Best way to take travel money?

Doshwaster

Indout96 said:

badger09 said:

badger09 said:

Starling debit card, Halifax Clarity credit card. I’ve used this combination all over the world.  

Actually, we always have some €s, and if spending several weeks in one country would probably withdraw some cash for tips. I still have quite a few HK$ left from frequent visits when my son lived there. 

Unfortunately you generally end up with High denomination notes when withdrawing from ATMs these days. I got €100 out last week in Dresden and got 2 x €50 notes, not much use for tips.

Other than that always use my Chase card but unfortunately no cashback now on it :-(

The Germans love high denomination notes. 

One tip is to withdraw €90 rather than €100 which forces the machine to give you some smaller notes.

NoodleDoodleMan

Last time I withdrew cash from a Santander ATM in Spain it offered some options for the mix of currency to choose - mind you it was a very modern machine inside a main branch.

cantbelieveit23

As several have mentioned, to withdraw cash in Spain, Santander is, from my experience, the best bet.  Use their card in a Santander ATM in Spain and no fee or exchange commission, BUT ensure that when asked, you don't accept the exchange rate offered by the ATM.  Opt for your "own bank" (i.e. Santander UK) to do the exchange.
These days, there are very few businesses which won't accept a card.  We travel to Spain for between 5-8 week blocks and I usually just withdraw €200/300 once, useful for tips, the odd coffee/beer and the guy who does odd jobs at our house.
We also use Santander Edge credit cards to get cash back (2% for newbies, then down to 1%, up to £15 per month), but also with excellent exchange rate.
The rates for buying cash in the UK for delivery are good if you want larger sums (£500/750 minimum, but I can't see why anyone would need that much, especially as you are paying upfront.

CaptainWales

Does anybody still use mainly cash abroad?

I am travelling later in the year as a group of 8 people. I am thinking whether cash would be easier when we go out for food and trying to split the bill - I usually go for the cheaper meal options whereas others order more expensive food and drink alcohol. Irks me to subsidise others meals all the time. 

NoodleDoodleMan

"As several have mentioned, to withdraw cash in Spain, Santander is, from my experience, the best bet."

For regular visitors to Spain & Canaries I've always advocated opening a Santander Everyday Current account to use at a Banco Santander branch based ATM.

I have one almost exclusively for that purpose - no strings attached such a Direct Debit requirements or minimum monthly incoming payments.

From time to time they have a decent switching offer, so it's worth keeping an eyeout.

martindow

CaptainWales said:

Does anybody still use mainly cash abroad?

I am travelling later in the year as a group of 8 people. I am thinking whether cash would be easier when we go out for food and trying to split the bill - I usually go for the cheaper meal options whereas others order more expensive food and drink alcohol. Irks me to subsidise others meals all the time. 

The problem is the same whether you use cash or split the bill across different cards.  Of course all eight of you will need to have cash to do this.  It really depends how comfortable you feel about negotiating the split of the bill - some people might find it petty and not react well to this.

In some places, Scandinavia for instance, you may find that some restaurants will not accept cash at all.

TheShape

martindow said:

CaptainWales said:

Does anybody still use mainly cash abroad?

I am travelling later in the year as a group of 8 people. I am thinking whether cash would be easier when we go out for food and trying to split the bill - I usually go for the cheaper meal options whereas others order more expensive food and drink alcohol. Irks me to subsidise others meals all the time. 

The problem is the same whether you use cash or split the bill across different cards.  Of course all eight of you will need to have cash to do this.  It really depends how comfortable you feel about negotiating the split of the bill - some people might find it petty and not react well to this.

In some places, Scandinavia for instance, you may find that some restaurants will not accept cash at all.

They won't necessarily all need cash as CaptainWales could simply give their cash to another of the party who then pays with either cash or card.

Other otions might be to use PayPal/Revolut etc to transfer money between parties.

Regarding using cash, I travel fairly regularly and increasingly use card payments over cash in most places.  So many places take card payments now.