Whats the best way to access our money without losing half of it to fee's?
Our current bank charges $2 for every international transaction and a fee to withdraw from an atm. But Im not entirely sure I want to take travellers cheques either.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With withdrawing cash you mean?
Haven't heard of fees that steep before? I would just think you shop around the banks for the best deal.
theres a card you can get but for the life of me cant remember the name of it :doh:
I think the card is called Travellex. You put your money into the account and it converts it into Euro (or whatever currency you're using) with exchange rate that is happening when you put the money in. So if you did it today, you'd get today's exchange rate. Then you use the card as an eftpos card. I'm not sure if/what fees are attached though but it's usually better than the bank and it's great to secure a good exchange rate. Ask your travel agent, they'll know the ins and outs of it.
I think most banks do travel cards nowadays, like the travellex card.
Janie xxx
It is worth getting cash before you go and watch the exchange rate to give you a guide as to when to order it. Allow a week for the money to come in if the bank doesn't have any in stock. Most banks don't keep alot unless there is a demand for it.
We have always found it helpful to have cash especially when you first arrive in the country and you are not thinking straight due to being tired.
DH always uses the Travellex cards. They are the easiest. You can only use them at ATM though. You can't use them like Eftpos. It is a fee of $10 to top up and they last for 3 years. DH just takes out money once a week from an ATM for spending money.
I use my NAB cards when traveling and I am pretty sure I do not receive extra charges...
Personal banking fees and charges - NAB
The only credit card I have heard of that has absolutely no international transaction fees is the 28 degrees mastercard. I think it used to be Wizard, but changed over a couple of years ago. I have one, I don't know what the interest rates are like but if you deposit your money into the account before you go, you are only using your own money anyway, so no interest. I highly recommend it, no cost to access your money whatsoever, you can use it for purchases with no charges as well as getting cash out, plus you always get the current market exchange rate.
I don't like travelling with large amounts of cash, so with this card I just withdraw what I need as I go :)
We exchanged money when we got to our destination airport. It was a much better rate than if we had already converted at home, whether at the airport or via banks. It was really hard for me to comprehend having very little currency and doing this. But am very glad I did it this way.
We just then withdrew cash from an atm if we needed it. Im sure when we used our credit card we didnt have fees.