Going to Paris for a few days - is it better to take Euros or use a credit card?

TheBombadillo

Apologies if this is a really dumb question but because I'm not sure how much I'll be spending (restaurants and hotel) I wasn't sure how many euros to take so i wondered if it is possible (or just plain stupid) to use my Natwest Mastercard? I'm aware it will probably charge me but then I will probably have to change back euros when I come back and potentially lose money on those anyway.

Just a bit confused. Any help would be so appreciated.

NiftyDigits

Metro Bank debit card.

Voyager2002

TheBombadillo wrote: »

Apologies if this is a really dumb question but because I'm not sure how much I'll be spending (restaurants and hotel) I wasn't sure how many euros to take so i wondered if it is possible (or just plain stupid) to use my Natwest Mastercard? I'm aware it will probably charge me but then I will probably have to change back euros when I come back and potentially lose money on those anyway.

Just a bit confused. Any help would be so appreciated.

It is certainly possible to use your NatWest mastercard, but that is likely to cost you more than buying Euro. If you have time (even just a couple of hours in London) then get yourself a Metro Bank debit card instead. And do read the article on this site about getting foreign currency.

simongregson

It will cost you around 3% of the total to use your NatWest card. You might beat this by using a top exchange bureau for cash, but using a high street one like the post office the rate makes it equivalent to about 5-10% commission.


Don't use your NatWest debit card for anything apart from if you need to get cash out of a cash machine in paris as it charges a flat fee per purchase as well as the 3% charge.


If possible get a commission free card before you go - you can get metrobank ones if you are near London, others take about 2 weeks to arrive in the post, if not I would just use your NatWest mastercard. You also won't have the worry of carrying around wads of cash that could be stolen.