Cash Passport - Alternative To Notes & CC Fees

[Florentine_Pogen]

Just a wee heads up for anyone going abroad soon. I was tasked by SWMBO to source her US $'s and I knew that our local Sainsbury's had opened a 'Travel Money' kiosk recently.

I wanted to get 2.5K $ but they only had $20 notes. Mrs. P would not have been pleased.

However, they have 'Cash Passport' which is a Mastercard CC, you load it up with as much as you want and it's all done in store before your very eyes. It can be topped-up whilst your away and is valid for 5 years.

No charges at ATM's or Mastercard outlets.

Sorry if this sounds like a feckin' ad for Sainsburys Bank - just thought it might be helpful for you traveller types !

[davidkennedyshand]

No charges at ATMs from the supplier of the card but you might still get charged by the bank ATM you're withdrawing cash from.Spend as much as you can as the buy back rate will be crap if you cash it out at the bureau and watch out for any cashing out fees.A lot of cards don't have them but some do.

Look out for Inactivity fees after 12 months if you decide to keep it on for the 5 years but don't go away every year.

The travel bureau in Sainsburys,Tesco and Asda are all run by Travelex.I work for one of them and sell the visa version of that card.

Better than taking it all in cash or travellers cheques.

[Florentine_Pogen]

Cheers dks - good to know about Inactivity Fee. The guy I dealt with said that as long as ATM had Mastercard logo, there would be no charges for withdrawals.

[craigkillie]

I've got a Halifax Clarity credit card which can be used abroad without a fee. You can make cash withdrawals too - you have to pay interest on those but if you have mobile banking then you can transfer the money over straight away and only pay one day's interest (a very small amount). Can't recommend it highly enough - saves the mucking around loading money on to cards or the hassle of carrying around loads of cash.

[doulikefish]

I've got a Halifax Clarity credit card which can be used abroad without a fee. You can make cash withdrawals too - you have to pay interest on those but if you have mobile banking then you can transfer the money over straight away and only pay one day's interest (a very small amount). Can't recommend it highly enough - saves the mucking around loading money on to cards or the hassle of carrying around loads of cash.

Yeah a few banks offer a card like this now,much better than those cash card things

[Guest]

My biggest regret from my current trip is not getting a cash passport type thing. In NZ at least the ones you get have fees here and there that make it very offputting (and using a bank card from there in European cash machines is financial suicide), but going about with 1-2000 Euro's in your bag (in shared rooms) makes for some light sleeping at night.

Get one, even if it's a shite deal.

[Savage Henry]

Travellers cheques are a better idea, never had any trouble getting them to take Amex ones in the states etc, also there aren't any fees for them, order them online from Amex and you get the same rate, but there's no fee for cashing them the way you might have with the card, the reason they push them is because they make more money off them over Tc's.

Are they though? You're still going be carrying an inordinate amount of cash on you one way or the other. And it's a complete drag cashing them in at the bank, even if it does take five minutes.

I use a cash passport, usually as a back up to whatever I have on me. I didn't know about the no use fee though.