AIBU to ask how you take your "spends" on self catering holiday?

[Oldbird69]

Gone all inclusive for years while ds was young, but going self catering this year. No intention of doing any cooking, will be eating out. Last time we did this folk still widely used travellers cheques, what would you wise mumsnetters advise? We were thinking 10 days worth of euros is a lot to take in cash?

Get a travel money card from the post office. You can preload it with as much cash as you like and use it as a debut card/contactless and withdraw cash

Do you have a credit card? Some are no-fee use abroad. Even with fees at ATMs it’s usually the same on debit cards compared to buying cash in advance.

Where are you going? I bank with Santander and they don’t charge you fees in Spain if you use their ATMs.

Take cash out of the bank while you are there, or pay by debit card.
Metro bank make no charge for transactions in Europe.

No dont take it all out in cash in one go.
You will be a nervous wreck worrying about it, and if something happens to it you will be devastated.
Whenever i go abroad i just take enough local currency for the first day or two then just draw money out at the local ATM's. Yes you get charged, but the time & hassle saved makes it worth it IMO.
Otherwise do as pp said & pre-load cards.
Enjoy your hol! Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised. Self-catering all the way!

Get a card like Revolut or similar that doesn’t charge for using it abroad. When I go away now I don’t bother getting currency before I go, I just use an ATM at the airport when I arrive to take out a little bit of spare cash just in case I need it, then use my card for everything.

I use a Halifax clarity credit card. No fees to use abroad. I think some others have the same option.

We're going to Zante. We do have a credit card, but never use it. (I find that I'm hopeless at keeping track of what I spend when handing over plastic). We were planning to take it with us in case of emergencies though.

We have a Halifax credit card which has no fees for withdrawing cash here or abroad so we use that when we're away then pay it off when we return.

I third a Halifax clarity credit card - we use it only for trips abroad and online overseas purchases (eg. buying something from eBay in the US). Don't use any old credit card as the fees might be quite high.

Yes get a Halifax clarity credit card. We normally take €300 ish in cash to buy drinks, snacks etc and use the credit card for bigger things like meals out. In the last couple of days we will use whatever cash we have left, although we often bring some back as a bit of a freebie for the next trip!

If you're worried about how much you will spend on the card keep a tally as you go along.

We use a cash passport from Thomas Cook. it's a prepay card you use like a debit card abroad.

We take our first 500€ and then draw out €400 instalments throughout the holiday, and pay for things over €100 on a card that's free to use abroad (Post Office credit card I think) so we don't have to keep drawing our cash.

I got a Halifax Clarity card, and a Revolut card which had a better exchange rate than Post Office and you can add more money when you need it. Also took £200 euros for odd payments of ice cream etc.

Monzo also a good card to take cash abroad.

I used to take some euros and then just use my debit card for a small fee. But now I have the Halifax clarity card too.

Loads of atms in Zante so no problem there.

I have some Euros but if I run out of cash I just draw some from the ATM with a debit card. Never use a credit card to draw cash, that’s horrendous expensive.

I just don’t want the hassle of applying for another card. Taking huge amount of cash is not only unsafe but also expensive as cash exchange rates are never as good as the ones used for electronic use.

I am the opinion that if I can afford the general holiday costs I can also afford the fees from the bank.

We take a bit of cash and rest goes on credit card.

We also have a halifax clarity card that is only used for holidays/foreign internet transactions. because there are no charges I just get out forty euros or so at a time as it is no more expensive (and means i don't get stuck with €50 notes that no one will accept for small transactions). my normal debit/credit card charges a minimum charge (£2/3) per transaction and gives a much worse exchange rate than the halifax card.

you can check the halifax card online, and even see pending transactions, so you never need to spend more than you think you have.

I got a Clarity card for a trip to New York. It wouldn't work in any of the ATMs and I spent about an hour on the phone to them and they couldn't sort it. Haven't bothered with the stupid thing since. And have also had bad experiences with Revolut transferring cash in the wrong direction (between friends thankfully).

Perhaps I'm just very unlucky

If you are using a card and they offer to do it in sterling say no. They’ll give you an awful exchange rate, do it in euros. Also let your bank/card provider know you are going away in case they stop the card as suspicious.

@Orchid - I think you're unlucky. My dp works in NY 2/3 times a year and uses the Halifax card.

@reluctantbrit I appreciate you might not want to apply for a new card but many of us have mentioned that we have the Halifax credit card precisely due to the lack of fees so it's not correct that it's horrendously expensive to use a credit card abroad.

I said withdrawing cash is very expensive with a credit card, not normal purchases. I use mine abroad all the time but only withdraw cash with my debit card.

Santander Zero or Halifax clarity or possibly some other cards are absolutely the cheapest way to spend abroad. If you get cash out, pay it back as soon as you get home and the interest will be pennies and the rate is far better than any other method. Make sure you always pay in local currency so they don't rip you off on the exchange rate too.

Read the moneysavingexpert article on this subject for full information.

reluctantbrit You have the wrong card then.

It very expensive in that you are charged interest on cash, and the outstanding balance on your account, from you day you withdraw cash, but if you pay it off asap (i use my data, or a secure wifi connection, to pay it off while still away, but paying it off as soon as you get home should be okay).

I have paid far less in interest on my halifax card than i used to pay in fees on my debit card.