Taking money overseas

[BFYOOT]

Hey all, Im off on my first overseas trip next month (London) and am after some advice on the best way to take funds overseas. I dont have much interest in using travellers cheques, and have heard using a visa card etc is the best way to go. Im sure there are plenty of travellers on here, so am just after some opinion on what is the best method.
Cheers
Paul

[rancidpunx]

How long are you going for?

[The Yeti]

visa is alot more conveniat that travellers cheques, I'd grab a random ammount of cash for coffee's and so on and do the rest by visa, unless your planing a shopping trip then it may pay to look at other options

[BFYOOT]

Only going for two and half weeks unfortunately so shouldnt need a truckload of cash I dont think. Is it best to get cash exchanged here or there you think?

[Yellow_Festiva]

How much we talking?

Spending money alone?

Ok. I have done extensive research on this many times.

Spending money, take your ATM card and withdraw (as you would do here) from an ATM. Notify your bank.

Don't bother with 'cash passports'......

If you are going to buy on credit, you can get a travel credit card that does not charge the OS transaction fee. Commbank has one, as does GE money I believe.

How long are you there for? I always take an emergency stash of cash to ONLY be used if ALL ELSE fails. I generally budget on $500 a week AUD. Note that this changes to USD depending on where I'm going.

Bottom line is, have at least 3 sources of funds (savings, credit and cash).

Don't bother with travellers cheques... thats soooo last century and often a pain.

NEVER get your destination money here... you will get a very poor rate.

As I have said.... the above has been learnt over the course of dozens of OS trips... and has served me very well.

Have fun. Oh.. London is a pricy place, expect to pay a little more than you are used to paying at home for many things.

Have fun!

Oh... hope you have travel insurance ;)

[Ben73]

Get it exchanged here. Post office is usually the best, they charge smallest fee in my experience.

In my recent USA trip I took alot of cash and used my MasterCard for anything else.

I just like using cash. All places accept cash.

[brismike]

I always take plenty of Aussie Dollars cash and change it to Euro's or Pounds when I get there. The larger Cities have lots of money changers and I usually shop around a few to get the best quote.

Last time I was there I changed $5000 to Euro's in Amsterdam and the difference between the best and worst deal was about $300 in my favour.

I use the cash to pay for fuel & food & incidentals. Most Hotels I paid for using my credit card via online booking agencies. A couple I paid using cash.

Never use your credit or debit card to pay for anything in any dodgy looking shops. One trip my wife got burnt with a skim scam and before we knew it they had skimmed $2000 out of her card. Lucky we reported it immediatly and Suncorp refunded all the funds.

If you have got internet banking setup check it every so often to make sure you arn't being ripped off anywhere.

Enjoy your trip. - Regards Mike

[FG_Frodza]

Yeah mate when I went overseas I just used my Visa Debit, there was a small conversion charge iirc but I just took more cash out so I didn't have to keep withdrawing all the time.

[Miss_XR6]

If using credit or your ATM savings card remember the bank will charge there exchange rate

Cash passport can be an option which doesnt charge rates

Take some cash before you leave but do the rest there as exchange rates are better at destination

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Miss_XR6

If using credit or your ATM savings card remember the bank will charge there exchange rate

Cash passport can be an option which doesnt charge rates

Take some cash before you leave but do the rest there as exchange rates are better at destination

The bank exchange rate charged is generally very good and the fee is just the same as a commision.

Last 4 trips I did this. Pulled out money from the ATM at the airport, then went to EVERY exchange bureu (3-4) at the airport, and 2 in whatever city I was visiting. In EVERY instance, the best deal for me was the ATM withdrawal. Some places got close (within 1%) with some spirited bargaining but not better than what I got direct from the ATM.

Cash Passport used to charge 1% loading fee, which I think has gone up to 2. Is that still the case I wonder? Then, if you are not a regular traveller you need to worry about opening the account, having separate online banking info to keep check on it, then you need to close the account when you return.

Cheers,

Jason

[Miss_XR6]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

The bank exchange rate charged is generally very good and the fee is just the same as a commision.

Last 4 trips I did this. Pulled out money from the ATM at the airport, then went to EVERY exchange bureu (3-4) at the airport, and 2 in whatever city I was visiting. In EVERY instance, the best deal for me was the ATM withdrawal. Some places got close (within 1%) with some spirited bargaining but not better than what I got direct from the ATM.

