Cash Passport

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Anyone ever used a Travelex Cash Passport?

http://www.travelex.co.uk/personal/PPC_default.asp?content=ppc

[Shaun]

No but we used the Amex one in the states. These cards are strange, you can't use them everywhere in shops and you definitely can't use them for hiring cars or hotel rooms.

If you have other methods of taking money with you (credit card, cash card, debit card, cash) you'll be o.k. but if you intend to have just one of these cards then I'd say take cash and cheques. :)

[joglynne]

I haven't come across this card before but I've been looking at the website and on first viewing it seems interesting. I have tried it out by putting in details of a very small village I know in Spain and it comes up with a bank that I know to be the nearest place for cashing travellers cheques/currency.

I to will be interested in anybody's experiences of using this card.

Jo

[Julian]

Zoiks!!! look at all them fees and charges.

Try This (http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump1?catId=19300207&mediaId=26800661) instead. :)

[joglynne]

Zoiks!!! look at all them fees and charges.

Try This (http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump1?catId=19300207&mediaId=26800661) instead. :)

Now that does look interesting.:)

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Zoiks!!! look at all them fees and charges.

Try This (http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump1?catId=19300207&mediaId=26800661) instead. :)

Isnt that the same as the Travelex one? Theyre both visa arent they. When you pick up cash or cheques at the airport Travelex is usually the best deal

[Shaun]

The answer is don;t get your cash at the airport. :)

Go online, HSBC and M&S will both deliver cash and cheques to your door with a great rate :tu:

[squiggs1982]

Travelex will always give you the best price of any of the bureaux, be it M&S or Post Office or any of their online competitors etc., provided you book up front on their website.

They do a "price promise", so if you did by chance get a better price, whether in a shop or online, they'll refund your the difference.

As for the cards, the cash passport is a superior product to the American Express card, because by its very nature as a Visa product, you can use it in thousands more places. To use the Amex card, you need to be standing directly under a full moon when the earth has aligned with all the other planets in the solar system ;).

The Post Office one may look better on fees or charges up front, but remember it's actually going to be a Bank of Ireland product you're using (the Post Office doesn't actually dabble in currency, it just likes you to think it does, everything is provided to it by BoI through a Joint Venture) so there are two parties who will want a cut of the exchange rate.

The Travelex card is issued by their Dutch bank subsidiary (GWK Travelex), so it's only the one company taking a slice, so you're more likely to get a better conversion between your base currency and the foreign.

Just my two bobs worth! :D

[Paul]

Off all the methods I've used, I've found that simply paying with your visa/mastercard is usually cheapest (in Spain anyway). Strangely, they ask you to enter your PIN, and then you have to sign as well.

[Angua]

Alternatively for the US, Nationwide are great. No charges for purchase on the credit card and no charge for cash withdrawals with the Flex account.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

The answer is don;t get your cash at the airport. :)

Go online, HSBC and M&S will both deliver cash and cheques to your door with a great rate :tu:

Why not? if you get it from Travelex and collect at the airport to get a better rate than HSBC and M&S

---------- Post added at 12:16 ---------- Previous post was at 12:13 ----------

Alternatively for the US, Nationwide are great. No charges for purchase on the credit card and no charge for cash withdrawals with the Flex account.

Thats a con trick. No charges for purchases on the credit card, because its already included in the exchange rate. All these offers of "Commision free" are a load of rubbish. When comparing two companies you need to compare the total cost of the transaction as different exchange rates will be used.

[danielf]

Hmm, I usually go to the ATM and use my debit card to withdraw money when abroad. Easiest and cheapest in my experience.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Hmm, I usually go to the ATM and use my debit card to withdraw money when abroad. Easiest and cheapest in my experience.

In the USA thats expensive. I know all the options, was just wondering if people had used the cash passport rather than travellers cheques.

[danielf]

In the USA that's expensive.<snip>. Why is that? Is the exchange rate on TCs so much better in the US?

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Why is that? Is the exchange rate on TCs so much better in the US?

You can use TC's as cash in the US. So a $100 cheque is worth $100. Using ATM's in the US i beleive you get charged by the provider of the ATM (as americans do) and then get charged by the UK bank too.

[danielf]

You can use TC's as cash in the US. So a $100 cheque is worth $100. Using ATM's in the US i beleive you get charged by the provider of the ATM (as americans do) and then get charged by the UK bank too.

But when you buy TCs you get an exchange rate plus you pay a commission of 1% (IIRC). Assuming the ATM owner charges a flat rate, it may be cheaper to just take a large amount out of the ATM? In recent years I have only bought TCs when travelling to countries where ATMs are sparse.

(Is that Dong in your pocket, or are you happy to see me? ;) )

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

But when you buy TCs you get an exchange rate plus you pay a commission of 1% (IIRC). Assuming the ATM owner charges a flat rate, it may be cheaper to just take a large amount out of the ATM? In recent years I have only bought TCs when travelling to countries where ATMs are sparse.

(Is that Dong in your pocket, or are you happy to see me? ;) )

You can get travellers cheques without paying commision (eg Travelex) however going back to my earlier point "its already lumped into the exchange rate" .Travellers cheques at least give you some insurance and security, plus as i said before in the USA and Canada you can use them as cash and get cash as your change thus avoiding banks altogether.

From a comparision i did a few years back, TC's were the cheapest way. However that may have changed.