Do you get dollars or travellers cheques

If you only use one card then yes you need to work out the best option.
I use Post Office card when abroad & foriegn transactions only, rest of year it doesn't get used.
One year I spent over $20,000 with flights (Orbitz.com in $'s) cruise, hotels etc. & spend. Even at 1.5% its a lot of fees.
 
Kath2003 said:
that's not a bad rate for cash.
Check your travel insurance though - ours doesn't cover us for anywhere near that much cash...

We are with the post office on there premium insurance and it covers a certain amount BUT we also have a separate kit insurance through DH forces insurance that covers pretty much the rest!
We have always taken this much cash and it's just the norm for us, we won't allow it to be out of our sight then at the hotel we keep it in a lock box in the safe!! So it's pretty safe I hope :)
 
During our trip in April I used TCs and took a little cash too as I didn't want to use my credit card too much. Had no problems and was only asked for ID in Ghirardellis at DTD. (After a miserable experience of using pre-paid travel money card in Europe I dismissed this for USA.) I did have some TCs left when we got back and got next to nothing for them when I changed them - I would have been far better paying on my credit card as exchange rate was far more favourable. Next trip I will be taking some cash but the majority of things will be charged to my room and ultimately my credit card. But I guess each to their own
 
We are with the post office on there premium insurance and it covers a certain amount BUT we also have a separate kit insurance through DH forces insurance that covers pretty much the rest!
We have always taken this much cash and it's just the norm for us, we won't allow it to be out of our sight then at the hotel we keep it in a lock box in the safe!! So it's pretty safe I hope :)

Sounds like you have it sorted :thumbsup2
We rarely use cash at home so using cards abroad is exactly the same for us. One bill when we get home and job done - wouldn't like to "ration" out the money which I would have to do if we used cash. We take a tiny amount for tips, vending machines etc. We always say we'll just get more cash out if we need to but we never do - we usually bring home a bunch of notes.
 


Hi, sorry it was me that started this z shild ago. Just been reading Saint Martin Lewis of Money Saving fames recent update on holiday spending and h&s recommended the Halifax clarity cc which has 0% load and fee free money withdrawals. Does anyone have one? Is this info correct?
 
I've just got a Caxton Currency card - as recommended by Martin Lewis..........Free to apply for (you pay a small deposit when you order the card which gets added to your card's credit) and no fees :thumbsup2
Got a rate of 1.50 yesterday too :woohoo:
 


What's the most popular thing to get when going to USA dollars and travellers cheques or one of those money cards I got both at the moment but they tried to get me to have a money card anyone used one

There was a time many moons ago when you got a better rate for travellers cheques and you could spend them like cash. That has changed a little now, in that the rate is the same and some retailers have stopped accepting them.

There are pros and cons to all of the options, but we tend to just take US dollars in cash these days. Travellers cheques are more secure and safe, in that they are covered if they are lost or stolen but if you have decent travel insurance, your spends are covered on that anyway. I have never been a fan of the currency cards because there are (not so hidden) fees to use them and sometimes you NEED cash, for example for tolls etc.
 
I feel a lot more "old school".I feel safer with travellers cheques and i find it easier to keep a track of how much ive spent as we tend to try and keep to a daily budget.Last time i bought travellers cheques from the post office i was given the third degree as to why cheques and not the post office card, which really got my back up.Even at the hotel some of the staff didnt know how to change them, also could only change $200 a day.They are still my prefered method though.
 
We intend to take all cash ( and a credit cards for back up emergencies )
I'm sure many will disagree with carrying $1000s in cash on hol but as

PP have said we just split it all into days and spread the cash out. All carry some, some in safe. Some in our of sight money belt.

I don't like cards when away.
We do the same in Spain France and generally money rolls over into next days.
 
We intend to take all cash ( and a credit cards for back up emergencies )
I'm sure many will disagree with carrying $1000s in cash on hol but as

PP have said we just split it all into days and spread the cash out. All carry some, some in safe. Some in our of sight money belt.

I don't like cards when away.
We do the same in Spain France and generally money rolls over into next days.

Yes totally disagree, insurance usually only covers £100-300 but its your money, your choice.
 
There was a time many moons ago when you got a better rate for travellers cheques and you could spend them like cash. That has changed a little now, in that the rate is the same and some retailers have stopped accepting them.

There are pros and cons to all of the options, but we tend to just take US dollars in cash these days. Travellers cheques are more secure and safe, in that they are covered if they are lost or stolen but if you have decent travel insurance, your spends are covered on that anyway. I have never been a fan of the currency cards because there are (not so hidden) fees to use them and sometimes you NEED cash, for example for tolls etc.

We came across lots of places in Vegas where they were no longer accepting Travellers Cheques.