Cash Passport used to charge 1% loading fee, which I think has gone up to 2. Is that still the case I wonder? Then, if you are not a regular traveller you need to worry about opening the account, having separate online banking info to keep check on it, then you need to close the account when you return.

Cheers,

Jason

I use to sell the passport at my old work but I think it has gone up.

Depends on the bank your with too
I travel around 15 overseas trips a year... I use my ATM card but have cash too but i exchange it here but I dont pay the commission you guys have to

[mac_man_luke]

28 Degrees mastercard and have it in positive balance - wont cost you a cent more than the exchange rate (well the banks exchange rate so a few cents worse)

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

28 Degrees mastercard and have it in positive balance - wont cost you a cent more than the exchange rate (well the banks exchange rate so a few cents worse)

For a frequent traveller this is a good card.

I was in South Africa in December with a mate and we both bought pizza for dinner. Both came to 71 Rands if memory serves???

I got charged the regular Commbank exchange PLUS the transaction fee (Diamond Commbank Mastercard), mate was charged exact rate (to the cent) without the transaction fee. I think his 28 Degrees card was issued through Comm bank as well? Or it was a similar product that offered the same as the 28 Degrees card.

[hawke]

We have always used ANZ Travel cards, and had them loaded with USD or Euros. They work everywhere, and often you can get Euros, Pounds or US$ or local currency from the same ATM.

As they are preloaded, the most you can loose if skimmed is the pre loaded amount. You can remotaly transfer your funds from your home account to the card.

A downside is that as they are not embossed, it is impossible for a car hire company or hotel to take security deposit imprint.

On a related point, if you pay for a portion of your travel using a Gold or Platinum Visa card, you get free travel insurance for that trip. We have found that the cost of that card, is always less than equivilant travel insurance.

[BFYOOT]

Thanks heaps for the advice. I like the advice on having 3 different options, never would have thought of that. Im lucky in the fact that Im going over with a mate who lives there, so he knows the ins and outs of the place pretty well, but with him working there he never had to really worry about the exchange etc. So an aussie visa/mastercard will work overseas too? Is there a limit to how much cash to take with you, or do you have to declare if its over a certain amount? Most of the cash will be on food and uh "drink", and prob just a bit for train etc if we go far. I was going to work on about $250 to $300 pounds a day, hoping to have a bit left over at the end of the trip.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Anything over 10 grand cash needs to be declared.

Aussie visa / mastercard works fine. Used both while there

Have fun

[BFYOOT]

Cheers mate, looking so forward to it. Got premier league tickets for fulham v chelsea, liverpool v fulham and possibly man united v villa, should be some league happening, even a county cricket match or two, a trip to amsterdam and paris, and a heck of a lot of sampling the local ales i should say!! If I cant have fun with that, Ill never have fun!! All tax deductible too!!!!

[2011G6E]

Visa debit card...works with whatever the local currency is with no problems at the current exchange rate of the moment. It might cost a couple of bucks, but so do transactions here at home too. You're not carrying around wads of cash as well.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by BFYOOT

Cheers mate, looking so forward to it. Got premier league tickets for fulham v chelsea, liverpool v fulham and possibly man united v villa, should be some league happening, even a county cricket match or two, a trip to amsterdam and paris, and a heck of a lot of sampling the local ales i should say!! If I cant have fun with that, Ill never have fun!! All tax deductible too!!!!

No worries...

When in London... don't do what I did and wear the Jersy of the winning team to the bar of the losing team... managed to talk out of that situation... JUST

How are you getting to Amsterdam and Paris?? Don't do what I did in 'The Dam' and get off a bus from God knows where with a mud map of my hostel... My reference points were a bridge and a canal.... You will get the joke after you have been. The Dam also has a few 'naughty' meuseums ;) as well as the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum etc.

In Paris, the Effiel tower generally has long lines to get to the top. You can skip the lines by taking the steps to about mid-way and getting the lift the rest of the way. If you visit the Lourve, the ticket gives 2 days entrance (don't know if that is still the same??).

Never go anywhere without your camera

[Lotte]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Never go anywhere without your camera

This cannot be emphasised enough
I have pictures of Swiss grafitti, a million cows, random dogs in front of chalets. But it's truly amazing how different, and similar all that is when you come back home with the images.

[bullfrog]

Visa works nearly everywhere. Don't forget to take some local currency for a coffee or a bite to eat when you first arrive.

