Holiday spending... best way?
Discussion
I've not travelled abroad for many years but will be doing so several times a year from now on.
I've heard that certain cards are more advantageous to use when paying for meals, trips, cars etc abroad as they have lower exchange rate costs or some such. I've heard Revolut or Monzo are good.
Have I got the wrong end of the stick here and I should just use my usual MasterCard overseas?
Many thanks.
I've heard that certain cards are more advantageous to use when paying for meals, trips, cars etc abroad as they have lower exchange rate costs or some such. I've heard Revolut or Monzo are good.
Have I got the wrong end of the stick here and I should just use my usual MasterCard overseas?
Many thanks.
No, definitely get a specialist card, normal ones can absolutely rinse you in terms of fees and currency loading.
It’s probably not the super-best deal ever now but I get on well with my Halifax Clarity card. Zero loading on exchange rate, withdraw cash and only pay the interest on that… pay it off online immediately and no interest!
It’s probably not the super-best deal ever now but I get on well with my Halifax Clarity card. Zero loading on exchange rate, withdraw cash and only pay the interest on that… pay it off online immediately and no interest!
Ive been very happy with Monzo both in Europe and the US
The account I have mandated a few months of activity before giving good rates for overseas transactions, apologies but I cant recall how long
What I do know is that I have a regular £500 direct debit to it which I move back to my current account the day after which gives me a decent deal overseas
If Im being picky its frustrating they wont let me park the card with Google Pay, I admit having to carry the card isnt exactly arduous
Cheers
numtumfutunch said:
Ive been very happy with Monzo both in Europe and the US
The account I have mandated a few months of activity before giving good rates for overseas transactions, apologies but I cant recall how long
What I do know is that I have a regular £500 direct debit to it which I move back to my current account the day after which gives me a decent deal overseas
If Im being picky its frustrating they wont let me park the card with Google Pay, I admit having to carry the card isnt exactly arduous
Cheers
I use Monzo as my main current account now and use it with Google pay.The account I have mandated a few months of activity before giving good rates for overseas transactions, apologies but I cant recall how long
What I do know is that I have a regular £500 direct debit to it which I move back to my current account the day after which gives me a decent deal overseas
If Im being picky its frustrating they wont let me park the card with Google Pay, I admit having to carry the card isnt exactly arduous
Cheers
The app is really good.
Also use Starling for a couple of smaller businesses and don't think there is much to choose between them.
A friend recommend Monzo before I was going in a holiday a few years ago and as I was paying for a whole family the savings were really noticeable.
Halifax Clarity credit card and Barclaycard Rewards Visa credit card. Both offer great rates and no commission, but Barclaycard gives a small cashback and also no interest on cash withdrawals if paid on due date.
Starling is a good debit card too with the facility to have multi-currency accounts.
Tip - if withdrawing cash from an ATM in Spain (maybe other countries too) use a bank displaying 'Euro6000' and avoid paying an ATM operator fee.
Starling is a good debit card too with the facility to have multi-currency accounts.
Tip - if withdrawing cash from an ATM in Spain (maybe other countries too) use a bank displaying 'Euro6000' and avoid paying an ATM operator fee.
Scarletpimpofnel said:
Have I got the wrong end of the stick here and I should just use my usual MasterCard overseas?
That very much depends on which bank your Mastercard is with. First Direct recently scrapped foreign currency payment fees for its Mastercard debit card, for example. Furthermore, the exchange rate is calculated without any additional charges.
However, if your bank imposes high fees, then you could consider something like the Currensea Mastercard debit card. It's linked to your existing current account via Open Banking.
C69 said:
That very much depends on which bank your Mastercard is with.
First Direct recently scrapped foreign currency payment fees for its Mastercard debit card, for example. Furthermore, the exchange rate is calculated without any additional charges.
However, if your bank imposes high fees, then you could consider something like the Currensea Mastercard debit card. It's linked to your existing current account via Open Banking.
I can recommend First Direct as I now use them all the time when abroad and are much better than CaxtonFX who I used to use.First Direct recently scrapped foreign currency payment fees for its Mastercard debit card, for example. Furthermore, the exchange rate is calculated without any additional charges.
However, if your bank imposes high fees, then you could consider something like the Currensea Mastercard debit card. It's linked to your existing current account via Open Banking.
Am I the only person here who would check at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/tra... for the best travel cards?
We got Chase cards before a 2 month Interrail adventure a year ago….I see it is still recommended there.
Also have Monzo and Starling as backups.
