Am I screwed?! left it late for travel card in S.E Asia, please help

danstar10

Hi,
I am traveling to South East Asia on Thursday (in 3 days) And have only started looking into the best way to carry money. The way I see it is I have left it too late to get any decent deals, and am going to get screwed over whatever I choose.

I have been reading through this article:
moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

It is too late to get any of the specialist credit cards, and the only option I can see is the Travelex prepaid card as I can get it in store.
The problem is that I can only get it in USD or GBP, and if I use it for a transaction in a different currency, which I will, I will be charged 5.75% on top which is hefty. See the small print below:

Merchant transactions and ATM withdrawals in a currency other
than the currency of the Card will be exchanged to the currency
on the Card at an exchange rate determined by MasterCard on th
e day the transaction is processed, increased by 5.75% for all
currencies.

They do use USD extensively in SE asia but I think I would have to withdraw local currency from cash machines which would incur this charge. On top of that if I got it in USD it would go through 2 conversions, to GBP then local currency.

So, can anyone suggest a way for me to not get screwed over every time I spend?! I will be travelling in Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thiland.

Thanks very much,
Dan

Doshwaster

I thought that the TravelEx Globe card only had a markup of 2.49%?
http://www.travelex.co.uk/uk/cash-passport-globe.aspx

It's no longer the cheapest on the market but probably the best you can get at short notice unless you are in London and able to get to a branch of Metro Bank.

dawyldthing

i'd suggest travel cheques as they give you a better exchange. Cards are ok but you get charged every time you use it

Bob_the_Saver

As suggested by Doshwasher,

I guess you might be travelling through London, if so set off a bit earlier and pop into a Metro Bank branch. Leave under 30 mins later with a debit card for usually free transactions and ATM withdrawals.

See their web-site for full details.

(Always take a back-up with any card)

So in answer to your question no you are not screwed. Have a good time in Thailand though :eek:

Doshwaster

dawyldthing wrote: »

i'd suggest travel cheques as they give you a better exchange. Cards are ok but you get charged every time you use it

The only place travellers cheques are useful is if you are going back in time to the 20th Century.

NiftyDigits

Doshwaster wrote: »

I thought that the TravelEx Globe card only had a markup of 2.49%?
http://www.travelex.co.uk/uk/cash-passport-globe.aspx

It's no longer the cheapest on the market but probably the best you can get at short notice unless you are in London and able to get to a branch of Metro Bank.

Also £9.99 for the card.

Let's hope he can get to a Metro Bank. Takes more than thirty minutes, especially if they are having problems with their card printers.

He'll also get stung in Thailand with the 150 baht ATM withdrawal fee, with possibly no option to use the card over the counter(as Prepaid cards often surcharge for it)

NiftyDigits

danstar10 wrote: »

Hi,
I am traveling to South East Asia on Thursday (in 3 days) And have only started looking into the best way to carry money. The way I see it is I have left it too late to get any decent deals, and am going to get screwed over whatever I choose.

I have been reading through this article:
moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

It is too late to get any of the specialist credit cards, and the only option I can see is the Travelex prepaid card as I can get it in store.
The problem is that I can only get it in USD or GBP, and if I use it for a transaction in a different currency, which I will, I will be charged 5.75% on top which is hefty. See the small print below:

Merchant transactions and ATM withdrawals in a currency other
than the currency of the Card will be exchanged to the currency
on the Card at an exchange rate determined by MasterCard on th
e day the transaction is processed, increased by 5.75% for all
currencies.

They do use USD extensively in SE asia but I think I would have to withdraw local currency from cash machines which would incur this charge. On top of that if I got it in USD it would go through 2 conversions, to GBP then local currency.

So, can anyone suggest a way for me to not get screwed over every time I spend?! I will be travelling in Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thiland.

Thanks very much,
Dan

Which cards do you hold now?

danstar10

Hi guys,
So I spent all day in town today (London) asking around. I spoke to travelex who advised me about the Globe Card which seemed ok, much better than the ones I was looking at.

I then went to nationwide as I am currently with them, and they advised me that my current credit card (which I did not realize is actually the 3rd best recommended on the MSE page I posted) charges 0% on transactions but should be avoided for ATMs, and my Flexaccount (current account debit card) charges 2% (I think) +£1 on ATM withdrawals which is not too bad. But the lady in Nationwide then kindly referred me to Metrobank. At this point I managed to check this thread and saw that you guys recommended Metrobank so I decided to sign up with them.

They offer 0% on both ATM and purchases, and lets you get the card in store as you guys said... I thought this seemed a little too good to be true, and I kind of still do. Are there any hidden charges?

Also, I assumed I would have to close my nationwide current account or something to that effect to open the Matrobank one - see this line from the MSE page I posted:

"It’s also possible to get load free debit cards – but to do that you’ll need to genuinely shift bank account."

But it seems I did not need to, I just signed up. I have a few querstions:

• Are there any disadvantages to having this debit card to use abroad as opposed to a credit card?
• I now have both my Nationwide cards and this new Metrobank card - can I just use both / either when needed? (One is Visa, one is Mastercard, so that could be handy)
• Am I missing anything?! It seems like I managed to get a great deal too easily, and I am surprised this offer is not made a bigger deal of on the MSE page I posted, especially for a last minute solution.

Thanks for all your help :T
Dan

P.S. - NiftyDigits - what you refer to as getting stung - will that happen with the Metro debit card, or is that just prepaid cards? And how do they sting you?

He'll also get stung in Thailand with the 150 baht ATM withdrawal fee, with possibly no option to use the card over the counter(as Prepaid cards often surcharge for it)

Bob_the_Saver

Never had a problem with our Metro bank debit cards at all and never paid a fee. Used them in a dozen or more countries. In some places you can use it where you can't use a Mastercard credit card.

AS WITH ANY KIND OF CARD OR METHOD OF CARRYING MONEY ALWAYS HAVE A
BACK-UP

StratMan81

Glad I stumbled upon this thread.

I'm going to Australia later this year and I'm currently thinking about how to carry my cash. Especially as I'll be staying in hostels for the majority of my trip - slightly worried about security in shared dorms.

benjus

danstar10 wrote: »

P.S. - NiftyDigits - what you refer to as getting stung - will that happen with the Metro debit card, or is that just prepaid cards? And how do they sting you?

Most ATMs (except Aeon) in Thailand impose their own charge for withdrawals on foreign cards (or maybe any card from a different bank - not sure). This applies to all cards - prepaid and debit. However, with a debit card you should be able to avoid this by withdrawing the cash over the counter, which you cannot do (or it does not make sense to do) with prepaid cards.