Overseas Money Ideas

[mighty hounds]

Hey guys, Going overseas Sept - Oct and was just wondering how you guys stored your money?
Did you use travelex card bank cards etc. Do you remember the type of fees you paid with withdrawlin and things like that.

I'm thinking Travelex card but some1 has told me about NAB card. Bit confused as to what to do so any help would be great

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

I used travelex cards and my normal westpac card from time to time, you get a pretty good exchange rate with travelex cash passport, plus the debit cards are great as you can use them to purchase things over the net or phone in the local currency so you won't be charged conversion fees as you would if using an Australian credit card.

Fees weren't anything too much, but it can be a little confusing at first as most cashpoints advertise ''free cash'' in that they won't charge you for the transaction, however your own bank might, with travelex this was either £1.50 or €2.20 regardless of the amount, but watch out for cashpoints that don't offer free cash as they will also charge their own fee on top of this, stay away from western union, by far the most expensive, santander are always free wherever you go, as are pretty well all cashpoints within the UK.
Friends that were using their Australian cards said that some cashpoints charged a percentage for withdraws rather than a set fee, plus then with the associated conversion fees it can become a little expensive, santander were generally considered the cheapest cashpoints to use though.

Cashpoints in continental Europe will all offer you the option of English, so don't worry too much if you don't know what the screen says at first, also to take cash out they generally don't give the option of ''withdraw cash'' to get cash out its the option of ''web transfer'' or something along those lines.

Also if you say eftpos when you want to pay for something, you'll more often than not be given a blank look, just say card.
Usually the travelex cards won't require a pin either, they'll need a signature.

[Psyber]

HSBC gave me good rates to change $AU to GBP while in the UK - at Aberystwyth actually.
They were also the best rate to get GBP cash here before leaving but not enough better than my local Bank SA to warrant a special trip.
Mostly I just used my VISA card and the rates were fairly good when I got the statement.

I like the idea of a debit card or a lower limit credit card when I can get an annual fee free one.
[I don't pay bank fees.]

[Gingernuts]

Hey guys, Going overseas Sept - Oct and was just wondering how you guys stored your money?
Did you use travelex card bank cards etc. Do you remember the type of fees you paid with withdrawlin and things like that.

I'm thinking Travelex card but some1 has told me about NAB card. Bit confused as to what to do so any help would be great

I am with ANZ and they had their own travel cards, so I set up a Pound and Euro one for my trip over to Europe last year.

Still ended up using my standard debit card for a lot of purchases though, fees weren't that bad in the end. I would seriously think about just going with it and forgetting about the travel cards if I ever went over again, you can look after your own security by only transferring as much money across as you need, which you can do securely with an iphone these days.

[scottroo]

dont do anything until you see this, easily the best card on the market, its a credit card with high interest but you can put your own money on it ans use it like a debit card, no fees, no atm fees, no monthly fees, good conversion rates....

i used it all round europe and it was fantastic

http://aussietraveladvice.com/wizard-cl ... astercard/