Spending Overseas: The cheapest way to pay Article Discussion Area

barbaradavies1941

is the post office travel money card visa electron the cheapest way to spend money abroad.

wesley4

Hi,

Has anyone been using the Caxton FX Euro/Dollar prepaid cards? Is it a reliable company to deal with? How have you found using the card?

Thank you

pablo121_2

Hi, l have been adivsed that better rates for the Euro are available when you are actually in Euro.

Can any one shed any lighht on this idea as getting 1.22 exchange rate makes for one costly holiday!!

Thanks

Pablo

stoneman

Thanks Tojo,
Signed up for Amex cashback before going to the U.S. last week and even allowing for their loading, made £100 saving on our purchases.
I will never snigger again when someone asks what is the best way to spend in the U.S. Not always so obvious, is it!!

Born2Save_3

I'm looking at applying for one of the new Abbey Zero cards and just wondered if anyone could shed light on the following possibility, which if works would seem to make it as good as a Nationwide Flex Debit Card (Visa is better as they seem to give better exchange rates than Cirrus/Mastercard)

If the Abbey Zero account was fully paid up and paid in excess, in other words you over pay whatever your bill was and was in credit - ie Abbey owe you money - this can be done on other cards. Then you use the card for an ATM withdrawal abroad, for an equivalent amount less than your amount in credit, then would interest be charged ? I don't see how it could be as you you are al ready in credit of excess of the amount withdrawn and allegedly there is no charge from Abbey for the use of the card abroad.

I will pose the question to Abbey CS, but it is not a typical question !

To really find out, it would be good if someone could try this for a small amount and see what happens. Also if you have another Abbey account it should be possible to move money quickly into your credit card account to avoid being charged too much interest.

I wonder if the Abbey zero card is Visa or Mastercard ? I use to have some links for Visa and Mastercard to see the exchange rates they would use for particular days and currencies, but these are no longer available. It was useful to compare these to the rates quoted after a withdrawal from and ATM and also with banks TT rates too. Nationwide Visa gave rates typically quite close to and better than some banks TT rates. Also, at weekends the rate seemed to have little change. So if there was a drop in GBP on Sunday you could potentially still get a better rate on a Sunday ATM withdrawal.

Also, are there any ways to get cash back on the application for the Abbey Zero card ? I notice that there are not any links that benefit MSE for this one, so presume there probably isn't. Quidco doesn't have anything I can see.

robledouk

I was looking to apply for the Natiowide debit card but I`ve heard that you have to have had an account open with them for 7 months before you are even considered. Is that true?

And does the straight forward cash card allow free cash withdrawals abroad? That`s the only reason I was really after applying with Nationwide. Would prefer the debit card of course

sailorchief

I have a Nationwide Debit Card that I intend to use in the States next month for the following reasons:-

Cash withdrawals are FREE.:D

The rate you get is the Visa rate of the day (which is $1.97 today) better than pre-buying from any UK source for small amounts.

I can't pre-order from Travelex at the airport as they don't have a shop at Manchester airport - they closed it in Aug last year for some reason.

So I intend to just get a few $$'s in cash at the Post Office for travel purposes and withdraw a fistful of $$'s over there as and when I need them.

You would be well advised to TELL your branch that you intend to make cash withdrawals abroad, that way they won't query them with the possible result that the transaction is denied with the subsequent hassle.

Have a good hol.

Wanderlustg

I use a combination of a Nationwide Visa Credit card and a Nationwide Visa Debit card on a flex account.
I've had the credit card for years but I opened the flex as a second current account before taking a career break just over two years ago. I did phone and ask if I needed a salary paid into the flex account before I opened it and they said no. What was funny was during the conversation with the Nationwide person as to why I wouldn't use the flex as my main current account, I convinced her that she should check out RBS's One mortgage/current/savings all in one account, as she thought it sounded like a really good account!
I also opened the e-savings account that you are entitled to.
I then loaded the e-savings and flex accounts up with money before I headed off to South Afica, Russia and China, and literally saved myself hundreds of pounds in charges I didn't have to pay. I set up the credit card to auto pay the full amount off each month and if the flex amount was getting low I just logged on and did an instant transfer from the e-savings to the flex.
Other times when I have been abroad, like in remote parts of Africa, where ATMs and paying by credit card are not an option I have always gone for the option of taking cash in sterling and changing the money in the country when you get there, typically at the airport. Check guide books like Lonely Planet as they will often tell you where the money changing facilities are at the airport. For instance I did this in Marakesh, Morocco last August.
Enjoy your travels!

captaint_2

So the Abbey Zero card has a high interest rate if you use it to withdraw cash from overseas ATM's... What would happen though if you transferred money into the account first, therefore using it as a cash account rather than withdrawing on it as credit?

So since you're withdrawing money into the account rather than borrowing money would this mean this interest rate charge wouldn't apply?

Thoughts?

alisondavie

Cash withdrawals are free from ATM machines at Bank of America, there is usually at least one in every town.