Cash, Travellers Cheques or Debit Card use when abroad?

[muchlovex]

I am going to Malta soon for a 2 week holiday and am worried about carrying a large amount of cash in euros.

Is it best to take Travellers cheques or just use my debit card in the local cash machines?

[BlueToffee]

When I go abroad I take between £1 and £200 in cash and then use my Halifax credit card, they always use the exchange rate rather than the tourist rate, and they don't charge for the privilege either.

[Pottyone]

I saw a newspaper article recently about prepaid debit or credit cards where you load the card with money and then get it out of a cash machine as and when. Not sure how that differs from a normal debit card! May be worth googling.

[boxtops]

We never take travellers cheques or currency these days, like BT we take a small amount of euros then use the ATMs. I wouldn't risk carrying cash.

We were in Malta last year, there are loads of ATMs all over the place in the towns.

Check how much your bank charges for overseas transactions, though - some banks/building societies (like Nationwide) are only charging 1%, others are charging much more.

[Tizzi24]

The Post Office do a prepaid cash card.

[daftgrandad]

If you do decide to take and use your debit or credit card,make sure you inform
the bank that you will be be on holiday abroad and where.
I did'nt do this in 2007 when we went to Italy.My cards were stopped and we
had a terrible time after that.

[237SJ]

I wouldn`t bother with travellers cheques any more. They`re becoming a thing of the past. We (travel business) stopped accepting them eons ago.
You could get one of those pre paid cards but if you use your regular card abroad you`ll probably find that there are greater loading charges with a debit card than a credit card. I never, ever use my debit card. Much as I hate Santander, I do have their Zero card as there are no hidden loading charges on purchases although there is no difference with cash machine withdrawals. I never tell them I`m going because I only use it abroad anyway and that is my normal spending pattern. If you mainly use your card in the UK though, as others have said, you`d best inform them as to where you`re going.

[Zacs-Master]

Debit card. Always.

[Hopkirk]

Listen to Martin

http://www.moneysavin...el/cheap-travel-money

[spudqueen]

The Post Office credit card does not charge for overseas purchases.

[theshedman]

I used to take travellers cheques but it is getting harder to find places to cash them. This year we took the Thomas Cook cash card and found it easy to use and got a decent rate. We used it as a debit card in stores and also to take money out at the ATMs. There was a 2 euro fee to take money out at the ATMs but I took out a couple of hundred euros at a time so only got charged a couple of times. If you lose it there is a phone number to call to cancel it and they will then send you another for a charge but I had 2 cards so that just in case of losing or having it stolen I could call to cancel that one and still carry on using the other. I just found this easier than using my debit card as my bank charges so much for foreign use. Just keep all receipts so you know how much you have spent as you cannot always get a balance from the ATMs.

[sunflower68]

muchlovex the bigger Tescos have a foreign money booth where you can load up a Travelex card. You can have 2 cards if you want. the exchange rate is good and you get a pin number instantly. You can check balance online and top up too. Take your passport with you for id it's so easy!!

[munchie63]

As spudqueen has said the post offic ecreit card does not charge any extra fees for o'seas use.
I have one of their travel money cards that can be pre-loaded (min £50). It was free to purchase, and had no fees when using it in shops etc...it's backed by mastercard so accepted all over. Took one to Cyprus this month and found it very easy to use. Much safer, and cheaper, than using my own bank card. I took half cash and the rest of my money on the card. In Egypt last year I used my debit the card and found out later they'd cahrged me £3 to withdraw cash and another £2 atm fee.....a £5 to take out £100

[grffindoor2011]

I'm a Maltese junkie. I've been there more times than anywhere else.

I have always said take three chances. Cash (euro and sterling), debit card/credit card and travellers cheques. If you lose one, you have the benefit of the other.

The limit was 10k in euros you can take out. I'm guessing that unless you are intending visiting the casinos in Malta you won't be taking that much!

There are plenty of ATM's in Malta (HSBC and Valletta bank are most common). But you will likely be charged a fee by your bank.

If I were you, assuming you are taking 900 Euros, I would do 200 in euros, 100 in sterling, 300 on debit card, 300 in travellers cheque. You are then covered for the uk airport and covered for when you arrive.

Tip: tell your bank you are going overseas and take their number with you. So if you lose your debit card or travellers cheques they can organize replacements.

Enjoy Malta, I do.

[Prudie]

The only problem with the pre-paid cards is I think it's very hard to get any unspent money back off them and there is a time limit so if you haven't used up the funds you lose them. I may be wrong but I'm sure I've read about this.

[sherrardk]

The resort we went to on holiday this year didn't have any cash machines (we knew this from trip advisor).

[theshedman]

To get back any money left on the card just take it in to the store you got it from or contact by phone and you will get back what is left on it minus around £6 from Post Office and some others or Thomas Cook don't charge for cashing it in. All do give you quite a bad exchange rate though. What I did was before I came back was to go to the ATM and get out all I could, think I only left 45p on the card then I can change it when the exchange rate is good or keep it for next time. Most of these cards have a life span of 3 to 4 years but you can have the balance put on to a new card if you want to keep it going. Many of them do have a fee if they are not used for around 15 months, so if you know you won't be going abroad again for this amount of time then it would be a good idea to cash it in to avoid this happening.