Are all zero-fee travel cards equal?

esuhl

WAYT wrote: »

What a strange comment. Do you have any examples?

Just my experience when I went to The Netherlands and compared my credit and debit card companies' "no commission" rate with the rate offered by a local bureau de change.

It was cheaper to get cash from the bureau than to use cards.

eDicky

esuhl wrote: »

Just my experience when I went to The Netherlands and compared my credit and debit card companies' "no commission" rate with the rate offered by a local bureau de change.

It was cheaper to get cash from the bureau than to use cards.

What cards were they, and how did you access their '"no commission" rates'?

esuhl

eDicky wrote: »

What cards were they, and how did you access their '"no commission" rates'?

Maestro/Cirrus debit and MasterCard credit, I believe.

I accessed the "no commission" rates simply by using them.

The debit card gave "commission free" ATM withdrawals, and the credit card gave "commission free" purchases. In either case, I got a better deal with a bureau de change.

zagfles

esuhl wrote: »

Just my experience when I went to The Netherlands and compared my credit and debit card companies' "no commission" rate with the rate offered by a local bureau de change.

It was cheaper to get cash from the bureau than to use cards.

If you use a zero fee VISA or MasterCard you get the rates given by the links in post #2. No high street BDC will ever beat those rates.

You might have been ripped off by DCC. Where the retailer's POS terminal or ATM "offers" you a rubbish rate and if you accept it charges your card in GBP. Some dodgy retailers have been known to impose DCC without asking (they get a cut of the rip-off commission hidden in the rate).

If your receipt shows GBP anywhere on it then you've been ripped off by DCC. Or check your bank statement, if it only shows GBP and not the EUR amount you've been DCC'ed.

Loads on MSE about this.

sausage_time

The debit card gave "commission free" ATM withdrawals, and the credit card gave "commission free" purchases. In either case, I got a better deal with a bureau de change.

Somewhat intrigued by this discussion. Can you post some details of a couple of the transactions, specifically: Date, EUR, and UKP amounts?

eDicky

esuhl wrote: »

Maestro/Cirrus debit and MasterCard credit, I believe.

I accessed the "no commission" rates simply by using them.

The debit card gave "commission free" ATM withdrawals, and the credit card gave "commission free" purchases. In either case, I got a better deal with a bureau de change.

That doesn't answer my questions. If you saw the rates on ATM and payment terminal screens, it was them doing the conversion, not your cards. When your cards do the conversion the rate is shown on your statement. We can assume that you opted for DCC when paying and withdrawing.

Your confusion is apparent, the term 'commission free' or 'no commission' is used by bureaux de change, not by your cards, which you seem unable to identify.

chattychappy

esuhl wrote: »

Just my experience when I went to The Netherlands and compared my credit and debit card companies' "no commission" rate with the rate offered by a local bureau de change.

My limited experience of the Netherlands is that DCC is widespread there. Somehow I wonder if this is where there is some confusion.

The ONLY times I have found Bureaux de Change offering better than what I get on my Clarity/Zero cards in an ATM (without DCC) are:

1) For a short time I used one in London for obtaining German marks and later Euros. They obviously took in more foreign cash than they dished out, so generally had to bank foreign currencies - presumably getting the interbank rate plus paying a fee. By pitching up with GBP and taking some foreign cash, they saved the fee and some hassle. They returned some of this margin to me. It was an independant place near Gloucester Road tube - long since gone.

2) In Vietnam around the lunar new year holiday. Official exchange rates can depart from reality meaning you can get more for changing good quality GBP/USD high value notes than by using ATMs. But note, it often goes the other way too. Plus, unless you know where to go, you can end up with trouble from fake/damaged local notes.

esuhl

eDicky wrote: »

We can assume that you opted for DCC when paying and withdrawing.

No -- I always pay in local currency. If you pay in sterling, the shop's processing company will you an exorbitant exchange rate.

eDicky wrote: »

Your confusion is apparent, the term 'commission free' or 'no commission' is used by bureaux de change, not by your cards, which you seem unable to identify.

You seem to be very confused yourself. I have provided simple statements, and you're leaping to all sorts of conclusions. I don't use DCC, and I am able to identify my cards. It's not rocket science, is it? :rotfl:

eDicky

esuhl wrote: »

Maestro/Cirrus debit and MasterCard credit, I believe.

esuhl wrote: »

You seem to be very confused yourself. I have provided simple statements, and you're leaping to all sorts of conclusions. I don't use DCC, and I am able to identify my cards. It's not rocket science, is it? :rotfl:

You didn't seem very sure what cards you were using - why don't you tell us exactly what they are, and where you saw the rates they were giving? If you avoided DCC it's simply not possible that your cards obtained worse rates than a bureau (at the same time), unless they have non-sterling fees/loading.

WAYT

esuhl wrote: »

No -- I always pay in local currency. If you pay in sterling, the shop's processing company will you an exorbitant exchange rate.



You seem to be very confused yourself. I have provided simple statements, and you're leaping to all sorts of conclusions. I don't use DCC, and I am able to identify my cards. It's not rocket science, is it? :rotfl:

Why don't you just name the cards? "Mastercard" and "commission free" tells nothing.

It's true that it isn't "rocket science", but somehow you managed to get poorer rates using your cards. That is a feat in itself.

So we would like to assist you in obtaining the correct rates using appropriate plastic. There is no way that bureau de change in the Netherlands can outdo using the correct plastic via the ATM.

So let us fix this.

There is no Maestro/Cirrus debit that is "commission free". The term "commission free" was phased out many moons ago. In fact there are likely no Maestro cards left in the UK. So you are probably referring to something that occurred many years ago.

So if you are still travelling or ordering online from abroad, we need to update your cards.