Managing money whilst abroad (1 Viewer)

[Xoxoc]

Hi,

I've often wondered what motor-homers who go to Europe for an extended holiday do about managing their money.

Do you take a load of sterling and hide it under the mattress, exchanging as you need?

Do you take a load of Euros and stash them under the bed?

Do you take a credit card and use cash machines over there and pay the balance from your UK current account each month?

Or something else???

Just curious

Bryan

(You can PM me if you don't want to post on open forum )

 

[Forestboy]

Hi Bryan

We use credit card 1st and debit cards if we have too, cash machines and banks. Manage every thing on line never had a problem yet in 4 years and 4 different continents.

 

[vindiboy]

Nationwide Debit card ,great,get money from hole in the wall, 300 Euros daily limit, no charges, and great exchange rate,also good for general purchases, again no charges and good exchange rate, works for us, Simples.:thumb::thumb:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[staging lady]

I used to be keen on travellers cheques unti I went to France 18 months ago.

I had real problems trying to change them. The bank sent us to the post office and the post office then sent us to the bank.oh: So I gave up!:Sad:
Now it's atms
Lucille

 

[Road Runner]

How about these pre loaded cash cards?


http://www.cashpassport.com/1/en/uk/

Link Removed

http://www.lloydstsb.com/travel/travel_money_card.asp

 

[neilmac]

Another Nationwide user here :thumb:

Just draw cash as required, works a treat

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Douglas]

Nationwide Debit card ,great,get money from hole in the wall, 300 Euros daily limit, no charges, and great exchange rate,also good for general purchases, again no charges and good exchange rate, works for us, Simples.:thumb::thumb:

I second this with just one modification, Nationwide pass on any charges that if the bank you make the withdrawal from to you, however its still the cheapest way of turning you Pounds into Euros, use your debit card to draw the cash from the ATM and any card you want to pay the bill directly.

OH! and by the way, now is a very good time to go to the continent, the Euro has dropped to E1.15 to the Pound!!!

Doug...

 

[vwalan]

depends were you are going of course .travellers checks useless. credit and debit cards can sometimes beeaten by the hole in the walls . pounds can be changed most places .buy euro at port is sometimes ok. this year we were broke into near valencia lost about600 euro from wallet and cards taken.banks would not send new cards or let family memberpick them up from bank and post restonte. luckly had cash and friends to sub from. with out expensive wireing money could have been stuffed. have seen many in maroc lose their cards in machines .by the time you get into the bank the cards have been spoilt.

 

[vindiboy]

depends were you are going of course .travellers checks useless. credit and debit cards can sometimes beeaten by the hole in the walls . pounds can be changed most places .buy euro at port is sometimes ok. this year we were broke into near valencia lost about600 euro from wallet and cards taken.banks would not send new cards or let family memberpick them up from bank and post restonte. luckly had cash and friends to sub from. with out expensive wireing money could have been stuffed. have seen many in maroc lose their cards in machines .by the time you get into the bank the cards have been spoilt.

Sorry to hear that you were broken into Grand Djalaba, we always make sure that the bank where we use a hole in the wall is open,in case the card gets eaten by the machine, but so far in ten years no problem. :thumb::thumb:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[MikeandCarolyn]

We've been 'doing' Europe by car for last 20yrs-can't see that Motor Home is much different-we take some euros with us for cash purchases,but use cards most of the time for fuel,meals,supermarkets etc. Been lucky so far,and not had any problems-oh,in Paris once I tried to pay for a suit with a debit card and the tailors terminal was not working (he said) so I got cash from ATM
We're of next week in M/H will do the same,but take more Euros cos we going for longer than usual.

Mike.

 

[lebesset]

I keep hearing about the great rate that nationwide give you , but what is it ?
most card providers give you the rate provided by the card company , eg if it is branded visa , you get the visa rate

what do nationwide do ?

 

[vwalan]

best laugh is in europe we hardly get asked for the pin .they just seem to swipe cards .cards good for garages supermarkets like others have said.
hi vindy, thought i had told you about it.any plans for next winter,need sun this winter .there as been talk of some going to the sinia good for snorkeling etc.
insh allah buslemma. grand djelabah

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[656]

Nationwide Debit card ,great,get money from hole in the wall, 300 Euros daily limit, no charges, and great exchange rate,also good for general purchases, again no charges and good exchange rate, works for us, Simples.:thumb::thumb:

Same here, never had a problen :thumb:

 

[656]

I keep hearing about the great rate that nationwide give you , but what is it ?
most card providers give you the rate provided by the card company , eg if it is branded visa , you get the visa rate

what do nationwide do ?

