Travelling Bank Account

travelman86

Hi everyone,


Just after a bit of advice on bank accounts & travelling.


Towards the end of the year I am looking to go travelling around the world for around 8 months.


Im going to South America, New Zealand & then Central Asia.


My question is what would be the best way manage my money?


Staying in hostels etc. I don't really want to be carrying large amounts of cash at any given time, really want to restrict the amount of cash held to 3-4 days budget at any given time.


Are there any bank accounts that don't charge for cash withdrawals in a foreign country?


I suppose I could have a foreign currency card..... however travelling across different countries with different currencies, will that affect it? Plus having all my money lumped onto a pre-paid card for 8 months could cause a headache if exchange rates change.


Any help & suggestions are more than welcome


Thanks

vouch0r

Hi ,

i was in the exact same position, for me:

use a revolut/monzo/travelex supercard combo research each and work out what would be best.. maybe all 3?

and take a UK card as a backup. saved me loads doing this and although sometimes the payment processors go down for the travel cards, with a backup you should have no problems.

travelman86

perfect!


Thank you very much!


I'll check them out

benjus

There's an MSE article on this: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/travel-credit-cards

It's also mainly discussed in this area of the forum: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=193

I use Santander Zero and Halifax Clarity credit cards, which are both fee-free worldwide and have no charges for cash withdrawals. Then I pay off cash withdrawals as soon as they hit the account to avoid interest. The Santander one is no longer available to new customers, but there are other options available (see link above).

It's also worth doing some country-specific research. For example, in Argentina (as of early 2017 - the situation changes frequently) ATMs charge at least 4% on top of anything that the card/issuing bank charges. I tried to do an in-branch withdrawal using the credit card but no bank I tried was willing to offer this. You can pay for many things using cards in Argentina but you'll often find a discount of more than 4% for paying cash, so it's often still cheaper to use cash.