[Geez Louise]

When we went overseas, we took our visa card, British pounds and some local currency, Egyptian pound (we were going to Egypt)

London was really expensive. When we travelled we budgeted $100 per day for every day of our trip. That worked well in Egypt and Singapore but we found in London we spent more like $175 a day on average. It was great though. You will love London

Look forward to hearing about it when you get back if you want to share. Once the travel bug bites, I don't think it ever leaves. I would travel overseas or on an Australian trip anytime

As for exchange rates, we found hotels really expensive.

Cheers
Col

[Lotte]

I did all three things when I went to Switzerland.

Mum gave me an ANZ cash passport with a few hundy on it as a gift, it had a 1% fee on it for funds transferred over (which equated to less than using my card anywhere). There was a 3 or 4 dollar withdrawal fee for cash out, so I used this as my ATM card at shops and things.
I rang up ING let them know where I was going (do this, otherwise the chances are the bank will freeze your account), as a back up source of funds, in case I spent to much on cow paraphernalia.
And I took a few hundred out in Aus, and exchanged it before I left at the best rate i could find at the airport. This way, as soon as I landed I didn't have to worry about money, and could just buy my train ticket and get to where I was going assured, as well as a few little things like chocolate and drinks to keep me going till I reached my final destination.

[JG66ME]

I just put my Aussie ATM card(s) into the ATM machine. I do this all over the world. I have just been working in India, Singapore, Spain, the UK and Thailand. I travel a hell of a lot and never have issues.

Get a debit card (or credit card) and load it up with GB pounds at this end if you are worried about exchange rates. I always carry two cards and leave one in a secure place. I never take cash. You can also use your ordinary bank ATM card. Just make sure the card has the Maestro Cirrus logos and get a card that has a chip and pin.



Steve

[tranquilized]

28 Degrees Mastercard all the way. Its by GE money, so the interest rate is fairly high but easy to avoid.

Its the only credit card in Australia that doesn't charge the conversion fee of 2 to 3% So if you widthdraw 500 pounds, its saved you at least $20 on that one transaction. (500 pounds = AU$750, 2% of 750 = $15 plus $5 ATM fee)

On top of that, it offers a far better conversion rate than anyone else.

All you do is transfer cash into the account to keep it in positive balance, then widthdraw cash from your credit account at any ATM in the world. No conversion charge, no ATM usage charge.

And you dont need to be a regular traveller to benefit from this card. I use it every time I buy something online from overseas. Get a better rate and again, no conversion charge.

Its the conversion charge that really hurts if you travel a lot.

[sgt_doofey]

We just used our visa cards (one debit, one credit) from our credit union. Got the CU's exchange rate which was good, to withdraw from an ATM was only $4, and no fees on credit transactions overseas. Much better than banks.

[Kynan]

I just got back from Thailand about a month ago and I set up an account with the NAB. You pay $0 in fees (this includes ATM and conversion fees which means you get the EXACT exchange rate at the time of transaction) and anyone can deposit money into it if you need emergency money. The reason why I did it was because it wasn't linked to any of my other bank accounts (at the CBA) and it was entirely free. Worth looking into

[Kieron]

I travel O/S a few times a year.

What I do is take cash and two credit cards, one with a small limit and one with a larger one.
I NEVER convert AUD in Aus, you will always get a better exchange rate in the country your visiting.

Get to country, convert some cash at banks or money changers - check websites like xe.com for exchange rates to get a feel for the current rates, store all other cash and larger limit CC in hotel safe and just carry enough local currency to get you through a few days + the smaller limit CC.

This way, if you lose your wallet or get robbed (unlikely), you still have cash in the hotel + larger limit CC, use larger limit CC to pay for larger bills/purchases and you minimise transaction fees. Using O/S ATM's for withdraws can be expensive, both in charges and unfavorable exchange rates.

In 27 years of travelling, never had a problem with this or never been robbed.

I don't bother with travelers cheques, you get stung at both ends. ie fee for buying and at the other end, often a lessor exchange rate.

[nuthin' fancy]

Make sure you have some £££ cash for when you land. Nothing worse than getting off a 22 hour flight and having to queue for some cash.

[Bucknaked]

Aussie banks give you rubbish rates. Exchange a little here and do the rest over there. For example, as a frequent traveller to Thailand, I get 28 baht for my $AUD. In Thailand I get 32 baht. Cashing $5k, means doing it over there is equivilant to $600 $AUD I am better off. So it's 20,000 baht. That money is better in my pocket than the greedy banks.

Also I always use travellers cheques because credit cards, you get the rate your bank is offering which is rubbish. Greedy banks. Travelex is no better. They are rubbish as well.