how much (1 Viewer)

Khizzie

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Jul 26, 2014
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hi all this year when i go to the twin lakes meet will be my first venture with motorhome in France..what I would like to know is : How much cash and how much on say caxton card ,besides normal credit cards on average would I need ,bearing in mind that I am a solo traveller. I know this is a bit like how long is a piece of string.but please indulge Me..Roy...sorry forgot to say was planning on two to three weeks
 
D

Deleted member 29692

Deleted User
Like you said, how long is a piece of string.

You would be better off to over estimate and have too much on your Caxton Card rather than not enough. If you have to start withdrawing on a credit or debit card you get into fees and crap exchange rates.

Think about how much cash you would spend in £ on a similar length trip here and have at least that much in € on your Caxton card. Remember to add a bit for tolls unless you have a tag or aren't going on motorways. Don't include card purchases. Make sure you have a no fee credit card for those (Halifax Clarity is the one I use but there are others available.

Also as a tip Revolut are still offering a better exchange rate than Caxton (y)
 
Feb 24, 2013
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not long enough
good question, we are still very much cash people when abroad, although we did load up and carry a Caxton card at the recommendation of the knowing ones on here, still unused but still loaded (must get that spent)

we failed to use the card on 2 occasions then lost interest, a barrier at an aire in south France and fuel

The aire would actually have been the only one we have ever paid at, now had around 20 nights all free sites, that is my target now 'free'

The fuel was a bigger issue, we were very low and on an automatic only fuel stop, but managed to get a local to help us use our credit card, the Caxton fail may have been our fault as well, but we don't like using credit cards abroad

So now we refuel when half empty pay cash,

edit - BTW we take 1000 euros a week in cash, but that always easily covers everything and leaves plenty for the start of the next trip each time, that is fuel, food camp sites everything, probably only spend 500 / week in reality, mainly depends how many miles we do

I will probably get told I am wrong, but remember it is different not necessarily wrong :)(y)

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D

Deleted member 29692

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we failed to use the card on 2 occasions then lost interest, a barrier at an aire in south France and fuel

All the currency cards are notorious for not working on aire barriers, toll booths and automatic petrol stations. It's something to do with the way they authorise the transaction I believe.

Not really user error on your part and not something particular to Caxton
 
Feb 24, 2013
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Bolsover, Derbyshire
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not long enough
All the currency cards are notorious for not working on aire barriers, toll booths and automatic petrol stations. It's something to do with the way they authorise the transaction I believe.

Not really user error on your part and not something particular to Caxton

so why do people use them? just as means for cash withdrawal?
 

Lenny HB

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Oct 18, 2007
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For France buy nearly everything on our NW CC, only use about €50 a week in cash.

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D

Deleted member 29692

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so why do people use them? just as means for cash withdrawal?

Yes.

The advantages are no fees and pretty much the best possible exchange rates. They will beat the banks every single time.

Example: At the moment Revolut's rate is €1.3299 to the £. They offer the interbank spot rate which is always better than the retail rate.

A random selection of others:

Barclays €1.2752
Lloyds €1.2521
Thomas Cook €1.3036
Thompson €1.2937
Post Office €1.2940
Tesco €1.3036
 
Feb 24, 2013
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not long enough
Yes.

The advantages are no fees and pretty much the best possible exchange rates. They will beat the banks every single time.

Example: At the moment Revolut's rate is €1.3299 to the £. They offer the interbank spot rate which is always better than the retail rate.

A random selection of others:

Barclays €1.2752
Lloyds €1.2521
Thomas Cook €1.3036
Thompson €1.2937
Post Office €1.2940
Tesco €1.3036


Thanks Nick, they suddenly make more sense, even though I do still prefer to carry cash (y):)

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D

Deleted member 29692

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Thanks Nick, they suddenly make more sense, even though I do still prefer to carry cash (y):)

I've always got cash on me as well (y) Usually carry enough for 2 or 3 days and keep it topped up.

We got caught out in Garmisch in Germany where the restaurant we had just eaten in plus all bar one of the banks in the town were on some kind of stupid alternative card processing network that didn't accept Visa or MasterCard o_O

That's never going to happen to me again (y)
 

denisejoe

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Aug 6, 2014
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We use cash and metro bank debit card for cash & Metro credit card for every thing else.

Nationwide and saga credit cards are no charges.

All these are fee free and you get the interbank rate on the date it is processed.
 
May 7, 2011
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We usually take between 500 --700 euro's with us for 3 weeks over there,
but mainly stop on aires ( free if poss) then stop every 4th or 5th night at a municipal c/site.
As for fuel we usually look out for supermarkets that are manned with cashiers, again pay with cash,
but have used our halifax credit card on several occasions for fuel and aires with barriers.
We don't eat out, as usually cater for our own meals /BBQ etc.
We do most of our shopping at Lidl's or similar supermarkets over there. (cash)
You can tell from my spending (or lack of it) I'm a bit of a tight wad !!
Might bump into you as we are hopeing to visit Twin Lakes in sept.
Terry & Ann + ASBO our dog
 
Jan 2, 2015
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We use a Cumberland Building Society Visa Debit Card. They are quite secure and will not allow any transactions unless you have previously told them you are going abroad. (Simply done online). We transfer about £200-£300 into the account before we set off and top up online as we need it.
Never had a problem using the card anywhere for both cash withdrawals and machine transactions.
We keep this small amount in the account so that if anyone gets access to it then that is all they can get.
Transactions usually appear on your account within 24 hrs so easy to keep an eye on it online and , best bit, NO FEES. They use the VISA rate for conversion.
If we have any money in the account when we get home we simply use it as a debit card in the UK until we have about £5-£10 left on it then never touch it until the next trip.
We have 'His & Hers' cards so that if we misplaced one of them you simply contact the Cumberland and they STOP the lost card but the other one is still usable.

