Which one is the best deal for going abroad?

regislordstjohn

Hey everyone.

I will be taking a year out of work to go traveling - I have been saving for this for a long time. As I'll be traveling for quite a bit, I was wondering which of the following options would be the cheapest for me overall?

1. I have a Nationwide Select Credit Card, which lets me spend money with 0% commission.
2. I have a TransferWise debit card, but I've never used it and am not sure how it works. Supposedly, they offer midmarket exchange rates, which is slightly better than the Visa and MasterCard exchange rates, but they charge a small fee for each purchase.
3. I could just buy lots of cash.

Please let me know which of these is the best option, and if there is an option better than all of these, I'm all ears.

P.S. I've used Revolut before and their service charges hidden fees in the form of exchange rate markups applied over weekends, i.e. when FX markets close.

Best,
Regis

eDicky

Avoid the cost and hassle of exchanging 'lots of cash' and having to keep it safe.

Open a Starling Bank account on your smartphone, for fee-free purchases and cash withdrawals.

Another fee-free for overseas credit card, such as Halifax Clarity or Tandem (0.5% cashback) would be useful.

Take also your TransferWise, Revolut and Nationwide cards, to have plenty of options and backup for a year's travel - any card can be lost, damaged, blocked or declined etc, and you don't want the hassle of phone calls and replacements while away.

Robisere

+1 to Halifax Clarity card: you can load it up with cash before you go. Check it out on the Halifax website, and call at a branch for confirmation advice. Also carefully check out the currencies you will need to use: which countries are you visiting and which is the best currency to load? The £ is on the end of a Yo-Yo atm.

For example: I was able to withdraw cash Euros during my last holiday with GB Pounds loaded on the card, but could not do this in Hungarian Forints.

bigadaj

Clarity is a credit card, not a prepaid card, so putting it into a positive balance is against the terms and conditions and can lead to it being closed.

It's fine for use, just spend on it with a near perfect rate, if you take cash out then wait for it to show and pay by online banking, paying a few pennies interest.

Robisere - you should be able to pay in any currency so maybe enquire why forints weren't possible, it may be that teh business you were dealing with only accepted euros?

18cc

I would recommend the Tandem credit card as long as you set up a direct debit to repay in full each month they give you 0.5% cashback and excellent exchange rates

the app is excellent and you'll get immediate notification of the Sterling equivalent of anything you pay

IvanDP

I have a Nationwide select and a Tandem credit card, and and has been mentioned, both are great for overseas spending (The Tandem having the small advantage of 0.5% cashback)

I also have current accounts with Starling, Monzo, Revolut and N26

Of the app based current accounts, i would recommend Starling which not only gives you fee free spending, but also fee free ATM withdrawals too (plus a small amount of interest on your money)

Ben8282

Robisere wrote: »

+1 to Halifax Clarity card: you can load it up with cash before you go. Check it out on the Halifax website, and call at a branch for confirmation advice. Also carefully check out the currencies you will need to use: which countries are you visiting and which is the best currency to load? The £ is on the end of a Yo-Yo atm.

For example: I was able to withdraw cash Euros during my last holiday with GB Pounds loaded on the card, but could not do this in Hungarian Forints.

You cannot 'load' a Halifac Clarity credit ard with cash nor can you load it with multiple currencies or exchange money in advance.

regislordstjohn

Thank you everyone. I will be backpacking through Latin America, and I am also thinking of going to Israel, India, and Egypt.

regislordstjohn

Is there a card that I can use to withdraw cash for free without having to set up a current account? I know starling requires one to pretty much set up a fully fledged bank account, and I'd rather avoid Revolut's hidden fees..

[Deleted User]

regislordstjohn wrote: »

Is there a card that I can use to withdraw cash for free without having to set up a current account? I know starling requires one to pretty much set up a fully fledged bank account, and I'd rather avoid Revolut's hidden fees..

If you don't want a fully fledged current account then you need a pre-paid card.

Or a credit card.

Ben8282

You need to balance any costs which may be incurred as a result of using the card for cash withdrawals against the risks of carrying large amounts of cash.