Best global overseas credit/prepaid cards for long term travel

DBailey

Me and my partner are about to travel the world, backpacking various different countries on a budget. We have been trying to figure out which type of card would best suit our needs. We are not sure whether the best option is a credit card or a prepaid cards. We ideally need low fee cards for cash withdrawals, card payments and online purchases.


We are also wondering whats the cheapest way to make purchases for flights and hostels on websites such as skycanner and booking.com when overseas. We are looking for the best option to avoid online transactions and conversation rates etc.


Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

WAYT

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

WAYT

Suggestion;

A credit card each from;
Halifax Clarity
Creation Everyday
Santander Zero

Debit or Prepaid card from;

Virgin Money Essential Current Account Issue 2

Monzo

Biggles

There are lots of other threads asking the same question, plough through and check out the answers.

eDicky

Make sure you have more than one source of funds when traveling, any card can sometimes fail, or be lost, stolen etc. I always carry several.

Apart from the insignificant daily interest charged by most travel credit cards on cash withdrawals, the best options cost nothing and do not require currency conversion until they are used, avoiding the problem of leftover foreign money on a card.

Don't let any travel agents talk you into buying their cards, it would probably be cheaper to use your regular debit cards while overseas.

Never accept the offer by payment terminals or ATMs to debit your card in pounds, always pay in the local currency and select 'Without Conversion' if an ATM offers the choice.

The new 'mobile only' bank, Starling, has no fees or limits for overseas use of its card, which will cost nothing to try out in addition:

https://www.starlingbank.com