Best Way To Spend Abroad

RobMunfy

RobMunfy

RobMunfy

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I'm after a bit of advice as to my best way of spending money abroad.

I am going to Peru on 1st April for 2 weeks and I am not entirely sure how much I am going to spend.

I have the standard UK credit cards/debit cards, but I believe it's not advisable to 1) withdraw cash over there, 2) pay for restaurant bills etc. using chip and pin.

I am planning to take about 500USD cash with me, but if I need more...what is the best way to go about it?
 
Some banks offer a service where you pay a fixed service fee and you can then withdraw cash with no fees (I'm with First Direct and pay £12 a month for Travel Insurance and the ability withdraw at ATM's overseas with no service charge).

Other than that I've heard that Halifax offers a card that is great for travel...
 
Hmm...I'd rather not have to pay a monthly subscription as I don't travel much at all and I think getting a new card might be a bit touch and go now.

I'll have to give HSBC a call and see if they offer anything
 
Also make sure you inform your bank that you're going to Peru and take a contact number with you. It's always fun when your bank blocks your card when trying to pay your 14 day hotel bill! They'll still probably block it (my experience with RBS anyway), but at least you can shout at them afterwards.
 
Halifax Clarity Card

Get the best rates, and if you need to pay cash just use an ATM machine. But bear in mind you will be charged APR on cash withdrawals, so use the card as much as you can and try not to withdraw cash. But the APR % is so low, it's still often much cheaper to use an ATM machine than use currency shops etc.

And remember to pay the card off in full at the end of each month to avoid interest charges
 
Take a Halifax Clarity and withdraw the cash from an ATM. Any other way will cost you more* and/or be less secure.

* With the exception of something like a Metrobank current account, but you can only open these in person within the M25. Besides, the interest charge on a Clarity on 500 USD will be very small.
 
I was declined for a clarity card last year before I went to Italy (always a bit of a gamble). I used a preloaded caxton fx card instead which is a reasonable exchange rate on load and penalty free withdrawals, although you can get a better exchange rate and withdrawals with a penalty. Might not be the best option if you don't know how much you need but I preferred it to having cash on me.

Since then I also have an aqua reward card which is good for spending (no markup) but not for withdrawals (few + high interest rate). It only has a £500 limit but is supposed to be quite easy to get accepted for
 
Last edited:
RobMunfy said:
Hmm...I'd rather not have to pay a monthly subscription as I don't travel much at all and I think getting a new card might be a bit touch and go now.

I'll have to give HSBC a call and see if they offer anything
Click to expand...

With HSBC is premier or advance if you dont want to play the ATM fees abroad, and advance is a 12 month sub so you probally dont want to do that for one trip.

Other option without changing banks is to minimise how many times you use the ATM as the fees are a percentage but cap at £5 so you acn get your daily transaction limit raised and pull a big chunk of cash at once.

However in Peru this may not really work how of the beaten track are you going to be?
When i was in Indonesia the ATMs capped at between 500k and 1.5million Rupiah (about £35-£100) so i never hit the cap and had to make loads of withdrawals to pay hotel bills at half the ATMs in town when they couldnt get the credit card machine to work.
In korea i could pull a million won and stick it in the hotel safe for the month.

I'd imagine peru is more the former than the latter.
 
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