This is my first time to Europe and would like some advice from fellows Australians as to what to take. That is credit card ,cash Debit visa etc. Am going in August so would like to start getting organised.
Thank you
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Take a debit card for getting cash out of ATMs. This is by far the best way though there are fees no matter what you do. NAB has a card that does not charge you to use foreign ATMs but there is still a foreign currency exchange fee of 2% (from memory).
Take a credit card for large purchases and hotel bills. Again there is an overseas transaction fee but it can%26#39;t be avoided and in the cost of your holiday it is not a large amount.
ATMs are everywhere.
Big places take CCs with no problems. Small businesses including B%26amp;Bs and country town places may not take a CC.
Let your credit card company know that you are going OS and to which countries (don%26#39;t forget transits) or they might block transactions as possibly fraudulent.
I find it useful to have two credit cards on two different banks. My debit card is attached to my NAB account but my husband%26#39;s is to a Credit Union, so we have lots of options if one line is down or the machine refuses a card (very rare).
Take just a small number of euros with you, enough for cab fare at the far end, just in case the ATM at the airport is not working or something.
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Therefore I would be better off paying for the hotel in Paris with my credit card and using the debit card daily to get cash out to pay for meals and everyday expenses.
Many thanks
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just returned from paris.we found it best to take some cash from westpac (order online, and pick up from any branch) who currently have no commission fee. Also took Wizard clear advantage mastercard who don%26#39;t charge conversion fees and have reasonable exchange rate. we put credit on card before we left so could withdraw cash from atm overseas avoiding excess charges and could use as credit card in some places.
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%26gt;%26gt;we found it best to take some cash from westpac (order online, and pick up from any branch) who currently have no commission fee.%26lt;%26lt;
Beware! %26quot;No commission fee%26quot; almost always means %26quot;rotten exchange rate%26quot;. That cash you got from Westpac would have been the most expensive euros of your whole holiday.
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If it looks like someone does not have fees they usually have a poor exchange rate so in the end it evens up more or less.
Use the CC for hotels and big things, cash for everyday stuff, much as you would in Aus (well I do anyway).
I used to put extra in my CC account and draw on that but that was years ago and now I find it easier to have the debit card, then I don%26#39;t get some odd charges such as the money coming as a cash advance and maybe causing interest problems.
BTW, you don%26#39;t get offered the %26quot;which account%26quot; section at the ATM, it takes it out of the primary account on the card,(which is why I now use a debit card) and you will be pleased to hear that the ATM asks what language you want.
I transfer money on-line out of linked savings accounts such as ING into the account where I get my money. At least it earns a bit of interest before I spend it.
We find that a holiday, excluding air fares but including accommodation, all food, entrances, car and fuel, costs us about E250 a day for a couple. Accommodation averages E100/day. We live well, have an occasional luxurious meal, have wine with dinner. You could do it cheaper if you need and it is a bit freaky that we are blowing about $500 a day, especially as we take quite long holidays. Gotta spend the kids inheritance while we can, before we get too decrepit to go.
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I used my Westpac credit card for hotel and major purchases, and a Westpac debit card to get cash from ATMs. Westpac have an arrangement with BNP so there%26#39;s no fee if you use their ATMS.
The Westpac credit card deal I have gives you two cards - an Amex and a Mastercard. I get frequent flyer points on both cards, but more on the Amex so I used that wherever possible. There were some fees for the credit card transaction, but I put up with them to get the FF points.
The exchange rate was very good on both the credit and debit card transactions.
As lynnb says, make sure you let your bank know you%26#39;re going overseas, the countries you%26#39;re going to etc. And if you%26#39;ve got more than one account, make sure they make your primary account the one you want to use.
I have an online only higher interest account, and as I had a laptop with me and pretty good internet access everywhere I went, I just transferred money into my savings account as I needed to get cash. I never withdrew a lot of cash at once, because of using my credit card(s) most of the time.
I also had a small amount of money in an account with another bank in case I had a problem with not being able to get money from my Westpac one. Fortunately, it didn%26#39;t happen, but it was good to know there was a backup in case it had. :)
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Hi,
My wife and I are travelling to western Europe in September for 10 weeks.
We have made some enquires and come up with what we think MIGHT? be a solution to this question.
We have purchased a new product called Travel-Ex Visa Debit Card, apparently available through travel agents - financial institutions etc.
Bearing in mind that we haven%26#39;t tested the product as yet, the card allows you to put any currency,e.g Euro on it at the rate of the day of purchase. I costs you 1% of the amount to do this, call it commission if you like.
The benefit that we see is that you retain the exchange rate of the day you purchase. S we have purchased at the apparent high rate of today. This is a bit of a gamble as the rate may rise in the next few months, but if it doesn%26#39;t e.g remains tha same or perhaps drops, we have retained todays value. Hope this makes sense.
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vada07. It is a gamble - but buying currency when rates are fluctuating always is.
I presume you%26#39;re talking about the TravelEx Cash Passport - which provides you with a Visa Debit card. If so, you are not actually getting today%26#39;s exchange rate (around 80 Aussie cents to the US$) - their website is quoting .7781
https://www.onlinetravelmoney.com.au/online/
However, there are some %26quot;hidden%26quot; costs associated with this card, from what I remember. Have a look at page 3 of this document https://www.onlinetravelmoney.com.au/content/upload/files/PDS/PDS_Debit_Card_0409_(2).pdf
There is a fee for purchasing the card (and loading it). Then there%26#39;s a fee everytime you withdraw money from an ATM (Around $A3.75) and a fee for every month you don%26#39;t use it. I did have one of these as a backup, but wouldn%26#39;t bother again - I think in the long run I did better with my own bank (I have an account on which I pay no monthly fees, no matter how many withdrawals I make.
Another advantage of this is that you do get two cards (with different pin numbers), which could be useful if there are two of you.
Talk to your bank, talk to other banks (you%26#39;ve still got time to open another account if you get a better deal) and do your homework about the TravelEx card. Only you can decide.
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I was talking to NAB today and my previous info was a bit wrong. They tell me that their Gold card allows you to NOT pay the 2% overseas transaction fee and that in 90% of cases you are not charged a fee to use an ATM. I gather that there is no NAB fee for using a foreign ATM but that there may be an occasional bank OS that charges. We have never had a bank ATM charge us in Italy or France but we did find two terminals in shops where there was a small fee in USA.
So good news, no fees with a NAB Gold card.
I had reason to pay $2000 aud to America. The Bank gave me 1,580.80usd. The rate on line was 1,607.60usd, so I paid 26.80usd or about 1.7% in exchange rate manipulation. They always get you somehow.
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I just wouldn%26#39;t worry about the cost of getting to your money, choose the most convenient way. Whereas the difference between getting your money from a machine with card A may be $2 more expensivem Card B, finding that card B suddenly doesn%26#39;t work can really puncture your day.
Seeing as the cost in these transactions will be such a small percent of the total cost of your holiday, you%26#39;re just better off putting the cost of a few cups of coffee at Sydney airport into the account in the first place. When youre spending $10k on your holiday, taking weeks deciding on how to save about $10 extra expenditure in card costs is inefficient.
Fluctuations in exchange rate will be the real killer/bonus, depending on what way they go - so much so that card costs will really make no difference.
Simon
http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/
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