Which card was it?

mystra

zagfles wrote: »

Which card was it?

Ooops! I was so cross I forgot to actually say LOL

It was the Travelex Cash Passport Globe card