Best way to spend abroad

[Heartattack41]

Hi,

What cards do you spend on abroad?
Currently with NatWest and gather there's better options?

Chase
Monzo
Starling
Credit card
Loaded travel card

What would you recommend

Revolut is good. It gives the best possibly exchange rate on every transaction. You load it up, so you can budget.

I use Chase and its been great

I also use chase. Easy to apply and no problems since. Been great abroad.
Set your app location to share it allows them to know its not fraudulent transactions when your away. Martin lewis has a good list of suitable ones (also he says pay in local currency).

We used our nationwide cards as they didn't have extra fees

I use the Halifax Clarity card. There's a good explanation of the options on the Money Saving Expert website.

Chase, Starling, SocGen. Wise for transfers, although they also have a virtual card.

99% of spend is on my Halifax Clarity with Chase as a back up. I prefer the protection the credit card gives over using a current account.

we all use revolut

Halifax clarity card

NatWest charges you 2.75% above the bank mid-rate. The "fintech" cards (Monzo, Wise, Revolut) typically charge you 0.40%. So if you spend £1000 and use a cheaper card, you will save £23.50. Up to you to determine if that's worth the time spent applying for it and keeping the balance topped up with transfers from your current account.

For what it's worth I have a Wise card and I quite enjoy thinking "Ooh, I just saved 20p on two glasses of wine and a tapa", but it's not a huge amount of money compared to the cost of going on holiday. So I think it depends on whether you're a "look after the pennies" person.

And of course, having one more card is useful (as long as you can remember the PIN codes). You can treat the cheap card as a "burner" and leave the NatWest at the hotel, along with your passport (so much hassle if you get pickpocketed).

We also use revolut. You can transfer money on it, no exchange charges during the week. Its a free credit card and you can also pull money overseas for free on weekdays.

edited to add: i also use revolut a lot for online purchases. Was scammed once by a fake website and they returned all my money within a week. You can also create a one time use card instantly over the app and use that card if you dont feel comfortable putting your cc details on certain websites. Then the card becomes invalid after one use.

Wise

Nationwide credit card for spending on card as no fees but the credit limit isn’t very big, so if it’s a holiday that’s not AI then I use my virgin credit card which has a big limit on it. Nationwide flex plus debit card for taking cash out as no charges. I can also use it to spend with without fees but I don’t like to use it in case card details get stolen, as it’s my main bank account.

We use Starling. No fees, easy to use. Would recommend.

Also, we have a child's card on it which they can use but which you can control.

Our Santander joint credit card is free abroad and we get cash back on £500 on each card. We use it almost exclusively