Travel money in France

[thegreenman]

Now that Nationwide no longer offer free withdrawls in Europe, what is the cheapest way of getting cash abroad. I am looking at the pre pay cards ( travelex) etc.

Does anyone know which offers the best rates/ smallest fees

TIA

[gasace]

The best place to go is: moneysavingexpert.com they list best buys for most things. I too used to use the Nationwide card, this year we are taking cash and the Nationwide credit card is still free for purchases in Europe. If you do take cash order it on line for collection at the port, you will save a lot doing it this way.

[scanner]

The pre-pay cards give a poorer rate of exchange so are not necessarily any better than the NW card.

Norwich & Peterborough do a fee free card on their Gold account but you have to pay in a minimum of £500/month or they hit you with a £5 underfunding fee for each month you underfund.

Currently being discussed here......
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftoptitle ... roard.html

[dvisor]

I haven't checked it out this year yet, but for the last couple of years I have used Fairfx debit cards. They had a good rate of exchange and it is possible to top up by SMS when abroad. I found that was very useful when I needed to get more funds on the card quickly (a matter of an hour or two). I think they may be starting to introduce charges for SMS top ups this year though. It's also possible to get a second card, so that if the first card gets stolen you can transfer the funds immediately to the second with a phone call. Worth checking out alongside the other ones.

Edit: I've just done a very quick check, and Fairfx still seems to be coming out as one of the best for prepaid (i.e. debit) card exchange rates.

Application fee is £9.95, which is waived if you enroll via Moneysupermarket and load more than 60 euros on the card.
If your first top up is more than £500 you get a £5 bonus.
Top up by debit card or bank transfer is free unless you top up by SMS (see below).
The exchange rate applies for the date that the top up was made (not when you use the card).
There is no charge for using the debit card in exchange for products etc.
ATM withdrawals are 1.50 euros

SMS charges:
Balance enquiry via SMS is 50p
An exchange rate quote via SMS is 50p
Top Up via SMS is free (but you first need to get a quote)

Phone charges:
Balances and topups are free if you use the automated phone service

Online charges:
No fees for balances and topups.

[scanner]

I haven't checked it out this year yet, but for the last couple of years I have used Fairfx debit cards. They had a good rate of exchange and it is possible to top up by SMS when abroad. I found that was very useful when I needed to get more funds on the card quickly (a matter of an hour or two). I think they may be starting to introduce charges for SMS top ups this year though. It's also possible to get a second card, so that if the first card gets stolen you can transfer the funds immediately to the second with a phone call. Worth checking out alongside the other ones.

Edit: I've just done a very quick check, and Fairfx still seems to be coming out as one of the best for prepaid (i.e. debit) card exchange rates.

Application fee is £9.95, which is waived if you enroll via Moneysupermarket and load more than 60 euros on the card.
If your first top up is more than £500 you get a £5 bonus.
Top up by debit card or bank transfer is free unless you top up by SMS (see below).
The exchange rate applies for the date that the top up was made (not when you use the card).
There is no charge for using the debit card in exchange for products etc.
ATM withdrawals are 1.50 euros

SMS charges:
Balance enquiry via SMS is 50p
An exchange rate quote via SMS is 50p
Top Up via SMS is free (but you first need to get a quote)

Phone charges:
Balances and topups are free if you use the automated phone service

Online charges:
No fees for balances and topups.

That can easily add up to a heck of a lot more than using a N/Wide card.

[dvisor]

I haven't checked it out this year yet, but for the last couple of years I have used Fairfx debit cards. They had a good rate of exchange and it is possible to top up by SMS when abroad. I found that was very useful when I needed to get more funds on the card quickly (a matter of an hour or two). I think they may be starting to introduce charges for SMS top ups this year though. It's also possible to get a second card, so that if the first card gets stolen you can transfer the funds immediately to the second with a phone call. Worth checking out alongside the other ones.

Edit: I've just done a very quick check, and Fairfx still seems to be coming out as one of the best for prepaid (i.e. debit) card exchange rates.

Application fee is £9.95, which is waived if you enroll via Moneysupermarket and load more than 60 euros on the card.
If your first top up is more than £500 you get a £5 bonus.
Top up by debit card or bank transfer is free unless you top up by SMS (see below).
The exchange rate applies for the date that the top up was made (not when you use the card).
There is no charge for using the debit card in exchange for products etc.
ATM withdrawals are 1.50 euros

SMS charges:
Balance enquiry via SMS is 50p
An exchange rate quote via SMS is 50p
Top Up via SMS is free (but you first need to get a quote)

Phone charges:
Balances and topups are free if you use the automated phone service

Online charges:
No fees for balances and topups.

That can easily add up to a heck of a lot more than using a N/Wide card.

Where does it rack up the charges???

1.50 euro for ATM charges. Just keep ATM transactions to a minimum. How often do you want to make an SMS balance enquiry (at 50p)? How often do you want to top up via SMS (at 50p)? Top up or get your balance online instead if you can (at least Fairfx offer the opportunity to top up by SMS from abroad - a lot don't).

I stand to be corrected on this, but I believe that Nationwide debit cards incur a 2% load fee and a £1.00 ATM cash withdrawal fee, and the credit cards incur 2%/month interest on cash withdrawals and a 2.5% ATM fee.

Last year I used an ATM twice - total cost of using Fairfx was 3 euros. I topped up once (it was free last year, so I saved a grand total of 50p there).