You get the bank rate on the day you use the card. One day you may get 1.16 the next 1.19, NOT the tourists rate which is always a couple of points or more lower.

 

[Ralph-Dot]

Debit card for most transactions (usually with no commission and better exchange rate), some Euros and credit card if required as a last resort

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[gillr49]

Another vote for Nationwide, never had any trouble

 

[Ralph-Dot]

Doesn't have to be the Nationwide, your own bank may be as good check with them. I use two banks both as good as the Nationwide abroad.

 

[vwalan]

but dont loose your cards or get them stolen when abroad.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Ralph-Dot]

but dont loose your cards or get them stolen when abroad.

or leave them in a bar, but the Yorkshire bank looked after me anyway.

 

[smifee]

Doesn't have to be the Nationwide, your own bank may be as good check with them. I use two banks both as good as the Nationwide abroad.

Before going to France for 6 months when the pet passport scheme started in 2000 I did a lot of research into the cheapest way to get cash & make purchases.

Nationwide Flex Account Visa Debit card was, at that time, the only card in the world that did not make a charge on cash withdrawls and purchases. I checked the rate we were getting by looking on the BBC interactive/text and it was always the 'Pound Rate' not the lower 'Tourist Rate'.

I believe that there are now cards that offer charge free cash OR purchases but haven't seen any that do both.

Come on ralph-dot let us into the secret - who are the other 2 banks?

 

[chas]

Dont forget that Nationwide transactions are only charge free in E.U countrys, anywhere else and they charge, just like the other banks. oh:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[shortcircuit]

Friend who full times is in UK at moment. Spends winter in Spain/Portugal. He had an experience when his card was cloned, recons it was copied when he left it?? in his hotel bedroom in Italy when on holiday and now takes even more cash abroad to last him the whole six months. I mentioned Nationwide, with whom I have had no problems, and he incorrectly assumes they will charge him.

Quite sad as he will be doing what I term his "money laundering run" as he does not want to pay any bank charges and he can exchange £250? at a time with no questions asked so is doing the rounds of the various euro shops.

A thief breaking into his van would not believe his luck, but as they say, its everybody to there own

 

[ritaderek]

Nationwide but beware that some shops in Germany still only accept cash

 

[vindiboy]

I keep hearing about the great rate that nationwide give you , but what is it ?
most card providers give you the rate provided by the card company , eg if it is branded visa , you get the visa rate

what do nationwide do ?

That's a bit difficult, I can only say that on January 5 th this year I changed £200 pounds at my local post office for Euros and got 1- 05 Euros for a pound, using my Nationwide card there after we were getting 1-13 1-14 Euros to the pound on transactions , I was pleasantly surprised on my return home in April on reading my bank statements There were NO additional charges unlike Lloyds when we were with them and they added £1 to every transaction SIMPLES. :thumb::thumb:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[steveclecy]

I follow the advice from Martin Lewis on his website here. You will see that Nationwide is top of his lists for Credit Cards, followed by Post Office, Saga and Santander. There is also a matrix chart showing charges for different transactions.

Steve

 

[6pm Cowboy]

This is a private post only for Bryan's eyes.

Seeing as how you seem to have a fixation with 'under the bed/mattress........ would you mind telling me your van registration number...... and where yoou will be parked this weekend ?

 

[lebesset]

bank rate is what you bank decides to charge you
friend of mine uses nationwide , clearly one of the best if not THE best available , no transaction charge

when in spain he withdrew some cash when I was with him ; I checked the middle money market rate on the internet that day and made a note of it ; when he got home he looked at his bank statement and emailed the rate he had obtained

it was 2% less than the money market mid rate , so I suspect they are using one of the major card system rates

bank rate is too expensive for my tastes as I use a lot of euros , I maintain a non resident account in the euro zone [ no bank account charges ] and buy in bulk , putting money into a savings account in my euro bank , transferring as required

don't forget there is no such thing as a money market rate as there must be a spread for buy and sell , the mid rate is just a calculation therefore , so you can see what your bank is actually charging you at so called bank rate

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[OwnedbyCollies]

I concur with Steve and follow Martin Lewis's advice.

I have Santander Zero CC (fee free worldwide) and Nationwide CC (now only fee free in Europe). Everything on plastic if possible and pay in full on return.

This year I also plan to take a Caxton FX card to avoid carrying large amounts of cash. Free withdrawals at ATMs.

 

[Ralph-Dot]

I follow the advice from Martin Lewis on his website here. You will see that Nationwide is top of his lists for Credit Cards, followed by Post Office, Saga and Santander. There is also a matrix chart showing charges for different transactions.

Steve

See also Here