Travel Money/Cards

NoNameNoNumber · 23 Feb 2015 at 09:02

Morning GD,

My partner and I are heading to Taiwan in a couple of weeks, I was intending and shoving $50000 NTD up my ass crack and the rest with her but she insists we at least look into travel cards.

Now I am a little skeptical, I would rather just take my debit and credit card as back ups but the travel cards do look to be fairly universal and secure.

What can you recommend?

Many thanks

Rotty · 23 Feb 2015 at 09:07

I use the Caxton FX card all the time, the FairFX one also gets good reviews

if you are going in 2 weeks you need to move quickly

NoNameNoNumber · 23 Feb 2015 at 09:18

Yeah that Caxton is one that Mel had mentioned... Thanks Rotty

meandu229 · 23 Feb 2015 at 09:23

Ive used fairfx one before in US and no issues at all aslong as you have internet access to top it up every few days.

GeX · 23 Feb 2015 at 09:25

Never bothered with a travel card. I use a Halifax Clarity credit card when I'm abroad. No exchange fees etc

NoNameNoNumber · 23 Feb 2015 at 09:25

Internet shouldn't be a problem in Taipei

Although I don't think FairFX do NTD

Guy · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:28

Halifax Clarity credit card.

Feef · 23 Feb 2015 at 11:45

I would mostly recommend not worrying at all, unless you aggravate some gangsters in a nightclub in Taipei, you'll be completely fine.

Of course, if you do intend to do that, then travelcard, I guess. I've been living over here for a few years now, just withdraw money from my account and suck up the few pounds it costs me if I occasionally have to use one of my UK cards, buying something before payday etc.

But really, I've never even heard of someone being robbed for cash here. Only times I can think of where someone has lost cash is getting wasted and losing their wallet. Even then, it often comes back - I always use the tale of a night I was stumbling home and left a 6 pack of beer sitting on the side of the road. Went back the next day, and it was still there. Having lived in Scotland for the 5 years before that, I was pleasantly surprised

Where are you headed, out of interest?

willhub · 23 Feb 2015 at 12:07

I just used my NatWest Credit Card over there, got a 2.75% charge but it was bugger all never bothered me.

Craig321 · 23 Feb 2015 at 12:13

Halifax Clarity.

mr tommo · 23 Feb 2015 at 12:18

Halifax clarity as above. You won't beat the exchange rates and it's great not carrying loads of cash around.

Rotty · 23 Feb 2015 at 13:16

I applied for a clarity and they wouldn;t let me have one as I alerady have a different Halifax card and they wouldn't swap it over

Redgie · 23 Feb 2015 at 15:02

Another vote for Halifax Clarity

If you do get one, make sure that if the credit card machine asks whether you want them to convert the payment to GBP, you press no and pay in the foreign currency!

Recently saved £25 on a single hotel booking thanks to Clarity, can't argue with that!

NoNameNoNumber · 23 Feb 2015 at 15:34

Just applied for a clarity card and been declined... Despite having an 'Excellent' credit score blah blah. Maybe a Caxton is worth a try. Or stick with the Barclaycard.

malachi · 23 Feb 2015 at 15:39

I didn't bother with the Halifax Clarity card as you need an account with them. So I signed up for the Post Office Credit card instead.

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/credit-card/platinum

The Dread Pirate · 23 Feb 2015 at 15:49

Post Office are doing a good travel CC at the moment.

Amp34 · 23 Feb 2015 at 16:25

malachi said:
I didn't bother with the Halifax Clarity card as you need an account with them. So I signed up for the Post Office Credit card instead.

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/credit-card/platinum

No you don't.

Alternative options for cards are:

If you live in London open a Metrobank account. They do free cash withdrawals with a MasterCard debit card (if they still do this?) EDIT: seems it's now Europe only.

Nationwide flexplus account. £10 a month but you get pretty comprehensive travel insurance* for the whole family along with the usual stuff like breakdown cover. You also get 3% interest on balance up to £2500(?) and most importantly free cash withdrawals abroad on a Visa card (useful as it's accepted in more places than MasterCard, especially Africa and places in SE Asia).

Grimley · 23 Feb 2015 at 16:56

Rotty said:
I applied for a clarity and they wouldn;t let me have one as I alerady have a different Halifax card and they wouldn't swap it over

Happened to me as well. So I consulted good old Martin Lewis web advice & got a Post office card as the next best choice at the time. (I think it still is) Damn Beaten.

yer_averagejoe · 23 Feb 2015 at 17:01

While I agree that the Halifax Clarity card is the best option (I have one, and use it abroad), the OP is asking about prepaid cards, since the likelihood of applying for a credit card, being accepted and receiving both card and pin within the space of two weeks is slim. A prepaid card on the other hand is much quicker to get hold of, and still can offer significant savings over using a standard debit/credit card.

OP, I was in your situation a couple of years ago; having been declined a Clarity card I had to turn to other options, and at that time I found FairFX to be the best (I was USA-bound). Easily topped up, best rates etc. Worth a look.

Kemik · 23 Feb 2015 at 17:17

If you go to somewhere that doesn't accept credit cards in a lot of shops does that not mean you have to take out loads of cash at the ATMs to minimise the ATM fee? By ATM fee I mean the fee that the ATMs themselves charge.