Probably stupid question about money

[Guest The Waite Family]

:embarrassed:

When we come to validate our visas in 6 weeks time we are not sure what to bring with us money wise???

 

When we go on holiday to Lanzarote we load money onto a Caxton Card during the year over the internet and use the atm machines to get it out in Euros.

 

Can you use a Caxton Card in Australia? Is there an equivalent or do we have to lug round a wad of dollars with us?

 

Sorry if this sounds like I'm thick but looking on the Caxton Card website you can get a Euros one or an US Dollars one so not sure what we are gonna do?????

[Guest Mitchell]

Hiya. Probably worth checking if nationwide building society still do free withdrawals from foreign bank ATMs. I know they were talking about stopping it but they still did it at the beginning of the year. Doesn't even have to be the full visa debit card as their cash point cards work here too. If they still do it open an account with them and get a card. You can then just withdraw any money you need as you need it.

[Guest Mitchell]

Forgot to say that if it's a visa debit and you use it in a shop to pay the system here means you pick cheque, savings or credit before you enter your pin. Even though it's a debit card you have to select credit for UK cards or they don't work and come up invalid card. Was caught out a couple of times before I figured it out.

[Diane]

The only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked....

 

I know my in-laws when they come here use their normal bank card to withdraw money from ATMs - have a look at yours and if it has a Cirrus or Maestro logo or something like that on it then you should be ok to use ATMs here. The money will just come out in Aussie dollars, and your bank will convert it and may or may not charge you a foreign currency charge.

 

If paying with credit card in a store, be aware that some stores will ask you if you want to pay in Pounds as opposed to Dollars - this happened to my Dad and although he said no, they still went ahead and put it through as Pounds at the store's quite disadvantageous exchange rate (he gets a good exchange rate from Visa usually) - it only made a difference of a few pounds to the item he bought, but he was pretty miffed with it when he found out!

 

With the Caxton Card, it looks like they do something called a Global Traveller which might be what you need for Australia. Not heard of them, but just had a quick look on their website.

[Guest The Waite Family]

Soooooooooo.......... just to check

 

As long as I have money in my bank at home and bring my cards with me I don't need to do anything else?

[Guest Mitchell]

Soooooooooo.......... just to check

 

As long as I have money in my bank at home and bring my cards with me I don't need to do anything else?

 

Just check with your bank to see if they charge for a foreign withdrawal. If they do open an account with one that doesn't. A £5 charge doesn't seem like much but if you use your card for lots of little purchases it soon stacks up.

[Guest WhatNow?]

Soooooooooo.......... just to check

 

As long as I have money in my bank at home and bring my cards with me I don't need to do anything else?

 

And don't forget to tell your bank you will be using your card in Australia (and anywhere else you intend to stop over along the way) or you may get caught in the 'Exceptional Transactions' trap where they freeze your card thinking that it has been stolen or cloned.

[Guest kangomik]

OHHHHH YESSSS. make sure you tell the bank and credit card company's.

Halifax used to be really keen on this. after one trip overseas they rang to ask if i was back in the country and everything was ok, I thought this is nice, they then told me they had cancelled ALL my cards

They issued new ones immediately, just to make sure no one had cloned them:jiggy:

 

I rang them every time i went away after that just to let them know which countries i was going to. and they did the same thing every time.

 

Comming here i let them know when i was leaving where i was stopping off and how long i wanted covering for here in Adelaide. Any transaction out of the ordinary, or in a different destination automatically closed the card.

 

I know it is for their own insurance, but i thought it was great!

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Just make sure you ler the bank know what your doing...as some friends of ours had their card stopped as it was used outside of the UK.....they called the bank told them what was going on and the bank activated the card again....

 

HG

[browny]

Travelex United Kingdom - Travel Money Online - Foreign Exchange

 

Travelex do a travel card that you can load with GBP and then you can spend in Oz in Dollars. Not sure of the fees involved or if the rates are good but maybe worth a look.

 

xxxx