I can understand why people are hesitant about the currency cards as it does take a little more work to keep track of your spending and there are those which have hidden (and not so hidden) charges. We had a Travelex Cash Passport one year and, it was only when checking the balance online some 15 months after our return (in advance of topping up for the next trip) that I realised we'd been charged an 'inactivity fee'. We switched to Fairfx at that point and, as we only use the card for paying for meals/large purchases, we don't have any charges to worry about and there is no inactivity fee.

We do still carry some cash - for tolls, small purchases like drinks/snacks, tips etc. but it is usually only around $200-$300 (no more than the amount covered on our insurance).

I feel a lot more "old school".I feel safer with travellers cheques and i find it easier to keep a track of how much ive spent as we tend to try and keep to a daily budget.Last time i bought travellers cheques from the post office i was given the third degree as to why cheques and not the post office card, which really got my back up.Even at the hotel some of the staff didnt know how to change them, also could only change $200 a day.They are still my prefered method though.

I think, in the future, Travellers Cheques will become less and less common and you will come across many places that won't take them/don't know what to do with them. As I said above, in Las Vegas we saw quite a few places with signs up saying they could no longer accpet TCs. However, don't fall for the flim-flam that the travel agents use to try and push their currency cards, where they tell you that they are being phased out. I think that they will naturally phase out because the use of currency cards is on the increase but we haven't come across anywhere on our travels to Florida yet that won't take them.

We intend to take all cash ( and a credit cards for back up emergencies )
I'm sure many will disagree with carrying $1000s in cash on hol but as

PP have said we just split it all into days and spread the cash out. All carry some, some in safe. Some in our of sight money belt.

I don't like cards when away.
We do the same in Spain France and generally money rolls over into next days.

I'm with Wayne on this one - it is highly unlikely that large amounts of cash will be covered on your travel insurance (or home insurance) and you would be completely out of pocket (and up the swanny) should you lose your cash or have it stolen. Friends of ours have actually had money stolen from an in-room safe at an exclusive resort in Orlando so, even keeping it in a safe is no guarantee. We never carry more cash than is covered on our insurance.

The reason we tend to use a currency card, however, is that we like to know that the money is there up-front (stops us spending money we haven't got). And I know there are people (Wayne) who will say that you just save the money and pay the bill when you get home but, without that limit on our spending, we don't think so carefully about how much we're spending and end up with a (nasty) surprise when the CC bill comes through. We tried doing exactly that last month, when we went to Vegas. Thought we would just keep the money in the bank and put everything on the CC. Then the bill came last week and I really had no idea we'd spent as much as we had. When using the Fairfx card, because we keep track of it daily, if we see we are going a bit over budget, we can cut back a bit accordingly and curb our spending to get back on track. With the credit card, we didn't even think about what we were spending as we didn't have to worry about running out of money.
 
We always take cash. Occasionally we will use our credit card but prefer cash to avoid any charges. You can use a debit card in cash machines there too which we have done before. :banana:.
My son insisted on choosing the icon.! Lol.
 
I'm with Wayne on this one - it is highly unlikely that large amounts of cash will be covered on your travel insurance (or home insurance) and you would be completely out of pocket (and up the swanny) should you lose your cash or have it stolen. Friends of ours have actually had money stolen from an in-room safe at an exclusive resort in Orlando so, even keeping it in a safe is no guarantee. We never carry more cash than is covered on our insurance.

We know people who have had money stolen from an in room safe too so for me its not worth the risk.

We personally use a credit card for our large purchases and take a small amount for tolls/drinks etc in cash.
 
We've just come back from Portugal and always take too many Euros but save it for the next holiday. Don't want to take too much cash to Florida so will probably take about £300 each and put the rest on a credit card (We're on DDP). Is there a credit card which is best to use in the US, smaller fees etc?
 
We've just come back from Portugal and always take too many Euros but save it for the next holiday. Don't want to take too much cash to Florida so will probably take about £300 each and put the rest on a credit card (We're on DDP). Is there a credit card which is best to use in the US, smaller fees etc?

The Post Office credit card has no fees on overseas transactions. You also get the business rate of exchange on any transactions.
 
wilma-bride said:
The Post Office credit card has no fees on overseas transactions. You also get the business rate of exchange on any transactions.

Thank you. Post Office one sounds ideal.
 
Thank you. Post Office one sounds ideal.

Used PO a few years, as Joh says no fees and full interbank rate, not tourist rate you get with cash & travellers cheques, today I am getting $1.525
I have also just recieved the Halifax Clarity card, exactly the same, no fees and interbank rate.

I think my mind works totally differently most on here, I spend less with a credit card than cash. If I have cash I think its spare money, credit card I know its to pay off so think twice about using it.:rotfl:
 
Another Halifax Clarity user here. I only have cash for tips and just as at home would use a card to spent £1/$1 :)
 

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