Best way to take / spend currency in Iceland

emmajaynewithay

I'm off to Iceland in March. I've been before, but when £1 was worth roughly 200 ISK, and the ISK was impossible get hold of in the UK so I got my cash at the Airport in Reykjavik and then purchased a fair few things on my Barclays debit card. Now the rate is much less favourable, I am more concerned about how best to deal with spending money there, especially as they favour using credit and debit cards to pay for most things.

Does anyone have any recommendations? My debit card will charge 2.75% on transactions, plus £1.50 for ATM use. My credit card will charge 2.99% and £1.50 for ATM use.

I wondered about a pre-paid credit card, but would that actually work out any cheaper? And I also wondered, how do they work out the exchange rate as you spend, and are there likely to be other hidden charges. I did look at the travel money pages on the main site, but I still just don't quite get what would be best.

Thanks.

PeacefulWaters

Halifax Clarity
Creation Everyday

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/travel-credit-cards

eDicky

emmajaynewithay wrote: »

I wondered about a pre-paid credit card, but would that actually work out any cheaper? And I also wondered, how do they work out the exchange rate as you spend, and are there likely to be other hidden charges.

Yes, a recommended prepaid card will save you money compared to using your bank card (But take that as backup). It's also less bother than getting a suitable credit card, if you don't travel often.

Cards such as Clarity and Monzo use the MasterCard rate without adding any margin. A provisional rate is shown for a transaction immediately on the app, and this is revised to the effective rate at the time of settlement a couple of days or so later. Revolut applies the interbank rate applicable at the moment of conversion or transaction, except on weekends when they add a small margin.