Please help - very confused about travel money for Cambodia

sallytheteamonkey

I'm going to Cambodia in one week and am very confused about how to take money. I need to take US dollars. I've read the pages on this site about cheap travel money (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money). I just want a pre loaded card that I can put about £500 on and use at ATMs in Cambodia.

My friends are getting the Thomas Cook Cash Passport, which I've heard very bad things about. However all I can see Martin talking about is credit cards - I don't want a credit card. I only want to be able to take money out the machine.

Should I just take travellers cheques? Or is there a card that I can put money on?

Thanks so much, all advice welcome.

budgetflyer

get a Travelex Cash Passport GLOBE pre paid mastercard. you will get charged 1.49% of the Mastercard rate.
http://www.travelex.co.uk/uk/cash-passport-globe.aspx
This card will stand you in good stead for wherever you go, worldwide.
You can get marginally better rates elsewhere with other CC/debit card options but this is the easiest no hassle option available.

richardw

I just used my debit card to get money out in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, no problem.

phatbear

sallytheteamonkey wrote: »

I need to take US dollars.

I just want a pre loaded card that I can put about £500 on and use at ATMs in Cambodia.

Tad confused by this.

Why do you need to take U.S dollars? and do you expect to withdraw U.S dollars at an ATM in cambodia? cos it aint gonna happen

budgetflyer

Yes we can all do that anywhere in the world Richardw. with any debit/credit card
but at what cost ?
4 me my HBOS debit card works out at about 3% to 4 % on the Visa rate( more or less eqiuv to Mastercard rate) depending on how its done ie spending or cash ATM withdrawal

The Travelex Globe card is a no nonsense easy option for anyone wanting to get a decent rate anywhere.

richardw

budgetflyer wrote: »

Yes we can all do that anywhere in the world Richardw. with any debit/credit card
but at what cost ?

I have a closed savings account with a plus card, loading is 2.75% on the exchange rate and 1.5% withdrawal fee.

totallybored

phatbear wrote: »

Why do you need to take U.S dollars? and do you expect to withdraw U.S dollars at an ATM in cambodia? cos it aint gonna happen

Yes it is. All the cash machines I used in Cambodia gave out US$ and they are accepted everywhere. In PP and Siem Reap everything is charged in $, from restaurants, stuff in markets to tuk tuk drivers. In smaller places eg a restaurant by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere the price might be in the Cambodian currency but they'll take the $ and give change in local currency if it's less than $1. I also found the Cambodians very honest when doing this and didn't try to rip you off with your change.

OP, I have a Metro bank account and just used this to take money from the ATM. I'd take some cash though and make sure you have $1 bills and nothing higher than a $20. Make sure they're not torn though as I couldn't get rid of a 20 with a tear in it. Cambodia is an amazing country, enjoy the trip.

sallytheteamonkey

Thanks for all the replies. And thank you for your suggestion budgetflyer, I am going to get the Travelex card with dollars on it.

I have a First Direct debit card and looked up the costs on this site and it's pretty steep to withdraw cash so I would want to do it only once or twice - however that then means carrying more cash than I'd like to or leaving it in a hotel room. Therefore I'm going to go with a travel card.

Totallybored - thanks for the tip, I'll make sure to get lots of small notes instead of $20s.

To phatbear - Cambodians have a native currency, Riel, which cannot be bought in the UK. They mostly use US dollars and all the sites I've seen say to take US dollars, so that's why I want them.

Thanks so much for all the advice, feel a lot surer of what to do now!

benjus

sallytheteamonkey wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. And thank you for your suggestion budgetflyer, I am going to get the Travelex card with dollars on it.

Budgetflyer's suggestion was for the TravelEx GLOBE card, not the TravelEx US Dollar card. The Globe card keeps the money in Pounds until you use it, at which point it is converted into whichever currency you use, whether that's US dollars or local Cambodian currency.

The TravelEx US dollar card actually works out more expensive than the Globe card due to the less-than-great exchange rate they use when load money onto the card.

budgetflyer

Yes get the GLOBE. Not the Dollar one.

phatbear

sallytheteamonkey wrote: »

To phatbear - Cambodians have a native currency, Riel, which cannot be bought in the UK. They mostly use US dollars and all the sites I've seen say to take US dollars, so that's why I want them.

I appreciate that and there are plenty of other countries where they have a native currency and accept other currencies too but at a less than preferable rate.

For example I was in vietnam this year and any shop/stall would happily take US dollars but when you worked it out the rate was stacked in their favour, not suprising seeing as they will then have to convert it to their local currency for banking etc, surely going to a country and embracing the culture, if only for a short time, also means utilising their currency too?