Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Charges for Travel Cash
Posting about this subject online means I'm clearly past my prime, but here goes anyway.
I've recently returned from a family holiday abroad. For the past ten years or so of traveling, it's been my habit in most destinations to rely on ATMs for cash. There's always been a charge but this time round the charges seem to have been particularly high.
This time there was a double whammy. My current bank, Smile, charge £2.00 or 2% whichever is the greater + 2.75% NSTF (Non-Standard Transaction Fee). So, on a withdrawal of just over £200, our charge was more than £10.00.
That seemed high. I checked with First Direct and they say their charge is 2% flat. Apparently you can also get the charges wavered by signing up to their premium product for £15.00 pcm (which also gives you travel and mobile insurance + car breakdown cover).
Has anyone found any other ways of defraying cash charges when travelling abroad?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bethany Burrow Atherton on
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Premium products do seem to eliminate these fees, or at least reduce them significantly - one thing I would note is that some banks will give you their premium account for free if you have a certain amount of savings/investments with them, at least £x coming into your current account each month or have a mortgage over a certain threshold amount (or some combination of these things), so check if you qualify for free or a reduced rate before you sign up for a paid premium service.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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Hugh. I do two things.
First. I have a Halifax credit card that offers a perfect exchange rate (the bit you missed off your costings above was the fact that there is also often a margin of difference in the exchange rate you may receive...). I am also charged no fees for use when making purchases. I had a quick look and this one seems to offer no fees on ATM withdrawals, but you are charged interest on the sterling value you take out... http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#Halifax. I use this for purchases. I would read the whole page this link takes you to as it is informative.
Second. I take as much cash as I can bare, and I check where the best place to buy it is using this tool. http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/ There can be a massive difference depending on where you get it from. Where I can I use cash. I guess once you run out you can then revert to a card...
As you can see I got much of this from the Money Saving Expert- http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Thanks for the links. I'll take a look. We didn't want to have too much cash on us this time in particular since we were in Brazil - not the safest reputation in the world!
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Permalink Reply by Sarah_24 on
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The Nationwide Select credit card lets you spend abroad for no commission but for cash, like First Direct, Nationwide have a premium account that lets you withdraw cash for free and I think their charges are only £10 a month and give you all the bumpf like travel and mobile insurance etc.
Santander also have a Zero account but you only get the benefits if you have a mortgage or £10,000 in saving with them if I remember rightly.
And other than that I do exactly what Justin does when it comes to taking cash with me, and I always end up at the exchange place in the arcade at Liverpool Street (as they offer the best rates if you order earlier in the day). It must have a good reputation cause there is always a queue of around 20 people.
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Permalink Reply by Jacqui O'Beirne on
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I use Caxtonfx currency cards, I have one for € and one for global, that works for all other currencies so I can just load and go - no fees and i can load when the rate is high and get more for my money.
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Thanks Jacqui. This looks really useful for Europe, and it may well be worth getting - but not so good beyond Europe - "Please note that, if you use your Europe Traveller Card or Dollar Traveller Card outside the Eurozone or United States respectively, there is a 2.75% charge on all transactions, including ATM withdrawals."
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