Scales Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Saga have changed Credit Card suppliers so I've just applied for their new Platinum Card to replace the old one. If I read the small print correctly it'll cost me 2% for cash withdrawals. I'll get the Visa exchange rates, use any ATM with the Visa sign, no charge for its use in Europe and pay no interest if my bill is paid off before the due date (up to 55 days). That shouldn't be a problem as I pay by Direct Debit. If I'm right that's £20 for drawing out £1,000 worth of euros - can anybody beat that. It seems too good to me so perhaps somebody will have a look and prove me wrong! I don't like carrying too much cash, generally bringing 100 to 200 euros home with me for the next trip down, so £20 not to worry about carrying cash and paying the bill after the event too will do me. Might be a bit of concern that it's being run by Allied Irish Bank. The C. E. O. had some rotten eggs thrown at him a few days ago by irate shareholders I believe. Scales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan leslie Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Is there a minimum charge made? - don't think any of us like to carry 1000 euros around, so, if there is, could make drawing out 100/200 euros expensive. no fees at all with Nationwide, but thats on their debit card. Bought currency online yesterday for Euroland and Skandinavia from Travelex, through Nationwide, and was able to pay with a Visa credit card without extra charge - if I had wanted to use Mastercard, would have been 1. 5% added. delivered today - brilliant service. Quote Bessacarr Cameo 525 towed by SsangYong Rexton 2.2 auto in Brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 This is quite a common question and the answer, invariably, is to open a Nationwide Flex account. Rate of exchange on the day and no charges. Excellent method, but they are now charging for use outside of Europe. Not too sure about Turkey and other bordering countries though. Cheers, Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianI Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Jim, I would agree with you on the Nationwide. We have a Nationwide Cashcard (not a debit card) linked to a Flexaccount and this enables us to draw cash worldwide from any ATM. There is no withdrawal charge and we get the wholesale commercial exchange rate which is around 5cents more than the tourist exchange rate. As I understand it at the moment, the extra charges will only be applied to a Visa debit card when used outside the Eurozone and do not affect the Cashcard. The Cashcard can only be used for cash withdrawal, it cannot be used for purchases and of course any cash comes straight out of your account. We also have a Nationwide Credit card which has also has no charges when used overseas and again we get the wholesale exchange rate. The Saga card looks attractive but note there is a minimum fee of £2 or 2% it would not be advisable to use for withdrawing small amounts, whereas this is not a problem with Nationwide. Saga do not say what exchange they will use, the wholesale or tourist one. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDT Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Scales On a recent shopping/wine trip to Calais area on 22nd April using my Nationwide visa credit card got a rate of 1. 117679 to pound. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulthomas Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Scales On a recent shopping/wine trip to Calais area on 22nd April using my Nationwide visa credit card got a rate of 1. 117679 to pound. John That's good. Will apply for that card myself. Haven't seen any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beejay Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Is there a minimum charge made? - don't think any of us like to carry 1000 euros around, so, if there is, could make drawing out 100/200 euros expensive. no fees at all with Nationwide, but thats on their debit card. Bought currency online yesterday for Euroland and Skandinavia from Travelex, through Nationwide, and was able to pay with a Visa credit card without extra charge - if I had wanted to use Mastercard, would have been 1. 5% added. delivered today - brilliant service. If you draw cash on Nationwide credit card you will pay interest from withdrawal date to repayment date and doesn't buying from Travelex count as a cash withdrawal? So, why not draw direct from the Nationwide credit card? Or, why not draw the cash from ATMs in whatever country you are visiting? That way you don't have large amounts of cash on you. And, if you put the card in credit before you leave you won't pay any interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETERA Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 If you draw cash on Nationwide credit card you will pay interest from withdrawal date to repayment date and doesn't buying from Travelex count as a cash withdrawal? So, why not draw direct from the Nationwide credit card? Or, why not draw the cash from ATMs in whatever country you are visiting? That way you don't have large amounts of cash on you. And, if you put the card in credit before you leave you won't pay any interest. We have a nationwide flex account with debit card, and also their credit card. Use the debit card for cash from atm's and the credit card for purchases. It suits us and also gives us flexability. Pete Quote You can read about our travels here:- http://www. caravanta. ..in-2009-part-1/ http://www. caravanta. ..ain2009-part-2/ http://www. caravantalk. co. uk/community/topic/30505-francespain-2009-part-3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimd Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I've got a Post Office card that I only use for spending abroard. It doesn't charge commision and from what I