Talk to me as if I’m an idiot - holiday money / Spain

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I’m going on my first foreign holiday in nearly 20 years in June. This alone is a huge deal for me because I’m disabled, my son is disabled and so until now we’ve never really felt confident enough to go for it but with some inheritance and a bit of a “let’s do it” attitude we’ve booked a break in Ibiza, the quiet part of the island, in a nice resort. I’ve organised special assistance etc, private transfers as we both have blue badges etc. But - what I’m struggling with is spending money. What do people do nowadays? Should I get actual cash / euros to spend? Just use my debit card - how much is this going to cost me? Pre paid card?! I’m so confused. The last time I went anywhere was to Greece when I was 20 and we took travellers cheques 😆😳🙈

Help me out.

Just change how much you want into euros. Then you've always got your debit card as a back up but yes there will be a charge for using it

I’ve got a post office prepaid Mastercard. Works exactly the same as a normal bank card and you can top it up whenever you like through the app. Saves the hassle of carrying loads of cash abroad (I still take 50€ in cash anyway), and if you lost it you can cancel it exactly like any other bank card. Because it’s Mastercard it’s accepted pretty much everywhere.

Should’ve added you can top it up in euros so you don’t get charged every time you use it like you would with a British card!

I use debit or credit card for when I'm spending a larger amount e.g. big shop or petrol. I get euros for the rest (from the post office before I go). If there are some left over I put them away for next time.

Personally I don't like the pre paid card as I don't like keeping track of what is left on it and one time I still had a bit left but never got round to using it/ getting it back which was wasteful. My fault but I know it would easily happen again!

Are you able to get an additional online only bank account?

They're quick to open: we used Chase last summer just to have the debit card as we could use it in France at a good exchange rate and without fees. So, for example, we moved £300 into it and just used the card abroad, then moved whatever was left back into normal account once holiday over.

I believe there are a few other options: Revolut, Starling...? I check moneysupermarket to read the latest advice, and always bring a small amount of foreign in cash, but we don't holiday often so bringing leftover back to the UK is a worry!

We have a specific credit card (Halifax) as it doesn't charge for using overseas. It is only used for holidays, and we take a small amount of euros.

Get a Monzo bank account and then you don't pay anything to use it abroad.

I have a link where we both get a £5 if you do get an account.

I've been with them years. I take £100 in euros for taxis etc and use my card for everything while abroad.

Here's my link if you do want to use it join.monzo.com/c/y8gfz26

Check to see if your bank charges non-sterling transaction fees, if they do a pre-paid card that doesn't would probably suit you best. It's cheaper to take cash out of a cash point when you get there but most places will take cards so you probably won't need any cash.

I just use my U.K. debit card.

spain require visitors to have a minimum of €90 pp per day and a minimum of €890, regardless of length of stay.

they seem to have got more rigorous at asking. My DC was asked about her financial means when entering recently.

Not a silly question at all, I asked the same last year as we hadn’t been abroad for 16yr.

we took a pre paid post office Mastercard and it worked well, we also took a little amount of euros too. Everywhere accepted the Mastercard and meant we knew how much money we had available to spend rather than using our bank card.

the post office card has an app that you can check balance, see what you’ve spent, too up etc.

I travel a lot to Spain (on my way to airport now…) and always use Monzo, remember to select Euros when you pay so that you’re applied their lower exchange rate.

I would still take like £100 in cash though. You might come across small shops/bars/market that may not let you pay with card if it’s a small amount. At least this happens in mainland Spain, maybe Ibiza is more tourist oriented, but still, I would take some cash just in case.

have fun!

You know you can transfer it back to your bank account if you don’t spend it? I forgot I had €80 left on mine and it was a nice surprise for my next trip!

I live in Spain. I can't remember the last time I used cash everything is contactless and less easy to lose money . But be careful of exchange rates. Open an account with wise or revolute then you don't pay those huge conversation fees I have codes for both I think you get something using a joining code wise.com/invite/ath/susanp462

For a remote part of Ibiza I'd take cash.

A lot of places won't take card and there may be no cash machine.

That's a bit of a falicy. They can ask but in reality they dint and as long as you have a card with you that sufficient

Get a Monzo card. Free transactions abroad.

work out your daily budget and go and change your money over at the post office x the number of days you are going

Like pp, completely recommend post office card, works like credit card and if you’re running low, easy to top up on app. You’re in charge and no surprises!

Chase is the same with added bonus of 1% cash back.

I'm just back from Spain and it's totally geared up to contactless, I hate real money!

Get a pre paid currency card which you can top up using an App. We’ve used FairFX and found it really good once it was all set up, I had two linked cards. It’s a lot cheaper than using your UK card as that will incur fees everytime you use it.

weve Always taken staring/monzo/chase cards and got some euros out at the airport. Once we arrived in rural Spain and the cash point was broken so we now take a bit of cash (euros) but use cards or get cash out there for everyrhing else.

This. I've got a Wise card. I load it up with cash in the currency I need before I leave home. If I'm running out while on holiday, I transfer some more into it. It takes seconds.

Sometimes used my UK debit/credit card for the occasional larger expense.

Please may I know the name of the account? Is it the regular Chase current account? Thanks.

I use Starling which has no charges, but I like the sound of the cashback, especially for a big trip.

Get a revolut cats and use that, it’s safer and costs less than exchanging money . Enjoy