OAP Going on Long Stay Winter Break - means of paying

BargainJunky

My mom is soon due to go on her annual Winter break to Malta.

Flights and hotel are booked independantly. In fact the hotel do not even ask her to pay until she gets there as she has been going there for years.

Last year she did everything 'as normal' some Euros and the rest in Euro travellers cheques which she then uses to pay the bill. Unfortunately the hotel had stopped accepting travellers cheques so she had to go to the local bank and change them there thus paying the bill in cash - possibly not the brightest idea for a 78 year old to be walking around with the best part of £2k in cash in her handbag.

She is planning to do exactly the same but there must be a better and safer idea. She has a Lloyds debit card but insists on doing her shopping with cash and gets me to use the hole in the wall to withdraw it for her. She does not have a credit card although years ago I put her on mine as a card holder in case of an emergency and that card is still active.

Does anyone know which would be the cheapest way to pay the bill - debit card, my credit card or a prepaid credit card loaded with Euros? Its ages since I have been abroad and I would just have handed over my credit card!

NiftyDigits

Metro Bank Mastercard debit if in London and surrounds. Disbursed on the spot. No forex or ATM withdrawal charges.
Virgin Money Essential Visa debit.This one has a £1.50 ATM withdrawal charge. No forex fee on withdrawals or purchases.

NiftyDigits

If you think that she won't be bothered to go out to open an account, you can open a Revolut account in her name, sorting out the verification etc for her. it's all done online via the App.
Make sure she uses it to pay the bill, rather than trying to withdraw it all in cash
You can only withdraw £500 in cash per month before incurring a 2% charge. So use it for purchases when possible.

spiro

Could you not pay the hotel over the phone by credit/debit card for her? That would reduce the amount of cash she needs to carry.

PompeyPete

Am going to Malta got a month soon. Staying at Santana Hotel in Bugibba.

Booked online direct with the hotel in Match, and got an excellent Early Bird deal. Paid by Nationwide Select CC.

isplumm

Hi

As she has stayed there before, could she just not transfer the money direct into their bank account - she would need their IBAN details I think?

Use someone like Smart Currency to do it - I regularly transfer money direct into our French bank account this way.

Thanks Mark