Egypt Hotel in US$ Best way to Pay

John1706

Going on Holiday to Egypt in Jan 2015
Hotel wants paying in US$ on arrival
What is best way to pay to get best £ to $ rate
1)HSBC Advantage debit card
2)American Express
3)Tesco Credit Card
4)other credit card
ALTERNATIVELY Preloaded Currency Card ( which one )
Bill will be approx £1700 ( £2500 USD )
Any advice appreciated
John1706

NiftyDigits

Hotel cannot demand US$ in payment. They can demand the equivalent of US$2500 in the local currency.

Forget about your current cards. They are relatively awful.

Kalixa Pay Prepaid Mastercard is the best Prepaid card for your purpose. Open the card with perhaps £50 and once you've received and activated it, you can top it up to the required balance. I would do it asap.

The best mainstream card would be Halifax Clarity. Better in that there is no initial £6.95 purchase fee for the card and no ATM withdrawal fee. But there is no guarantee that you would receive the card in time, nor to be sure of the credit limit available.

Both cards pass on the full Mastercard rate with no deductions; currently US$1.57420.

So with Kalixa Pay, you are looking at a total bill of approx. £1589 + £6.95 for the card; £1596
Halifax Clarity; £1589

Of course if using a Prepaid card, you should top it up with more, perhaps 2%, as they may use a buffer to protect themselves from currency fluctuations. So perhaps top up with £1650. You can use any remainder on the card £ for £ in the UK or if anywhere else in the world, taking advantage of the full Mastercard exchange rate when using it for purchases.

John1706

Many thanks for useful info much appreciated

Regards
John

stephb34

If you haven't bought them yet I should get a move on the us$ dollar rate is dropping quicker than a lead balloon. If you'd have bought them when you first posted you'd probably have got 1.56 ish now you'll be lucky if you get 1.48.