Do you use credit card or get EURO's for holiday abroad?

[system2319]

HI all,

Been ages since we went abroad, it was the time that you used travellers cheques!

We are off to Lanzarote in August, do we get a card to make payments or get EURO's (and from where?)

Sure I saw a thread yesterday that asked more or less the same question but I am unable to locate the thread!

Thanks all

i get about 50 euros and would use my card - i have a starling account which is fees free for card transactions abroad and no charge to lift money apart from if the atm charges

I usually get €100 for emergencies and use my Chase card as no fees

I get a prepayment card from the post office. You preload it via an app using your banking.
It's really, really easy and can be topped up when you're away in seconds. I usually check mine before I buy anything or use it in a restaurant or whatever.

It has a chip on it and is basically used like a debit card.

If you try to use your debit card you will be charged every time for the currency conversion which will add up fairly quickly.

I use a Revolut card.
You preload it and then you're not charged any fees to use it and they give you best exchange rate on the day.

Same here

Revolut is useful if friends and family have one also as you can move money to each other and split bills etc

I also take some euros in cash as well- for ice creams, drinks etc.
Usually use Tesco for this or whichever high street place has the best rate. There normally isn't much in it.

I usually take €200 euros with me and use my credit card (no charges abroad) when shopping. Or I draw cash out from debit card. Don't want to take loads of cash and travellers cheques are a great way to lose money as you pay to buy them and again to exchange!

Alternatively, there are the travel money cards.

I get about £100 of the currency in cash and then use a Revolut card, although now we both have Chase bank accounts we will probably just use them when we go away in September.

A bit of cash and a Halifax clarity card

Halifax clarity card. I was in the USA in Jan, took $100 and didn’t use any cash at all, it all went on card.

Is that a credit or debit card?

I'm going to Canada in just over a week. I was going to take £1500 (converted to CAN$) and use a card for everything else. Is there an interest free credit card out there (even if it's only interest free for a year) where I wouldn't be charged exchange fees?

I use a debit card, either Virgin Money or Starling. No fees for cash withdrawals or card transactions.

I just took out a Virgin credit card which has no fees for use abroad and put almost everything on that. We did have cash with us, but lots of places weren't taking it (or were reluctant), so I wouldn't get anywhere near as much next time.
Credit card will be paid off in full when the statement comes in.

Only cash we now use is for tips and taxis. Halifax Clarity card for everything else. Martin Lewis www.moneysavingexpert.com has reviews of the best/worst cards for travel.

Monzo. They don't charge anything for use abroad and they're a great bank with an excellent UI.

Revolut card for sure. I just set Dd up with one for a trip to Paris. Paid an extra £5 for a physical card but you also have a virtual card on your phone. You link your debit card to it and add funds in sterling to it. Just use it as normal when abroad and no charges. However they do charge some like 2.5% at a weekend unless you change some of your sterling to local currency to see you through the weekend.

if you still have money on the card when you get back you can use it here.

I've got a barclays account and I'm going to open up a travel wallet along side the account. I can then put money in the wallet which will convert it to euros and then I can just use my debit card abroad with no fees. When i get back I just transfer any remaining euros back to my current account with no commission charges.

Get a wise account. So way and cheap exchange rates. It's all online and brilliant

Last time we were in Lanzarote our hotel didn't take cash at all. You either registered a credit card checking in or paid by card as you order.
I always carry a little cash but use cards all the time really

Monzo. They don't charge anything for use abroad

Yes they do.

monzo.com/features/travel/

Starling or Chase debit cards are better options.

We've just come back from Menorca and paid for just about everything with our Starling debit cards. I think credit card would also have been fine. You just need to make sure your card doesn't charge commission or a fee and always pay in euros if asked.

We did have some cash with us left over from a previous holiday and used that for tips and small purchases like bus fare or coffees.

We did try to get some more cash out before we realised that everywhere except the bus took cards no problem (historically Spain has been much more cash based but we haven't been for 3 years so I assume they've gone the same way as the UK and mostly transferred over to cards) but the first couple of cash machines we tried charged 3 to 6 euro per withdrawal so we didn't bother.

I have heard that you can withdraw charge free cash from a Santander machine if you have a Santander card, including a UK one so that might be an option for anyone who wants cash.

We've always just used our debit cards and taken a little cash in case it's needed. If you bank with Natwest there are no fees abroad this summer, I think it applies to all accounts.