[scanner]

I haven't checked it out this year yet, but for the last couple of years I have used Fairfx debit cards. They had a good rate of exchange and it is possible to top up by SMS when abroad. I found that was very useful when I needed to get more funds on the card quickly (a matter of an hour or two). I think they may be starting to introduce charges for SMS top ups this year though. It's also possible to get a second card, so that if the first card gets stolen you can transfer the funds immediately to the second with a phone call. Worth checking out alongside the other ones.

Edit: I've just done a very quick check, and Fairfx still seems to be coming out as one of the best for prepaid (i.e. debit) card exchange rates.

Application fee is £9.95, which is waived if you enroll via Moneysupermarket and load more than 60 euros on the card.
If your first top up is more than £500 you get a £5 bonus.
Top up by debit card or bank transfer is free unless you top up by SMS (see below).
The exchange rate applies for the date that the top up was made (not when you use the card).
There is no charge for using the debit card in exchange for products etc.
ATM withdrawals are 1.50 euros

SMS charges:
Balance enquiry via SMS is 50p
An exchange rate quote via SMS is 50p
Top Up via SMS is free (but you first need to get a quote)

Phone charges:
Balances and topups are free if you use the automated phone service

Online charges:
No fees for balances and topups.

That can easily add up to a heck of a lot more than using a N/Wide card.

Where does it rack up the charges???

£1.50 for ATM charges. Just keep ATM transactions to a minimum. How often do you want to make an SMS balance enquiry? How often do you want to top up via SMS? Top up or get your balance online instead if you can.

You may not, but other people will.

From reports I've seen elsewhere, the pre-pay card conversion rates are typically around 2% worse than the Visa rate used by N/Wide and as N/Wide charge £1.00 + 2% for ATM withdrawals, I reckon the N/Wide card is 50p cheaper to use for cash withdrawals.

If you also have a N/Wide credit card and use that for purchases abroad, there are no charges at all, so it will be far cheaper to use one of those than a pre-pay card.

[Alison01326]

I don't know what the rates are on this one, but I'm looking into it http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co ... ency-card/

I too am with Nationwide but I paced myself quite well as I paid by card for almost everything bar cups of coffee, postcards and other small items. I think I took £150 with me for 12 days and I made one ATM withdrawal towards the end of the holiday which I probably could have survived without.

[dvisor]

You may not, but other people will.

From reports I've seen elsewhere, the pre-pay card conversion rates are typically around 2% worse than the Visa rate used by N/Wide and as N/Wide charge £1.00 + 2% for ATM withdrawals, I reckon the N/Wide card is 50p cheaper to use for cash withdrawals.

If you also have a N/Wide credit card and use that for purchases abroad, there are no charges at all, so it will be far cheaper to use one of those than a pre-pay card.

So, for a £100 ATM withdrawal the fee would be £3 for a Nationwide debit card. According to Moneysavingexpert.com the cash withdrawal fee is 2.5% (£3 minimum) for Nationwide credit card customers, with interest on top of that (even if repaid in full).

Granted, the exchange rate may be better with Nationwide, but that can vary massively during the course of a 2 week holiday. With Fairfx the rate is fixed at the date of loading, so you know exactly how much you have. With Nationwide it is based on the date of transaction, so the exchange rate may get worse during the holiday. Of course, it could swing either way.

I'm only interested in this because we are off soon ourselves, and checking that the card we use is still the best for our needs this year; so no axe to grind, but at the moment I can't see that nationwide would offer any distinct advantage.

[scanner]

So, for a £100 ATM withdrawal the fee would be £3 for a Nationwide debit card. According to Moneysavingexpert.com the cash withdrawal fee is 2.5% (£3 minimum) for Nationwide credit card customers, with interest on top of that (even if repaid in full).

Why would ANYBODY draw cash on a credit card

I haven't even so much as suggested that..... and even less chance I would do it, except in the direst emergency.

What I said was - use a Nationwide Credit card for purchases abroad - no charges at all if it's paid off in full by the settlement date and mine is.
For cash draw out as much as possible/think you'll need in one go on the debit card to "dilute" the fixed £1.00 debit fee, there is nothing you can do to "dilute" the % charge.

So all I'm saying is - Why go to all the trouble of getting a pre-pay card (if you already have a N/Wide Flexaccount) in the hope that the £ falls against the € (after you just loaded the card and given them an interest free loan of your money) and you can possibly save a few % points of a % point on the exchange rate - or not!.

Granted, the exchange rate may be better with Nationwide, but that can vary massively during the course of a 2 week holiday. With Fairfx the rate is fixed at the date of loading, so you know exactly how much you have. With Nationwide it is based on the date of transaction, so the exchange rate may get worse during the holiday. Of course, it could swing either way.

Long time since "massively" came into it.

I'm only interested in this because we are off soon ourselves, and checking that the card we use is still the best for our needs this year; so no axe to grind, but at the moment I can't see that nationwide would offer any distinct advantage.

Then neither does the pre-pay card if you already have the N/Wide card, does it?


NB For clarification - I use a Norwich & Peterborough debit card for fee free cash withdrawals and a Nationwide Credit Card for fee free purchases.

[dvisor]

Why does everything seem like a confrontation with you Scanner?

[scanner]

Why does everything seem like a confrontation with you Scanner?

It isn't with me - Read back through the thread and you will see all I did at first was point out some drawbacks of pre-pay cards and then express surprise at how much more the costs could build up with a pre-pay card after you posted chapter and verse.