travel money advice please!

wilroda

Hi
Having looked on this site it appears that a Nationwide Flexaccount would be ideal for travelling abroad.

Being ......ahem!!....of a certain age ( only just!) and not having travelled far before we are off to the Carribean for a stay and cruise soon as a celebration.

When we travelled abroad years ago we took travellers cheques and a little currency to get us started.

All change now then! I will look into getting a Flexaccount but have a few stupid questions to ask

1) We will be staying in Barbados for a week then cruising - Barbados i gather uses or accepts USD or Barbadian Dollars. Would ATM machines be readily available for getting cash? and would this be at a good exchange rate?
2)We arent sure what sort of cash we would be using on the Islands so i hope that Barbadian dollars and USD would be accepted. Exchange rates on the ship would be high..... has anyone any experience of using cash on different islands?
3) I suppose that Visa is readily used in the Caribbean...

Thanks

Jake'sGran

I have never been to the Caribbean but would love to. With regard to the best place to buy your currency M & S are very good. I buy my Euros from them and if one buys £500 worth it is delivered to the door the next day and there is no commission. Their rates of exchange have always been very competitive too. There is a detailed advice section about buying currency at the beginning of this forum (I think). Click the Travel Transport box at the top of this page. Nationwide is excellent because, with their credit card they do not charge for purchases abroad. I always pay my hotel bills with it and the ROE is always much better than it would be if you were paying in the resort. I imagine that whichever country you are in you will be able to purchase cash at a machine with a debit card. I'm not sure about your refence to a Flex Account except that with this account you will be able to get one of their debit cards but if you can manage with their credit card on it's own you would not need to open a savings account with them.

To summarise, I would take the Nationwide credit card and some of each of
the currencies you may need. You can get the money at any of the larger M & S stores. Another good foreign exchange place is Travelex. Look them up on line. Have a great holiday.