Cards for travel (Credit or Debit)

Looks like barclays rewards for the win for the credit card section anyway

Ive also got a starling which i made just to use abroad before realising that a credit card would offer better protection - but can keep both i guess

With the barclays at leasy you get 0.25% back on purchases here aswell. Plus got my amex for the avios (day to day use)

1 thing i dont understand is this storing money in foriegn currency, ive heard it mentioned but how does it work and what cards can you use it on? Pretty sure i can do on my starling but is it worth it?

Actually to make matters more confusing the mrs also had a santander 0 credit card that she just remembered - this is not available anymore and is it worth keeping?
 
I didn't realise the Halifax Clarity wasn't the best card either. Not that I have had to draw money out whilst abroad luckily. I have a Barclays platinum CC so I'll go swap that for the rewards card, makes most sense now.
 
bm_999 said:
1 thing i dont understand is this storing money in foriegn currency, ive heard it mentioned but how does it work and what cards can you use it on? Pretty sure i can do on my starling but is it worth it?
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With my Revolut card I add money in sterling. But then I can choose to move some or all of it to another currency. E.g dollars. So when I am in the US I pay with that card and there is no further conversation fee. It's like having a US debit card. I can choose when to move money at the best exchange rate. It also means if the card is lost, stolen or taken out of my sight, such as even paying a bill at a restaurant, the amount taken off the card can only be a maximum of what I have inverted, rather than emptying the account.
 
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Malt_Vinegar said:
Not sure why the unhappy face @Classic Blue Theme ? The HSBC globalcard seems to be really simple and works great. Not found any major issues!
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Seems to be his current tactic to angry/unhappy face for anything that goes against his opinion.

He's still sad about his user name i think. Despite it elevating him to a much better place.
 
Hades said:
With my Revolut card I add money in sterling. But then I can choose to move some or all of it to another currency. E.g dollars. So when I am in the US I pay with that card and there is no further conversation fee. It's like having a US debit card. I can choose when to move money at the best exchange rate. It also means if the card is lost, stolen or taken out of my sight, such as even paying a bill at a restaurant, the amount taken off the card can only be a maximum of what I have inverted, rather than emptying the account.
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RIGHTTTTTTTT, so if euro or any other currency seems to be lower get it now and just basically store it?

But in your example if you give your card when paying how can you be sure they go to the section where you have the foriegn currency rather than all. Is it split or something on the card or account?

On my starling - is this possible? Or should i convert some money to the currency i might need now?

Think im also going to apply for the barclays rewards and use that abroad and in the UK (if a non amex is needed) and also stick with my Amex for normally purchases - possibly loll

What on earth did i get the starling for then :cry::cry:
 
bm_999 said:
RIGHTTTTTTTT, so if euro or any other currency seems to be lower get it now and just basically store it?

But in your example if you give your card when paying how can you be sure they go to the section where you have the foriegn currency rather than all. Is it split or something on the card or account?

On my starling - is this possible? Or should i convert some money to the currency i might need now?

Think im also going to apply for the barclays rewards and use that abroad and in the UK (if a non amex is needed) and also stick with my Amex for normally purchases - possibly loll

What on earth did i get the starling for then :cry::cry:
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I know on Wise, I just go to the currency and then i can add currency. Then it brings up how much you want to buy, which then take out of your current account, exchange it at the current market rate, minus a small fee. And then it will just stay there.
 
Martynt74 said:
Having Starling/Monzo was the cool thing to do for a little while :p
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haha, guess so - oh well
Plus pretty sure there i didnt see that there was a limit on atm withdrawals - but now ive got my card its saying max £300 per day limit bit crap. Hence why i should push for the barclays

Thing is all these starling, monzo, revolut etc.. are showing other banks how easy it is and older banks are now trying to keep up with their apps and services which suppose is a good thing
 
bm_999 said:
haha, guess so - oh well
Plus pretty sure there i didnt see that there was a limit on atm withdrawals - but now ive got my card its saying max £300 per day limit bit crap. Hence why i should push for the barclays

Thing is all these starling, monzo, revolut etc.. are showing other banks how easy it is and older banks are now trying to keep up with their apps and services which suppose is a good thing
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£300 a day cash withdrawal is plenty unless you are going to Michelin restaurants for every meal and have to pay cash?
 
bm_999 said:
RIGHTTTTTTTT, so if euro or any other currency seems to be lower get it now and just basically store it?

But in your example if you give your card when paying how can you be sure they go to the section where you have the foriegn currency rather than all. Is it split or something on the card or account?

On my starling - is this possible? Or should i convert some money to the currency i might need now?

Think im also going to apply for the barclays rewards and use that abroad and in the UK (if a non amex is needed) and also stick with my Amex for normally purchases - possibly loll

What on earth did i get the starling for then :cry::cry:
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I don't have Starling so I can't comment on that card. I imagine it would be similar. I did nearly go with Starling when I got Revolut and Wise. I can't remember why I didn't. It was probably a flip of the coin decision.

With Revolut the currency used will depend on which country you are in. Let's say that I have a multi country trip to the US and then France. I can add GBP into my Revolut account. From there I can move some of it into my USD "wallet" and some into my EUR "wallet". I can freely move this between wallets to hold the money in whatever currency I want. When I land in the US and use my card it will automatically take it from the USD wallet because it knows I am in the US. When I later land in France it will automatically take it from the EUR wallet because it knows I am in France. I don't need to tell it where I am located. It just knows. I can also add the account into Android Pay or Apple Pay and use the "card" on my phone too. The biggest advantage for me, though, is I like to keep one card for travel. As someone already suggested earlier it is like a firewall on your main bank account. If someone compromises the card I can't run up a big debt or lose much money. I will still take other cards with me as spares but I leave them in the hotel safe. Typically I take my main UK account card and also a Wise card which is similar to Revolut (my Revolut is a Mastercard and the Wise is a Visa so one or other should be used everywhere). Using my phone I immediately get notifications of when the Revolut card is used, block it, move all money out, etc, etc. Also using a single travel card makes it easier to submit expenses from a work trip.

Revolut has other advantages for me as well. Although there are free tiers on Revolut I do pay a monthly fee for one of the premium tiers. This means I get a slightly better rate of cashback, and it includes global travel insurance. So the fee pays for itself with those benefits. It also gives me a reduction on some airport lounges, car hire excess insurance, purchase protection, etc. I don't need all of those but it is worth checking each type of card and seeing if they have some extras that you find useful.

Unfortunately it looks like Revolut are moving to their own currency conversion rate rather than the standard rate. No doubt this will be worse. So I may well move away from it.
 
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adam cool dude said:
What is wrong with withdrawing cash at home and then changing it back once you get back? Isn't that the cheapest and easiest solution?
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As others covered, the most expensive and the one with the highest risk. However, I do appreciate some people may budget better this way.

I haven't taken cash abroad with me for over 10 years. Most of the time, I haven't even needed to withdraw cash whilst out there either - all card payments with 0% FX fees (some of the companies covered above)
 
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