For a credit card (for larger things like booking accommodation, for example), we have a Barclays Reward card….which I also see is up there with the Halifax Clarity as a top card to use. Took our old Tesco Mastercard as backup.
Watch for the devil in the detail, especially if you need cash out - there can be limits per month. Frankly we had virtually zero cash (maybe a hundred or so in euros), & only got more cash out I think once.
We got Chase cards before a 2 month Interrail adventure a year ago….I see it is still recommended there.
Also have Monzo and Starling as backups.
For a credit card (for larger things like booking accommodation, for example), we have a Barclays Reward card….which I also see is up there with the Halifax Clarity as a top card to use. Took our old Tesco Mastercard as backup.
Watch for the devil in the detail, especially if you need cash out - there can be limits per month. Frankly we had virtually zero cash (maybe a hundred or so in euros), & only got more cash out I think once.
ninepoint2 said:
balise said:
I use Revolut and find it very good. Good exchange rates and easy to add money.
I don’t use it in the UK much.
On our recent trip the now card only airline announced they don't accept Revolut or MonzaI don’t use it in the UK much.
ChrisH79 said:
I've had a few issues with Revolut not being accepted by airlines and some online transactions when using it in foreign currency. But for ease of use its great.
That's interesting. Only issue I've seen with my Revolut card is a transaction being declined because I was abroad. But that was just a switch in the app to turn off location-based security (which is a per-card setting) - I was able to use the same card immediately afterwards to complete the transaction.mikeiow said:
Am I the only person here who would check at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/tra... for the best travel cards?
We got Chase cards before a 2 month Interrail adventure a year ago….I see it is still recommended there.
Also have Monzo and Starling as backups.
For a credit card (for larger things like booking accommodation, for example), we have a Barclays Reward card….which I also see is up there with the Halifax Clarity as a top card to use. Took our old Tesco Mastercard as backup.
Watch for the devil in the detail, especially if you need cash out - there can be limits per month. Frankly we had virtually zero cash (maybe a hundred or so in euros), & only got more cash out I think once.
I did that, though it turned out I already bank with one of the better options which (at the time) was Virgin. My wife also set up a Wise account for a longer trip and that worked well.We got Chase cards before a 2 month Interrail adventure a year ago….I see it is still recommended there.
Also have Monzo and Starling as backups.
For a credit card (for larger things like booking accommodation, for example), we have a Barclays Reward card….which I also see is up there with the Halifax Clarity as a top card to use. Took our old Tesco Mastercard as backup.
Watch for the devil in the detail, especially if you need cash out - there can be limits per month. Frankly we had virtually zero cash (maybe a hundred or so in euros), & only got more cash out I think once.
I did make a mistake of using a credit card to draw some cash out (local train only accepted cash or local cards to top up travel ticket), so I immediately paid it off to avoid getting charged interest. I should have realised when the pin was wrong, but I carried on and put the other number in not thinking I was using the wrong card.
Funny that you mention having little cash as we've found the same: Hardly used any in Singapore or Australia and more recently in Spain...even coffee shops/ice cream parlours seem to prefer cards now. Only place we needed cash was Thailand which nearly became a problem as we'd got used to using cards almost everywhere, so it pays to check before the trip incase cash is still king.
Just had a week in Spain and took 35 Euros left over from the last trip and came back with 15 Euros. Wouldn't have used that either if my wife's Wise account had topped up quicker (sometimes seems to take an hour or two before it arrived in her account).
Wombat3 said:
Halifax Clarity credit card - otherwise look at Wise,com.
I think the Post office used to have a fee-free card as well
I use the clarity card for the good exchange rates and no charge for cash withdrawal. You can keep up with your spending on the app, seems to update with the previous days spending each day. I think the Post office used to have a fee-free card as well
I then just pay it off when I get back. Pretty straightforward.
Unless you are going off some obscure beaten track, almost every shop/retailer will accept your existing Credit card. Just tap or punch in your pin, select the local currency e.g. Euro, to pay and it will convert at spot rate.
I hardly pay with cash on holidays, but I do withdraw a nominal amount (Nationwide debit card) of local ccy (say Eur150) at the arrival airport to cover tips, small purchases , incidentals etc.. Yes, it'll incur a small charge for the cash withdraw, but it's saves any faffing with additional cards.
I hardly pay with cash on holidays, but I do withdraw a nominal amount (Nationwide debit card) of local ccy (say Eur150) at the arrival airport to cover tips, small purchases , incidentals etc.. Yes, it'll incur a small charge for the cash withdraw, but it's saves any faffing with additional cards.
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