There will be lots of other Banks/Building societies that offer this service so Google
' No transaction fee visa debit cards'

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Aug 18, 2014
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We use a Cumberland Building Society Visa Debit Card. They are quite secure and will not allow any transactions unless you have previously told them you are going abroad.

Which is what I refuse to do. I've made complaints to hsbc/Lloyds/tsb about this. You might as well paste a notice in the front house window stating " Gone away for x weeks " . They only need one dodgy employee.
I just use them where & when I want now. That's how they were designed to be used.
 

Easyliving

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Personally I don't like carrying large wads of cash around when away in the van. We usually have a couple of hundred euros between us then use our Caxton card for everything else. We have used our card quite a lot in France - petrol and aires etc and its been a while since we had any problem. When running low on cash we just get some more from an ATM, the Caxton card seems to work fine and there are no charges as far as I know.

Paul
 

Anthea M

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Take cash , and cards for buying deasil as most supermarkets have no people at the booths in france now so it's pay at the pump. Like to have cash for market shops and cafés etc. a card for an emergency is useful.

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Jan 8, 2013
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Take cash , and cards for buying deasil as most supermarkets have no people at the booths in france now so it's pay at the pump. Like to have cash for market shops and cafés etc. a card for an emergency is useful.

As above - best to have both.
We take about €500 cash for 3 or 4 weeks although we have a safe on board.
Initially it seems a biggish amount to have nicked, but it becomes less and less as each week goes by.
I now always keep my Halifax card with my passport, I did forget it once and was amazed at the horrendous charges Santander hit me with.
Also take a debit card and leave all the other cards at home.

A tip when travelling abroad is to make a card with a list of important numbers - passport/bank cards /driving licence.
I keep my wife's in my wallet and she keeps mine in her hand bag.


Passport No 5xxxxxxxx

Licence Dxxxxxx MCLEA xxxxx AxxxC 79

Halifax xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx - (0723 xxx)

Yorkshire Debit xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx - (xxx)

Santander xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx- (0136 xxx)
 

Anthea M

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As above - best to have both.
We take about €500 cash for 3 or 4 weeks although we have a safe on board.
Initially it seems a biggish amount to have nicked, but it becomes less and less as each week goes by.
I now always keep my Halifax card with my passport, I did forget it once and was amazed at the horrendous charges Santander hit me with.
Also take a debit card and leave all the other cards at home.

A tip when travelling abroad is to make a card with a list of important numbers - passport/bank cards /driving licence.
I keep my wife's in my wallet and she keeps mine in her hand bag.


Passport No 5xxxxxxxx

Licence Dxxxxxx MCLEA xxxxx AxxxC 79

Halifax xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx - (0723 xxx)

Yorkshire Debit xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx - (xxx)

Santander xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx- (0136 xxx)
Always keep copy and photo of passport s etc in safe and copy with mum at home so we can telephone for details if needed plus motorhome details ! Can't believe we are so organised ! Must be an age thing! First road trip in 1980 in a tatty old G reg mini no holiday insurance and ran out of money became " free loading tossers"! But got the bug!
 

big map

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I've got scanned copies of passports, driving licences, vehicle docs, insurance, stuff about using an a frame in Europe, etc etc on my phone.

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Kevan

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Hi Gary at twin lakes is cash only, we are cash people the the banks charge about two quid for every transaction by card (please don't quote the charge all banks are different) you will like twin lakes if you have not been before. We will be there on the 20th Jan for a few days on our way down to Spain. Hope this helps.(y)

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The Dotties

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Jan 31, 2015
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As above - best to have both.
We take about €500 cash for 3 or 4 weeks although we have a safe on board.
Initially it seems a biggish amount to have nicked, but it becomes less and less as each week goes by.
I now always keep my Halifax card with my passport, I did forget it once and was amazed at the horrendous charges Santander hit me with.
Also take a debit card and leave all the other cards at home.

A tip when travelling abroad is to make a card with a list of important numbers - passport/bank cards /driving licence.
I keep my wife's in my wallet and she keeps mine in her hand bag.


Passport No 5xxxxxxxx

Licence Dxxxxxx MCLEA xxxxx AxxxC 79

Halifax xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx - (0723 xxx)

Yorkshire Debit xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx - (xxx)

Santander xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx- (0136 xxx)



I can't seem to use your account numbers, the xxx doesn't seem to work!
Any chance of the numbers please?
Or not as the case may be! Lol
Geoff
 
Mar 23, 2012
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We carry a bit of cash a different card each caxton/flex and halifax. Can top up caxton by internet when there if necessay

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