recall to save carrying a wad around you can put the cash in before you go and draw it out of an ATM at no cost and usually a good rate. Quote Volvo XC60 Momentum Pro D4 pulling an Elddis Crusader Mistral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianI Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 There was a report on BBC Breakfast today on best deals for foreign exchange based on a recent Which report. You can read the Which summary reports here http://www. which. co. uk/advice/how-to-cut-t. ..rency/index. jsp http://www. which. co. uk/advice/how-to-cut-t. ..broad/index. jsp Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaravanLady Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 (edited) Last year we used a Nationwide Card for Cash at ATMs and the Platinum Saga Card for Diesel ext (Saga use the Interbank rates same as NW and it worked in all the Auto Fuel pumps we tried) Edited May 20, 2009 by CaravanLady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan leslie Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 If you draw cash on Nationwide credit card you will pay interest from withdrawal date to repayment date and doesn't buying from Travelex count as a cash withdrawal? So, why not draw direct from the Nationwide credit card? Or, why not draw the cash from ATMs in whatever country you are visiting? That way you don't have large amounts of cash on you. And, if you put the card in credit before you leave you won't pay any interest. As I said - I used a (Nationwide) Visa credit card for the Travelex deal and there were no extra charges - this in effect gives me 7 weeks free credit until I pay my account in full. Quote Bessacarr Cameo 525 towed by SsangYong Rexton 2.2 auto in Brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianI Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 As I said - I used a (Nationwide) Visa credit card for the Travelex deal and there were no extra charges - this in effect gives me 7 weeks free credit until I pay my account in full. Whilst you may get a few weeks of credit, on BBC breakfast this morning, a survey by Which found that Travelex gave the worst exchange rate of all. See my post above. You would be better off by using your Nationwide credit card direct for purchases and thus get the wholesale exchange rate. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beejay Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 As I said - I used a (Nationwide) Visa credit card for the Travelex deal and there were no extra charges - this in effect gives me 7 weeks free credit until I pay my account in full. I may be wrong but the charges would appear on your credit card statement as interest from the day of purchase. I think using Travelex is not a purchase but a cash advance certainly, at least, it is where travel agents are used to obtain foreign currency. My daughter got caught a couple of years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jan69c Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I am using a Nationwide flex account debit card, and will use it to draw cash from the ATM's in France. Last year we incurred no fee for using the ATM and we got a good rate. Hope it's the same this year. Quote RegardsIan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scales Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Jim,The Saga card looks attractive but note there is a minimum fee of £2 or 2% it would not be advisable to use for withdrawing small amounts, whereas this is not a problem with Nationwide. Saga do not say what exchange they will use, the wholesale or tourist one. Brian Thanks Brian, i hadn't spotted that, assuming the Visa area also meant Visa exchange rate which I've always found pretty good. Scales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scales Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 There was a report on BBC Breakfast today on best deals for foreign exchange based on a recent Which report. You can read the Which summary reports herehttp://www. which. co. uk/advice/how-to-cut-t. ..rency/index. jsp http://www. which. co. uk/advice/how-to-cut-t. ..broad/index. jsp Brian Saga seems to come out quite well but I reckon the rates quoted will be for the old card, not the new Platinum Card. Scales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scales Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Noting all the above I'm still tempted by the Saga Platinum Card. For a start I'm not spending my money (until I pay the bill) O. K. it's 2% or minimum £2 for each ATM transaction, but i normally withdraw at least 150 euros to ensure I don't overpay. Interest free sounds good to me. I'll try and find out what exchange rate they use. Scales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan leslie Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 I may be wrong but the charges would appear on your credit card statement as interest from the day of purchase. I think using Travelex is not a purchase but a cash advance certainly, at least, it is where travel agents are used to obtain foreign currency. My daughter got caught a couple of years ago. Oops!!! ignore my previous posts - you are right Beejay, the charge has appeared on my cc statement. the comments on the Travelex website (that I accessed through Nationwide) clearly stated "there are no charges for using a Visa card, but 1. 6% if you use Mastercard, I reckon are pretty misleading and am taking this up with Nationwide. Quote Bessacarr Cameo 525 towed by SsangYong Rexton 2.2 auto in Brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FM02MZO Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 I see that we can now buy dollars and euros in our local Tesct Superstore. Quote RegardsTerry BirchThe tourer days are over, we now have an Hobby D500 GESC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.