Are you getting the best out of your travel money?
I have been traveling for many years and have visited a lot of different places and I have amassed a fair collection of various bank notes from around the world. In the past, it has always been a question of how much of the local currency do I buy before we go? Can I easily get cash there? Even turning the clocks right back to, do I order travelers’ cheques, $ or £? But in this modern digital age, even money has become digitized and I am not going to talk about Bitcoin or other such cryptocurrencies.
I am sure that you all carry ‘plastic money’ of sorts, and by that, I mean debit or credit cards. These nowadays will work all over the world. Certainly in Europe, as in the UK they are readily acceptable now as much as cash is. In fact, in this day and age, I carry virtually no cash and rely on my ‘flexible friend’ for everything!
However, there are cards and there are cards! And today it is important to know the advantages and disadvantages of using the cards in your wallet (or on your phone) in other countries. This is an area of banking that is developing at a fast rate as the companies compete for your business.
It could well be the case that the bank cards that you use daily and are associated with your ‘high street bank’ may well not be the most advantageous to use abroad with other currencies. Travel money is an item that I would recommend that you spend an equal amount of time researching as you do campsites, travel routes and ferries. Get it right and you could save considerable amounts of money on fees and charges.
So what are your options? First I would suggest researching the alternatives for travel money with resources such as Money Saving Expert or the Which website.
Personally, I now use a prepaid card. Again these cards need to be researched to identify the one that suits you and your situation best and that you are comfortable with. Again try looking at Money Saving Expert for advice and reviews.
You might well ask why I prefer a pre-paid card. While I am not going to recommend any individual card I will give my reasons for using them;
- The card I use enables me to have a primary account in £. I can easily transfer money to and from this account online and via the apps on my phone/tablet/laptop.
- I can set up the foreign currency accounts I require. At the moment this is €, but could also be $ or any other of the currencies that they support -which is quite extensive.
- When the time is advantageous I can convert my £ to my currency of choice at near-perfect exchange rates. I have to beware of the limitation placed on me by the card.
- Any payments are taken directly from the account appropriate account. So if I pay for a campsite in France it is directly debited in €s from the Euro account.
- The card I currently use I do so on the no subscription option. There are several levels of subscriptions that give varying benefits. Look at these as there might be benefits you consider worth paying for.
- If I need to obtain cash while abroad I can use the card in most cash machines as I would use my debit card at home.
- If required I can also set up saving accounts to help my money grow while sat waiting for me to use it.
I find that using such a pre-paid card gives me total control over my travel money. I will load £s onto it well in advance of any travel and will convert into €s (or other currency) at what I consider to be the best interest rate. If I wanted I could also store any of my money in savings account so earning some interest – but maybe not the best for returns for serious investing. I also have the option to use the card as a normal debit card in the UK as well if I so required. If you do make a transaction and there are insufficient funds to cover then the transaction will be refused. Be aware that if you make a charge in €s and there are insufficient funds in the € account it will take the surplus out of any of your accounts. My card is also available to me in my phone’s wallet so I don’t even have to carry the physical card.
So at the moment, I find my pre-paid card the best way to deal with my travel money and as debit cards are so widely accepted as cash I do not need to carry a lot of cash. It suits me, but do not take my word for it please do you research and make sure that you select a method of travel money that is applicable to and suits your needs.
Happy traveling!
