Holidays - Money

VincentHanna said:
I arrived in Mallorca on Sunday evening and by the time we had got the case and the car, and pulled away it was 11:55 p.m.

The car they gave me had one bar on the fuel gauge and I had an hour drive, but was told there was a "24 hour" petrol station after exiting the airport.

Pulled up, it looked shut but there was a guy there. He said they close at midnight and I by then had 2 minutes to get fuel but it was cash only.

Lucky I had 20 euros in my wallet from a previous holiday and was able to use that to pay for the fuel, to get to the hotel but it would have been a bit of a nightmare as literally all the petrols stations we drove past on the way there were also shut.

Having said that I'm sure somewhere in Palma they must have had a 24 hour petrol station, but it's the last thing you want after travelling, and when it's late.

So yeah, always try to have some cash! Even if you don't intend to use it.
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Yeah it's unfortunate that these cash only places still exist. We visited Dubrovnik earlier this summer and whilst I was able to get away with most things just from paying on card, there was a pizzeria that insisted on cash - luckily I had a small amount on me as all the bank ATMs in Dubrovnik like to charge you for using them.

LACKERKNACKER said:
Go to your bank, and get some euros, make sure though that the banks makes a note of this in your passport , also travellers checks, take a few, hundred in travellers checks , your hotel will help,cash them…….ffs it’s only Tenerife not the back of beyond
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Travellers cheques? Christ when did you last travel.
 
Russinating said:
Dated app, not as instantaneous transaction notifications, easier to receive transfers in £ when travelling with friends etc.

Halifax (RBS) are also a terrible bank, but that's an aside and you might be ok with the world burning!
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AFAIK Monzo and Chase are debit cards. I'd much rather use a credit card for travelling in case of needing to make any S75 claims - have done so in the past. IMO this makes Halifax Clarity CC the superior option by far.

The app is basic but it works fine.
 
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EvilRob said:
AFAIK Monzo and Chase are debit cards. I'd much rather use a credit card for travelling in case of needing to make any S75 claims - have done so in the past. IMO this makes Halifax Clarity CC the superior option by far.

The app is basic but it works fine.
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You're correct, and I'd use a credit card for everything related to booking the holiday. But what are you realistically spending money on whilst there that you'd ever claim on S75 for. The biggest risk is being mischarged or skimmed and I feel a preloaded debit that instantly alerts on transactions a bit safer for that.
 
Russinating said:
You're correct, and I'd use a credit card for everything related to booking the holiday. But what are you realistically spending money on whilst there that you'd ever claim on S75 for. The biggest risk is being mischarged or skimmed and I feel a preloaded debit that instantly alerts on transactions a bit safer for that.
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I quite frequently pay for hotels in country and have made a large S75 claim for this.

I guess as you say you would detect a skimmed card more quickly but not something I worry about. Not happened to me yet as a frequent traveller and if it did I'd probably have more faith in one of the old school banks to cover it without complaint than the startups.

Preloading seems like a faff!
 
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I usuaply take 200 euros and then use my free free credit card for everything. Even in a stack in the woods they gave me a qr code to pay online for some ziplines. France and spain do have some places that will only take cash i have found.

When i travel for work to prague though i never bother getting any cash now as the train and vending machines have card readers even.
 
EvilRob said:
I quite frequently pay for hotels in country and have made a large S75 claim for this.

I guess as you say you would detect a skimmed card more quickly but not something I worry about. Not happened to me yet as a frequent traveller and if it did I'd probably have more faith in one of the old school banks to cover it without complaint than the startups.

Preloading seems like a faff!
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Yep obviously for hotels, tho quite often they just debit whatever you reserved with anyway. I used Amex most of the time - similarly to your suggestion, the price of a pint in forex fees is well worth the fact that I can be on the phone to an actual competent person within minutes.

I used preloaded cards for everything in the UK so no different! Chase for most things, Monzo when with friends so the 'pay me back' is more easily trackable.
 
FWIW the clarity card isn’t the best option at the moment.

You’re better off having the Barclaycard Rewards Visa - As it has 0.25% cash back as well as no fees for cash withdraw, whereas the clarity is - 22.94% to 28.94% interest on cash withdrawals, charged daily until it's paid off.

Use that as it’s a credit card for your big purchases where you may need to use the CC protection. Otherwise use chase as it’s 1% cash back.
 
Starling card for contactless and ATM transactions, also have a revolut card if we are going some where cash heavy. Otherwise I take very little cash and put it all on card
 
Reuben klang said:
FWIW the clarity card isn’t the best option at the moment.

You’re better off having the Barclaycard Rewards Visa - As it has 0.25% cash back as well as no fees for cash withdraw, whereas the clarity is - 22.94% to 28.94% interest on cash withdrawals, charged daily until it's paid off.

Use that as it’s a credit card for your big purchases where you may need to use the CC protection. Otherwise use chase as it’s 1% cash back.
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I'm assuming when you say "no fees for cash withdrawals" on the visa card you mean no interest charged? (Unless balance isn't settled at the billing period).

The 0.25% cash back would be eroded by MasterCard typically having the better exchange rate - normally in excess of 0.25% over Visa's.

If you were to use the clarity card wisely by paying off any cash withdrawals within the day, with comparative spending on the two cards I could actually see you being worse off with the reward visa.
 
Semple said:
I'm assuming when you say "no fees for cash withdrawals" on the visa card you mean no interest charged? (Unless balance isn't settled at the billing period).

The 0.25% cash back would be eroded by MasterCard typically having the better exchange rate - normally in excess of 0.25% over Visa's.

If you were to use the clarity card wisely by paying off any cash withdrawals within the day, with comparative spending on the two cards I could actually see you being worse off with the reward visa.
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There was another thread someplace on here about it.

I mainly just get all my financial stuff from money saving expert.

They have it as the better card for the reasons i stated.
 
Diddums said:
Don't look at me mate, I've not used any in ages. I just draw money from ATMs when abroad from my main account, like a baller. Spending those £2 transaction fees like a baws.
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Ahh, sorry. I'm sure someone was extolling the virtues of the Barclaycard over the Clarity for travel recently and I thought it was you. I must be thinking of the wrong person.
 
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