Is the easyJet Euro Currency Card worth a look?

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• will says:

  15 Jul15 July 11:05

  It may be worth taking a look at the ‘FairFX Anywhere’ pre-pay mastercard. I got the tip from a reader comment on here.

  You top it up in Sterling, then spend in any currency. They claim to charge you spot rates and a simple 1.4% fee for transactions (including GBP)

  The real beauty of it is that you need not worry about having balances in other currencies and you can always spend it in the UK to clear the balance when you come back from holiday (albeit with the 1.4% fee even in Sterling).

  • Sir Stamford says:

    15 Jul15 July 14:14

    There have been several posts here regarding how to minimise foreign currency charges but I think a 1.4% charge is too high.

    Here’s one example. If you have a current account with Metrobank or even Norwich & Peterborough Building Society, you get free overseas debit card usage.

    Prior to my overseas trip, I would fund it with an amount of money and then use it for cash withdrawal, effectively treating it as a pre-paid account. Metrobank converts the foreign currency transactions to GBP at a very competitive spot rate. If you have any “excess” funds in your account after the trip, you simply transfer it back to your main current account without charge.

    Sir Stamford

• Stuart says:

  15 Jul15 July 15:05

  Just a word of warning on using your Amex card for Amex Travel Money Now purchases. I contacted Amex to confirm this would be treated as a cash advance and got this response:

  “Dear Mr —,

  Using American Express Travel Money Now services is considered as a cash advance on your American Express Card and not as a regular purchase. Therefore, if you are using an American Express Card for ordering your foreign currency, the cash advance fee of £3 or 3% of the amount may be applicable, whichever is the greater.

  Sincerely,

  —
  Email Servicing Team
  American Express Customer Care”

  • Rob says:

    15 Jul15 July 15:36

    Stuart,

    Here is a paragraph from a post (and please don’t take this personally!) that I have already written and which will run on Thursday:

    “Let’s get something clear. Every time I write about this, at least one person and usually more than one rings up Amex to check if I am right. This is despite the fact that hundreds of people have successfully done this, including myself. The Amex phone reps tell them that I am wrong and that the transaction will be treated as a Cash Advance and they will be charged. The Amex phone reps are wrong. The transaction will be treated as a Purchase.”

    • ComeFlyWithMe123 says:

      15 Jul15 July 19:45

      and I can confirm (once again) that it worked a treat (as expected) on my gold Amex card a few days ago

      AMEX TRAVEL MONEY Finance £150.76

      🙂

• Frenske says:

  16 Jul16 July 14:16

  I used an Escape Travel card. One reason was to avoid paying for payment charges by Ryan/Easyjet and it is free.
  Secondly it suppose to be cheaper when withdrawing euros abroad since Nationwide was charging £1 per transaction. But soon I found out that the exchange rate is +3% where is Nationwide was +2% so when withdrawing over £100 worth of euros it became cheaper to use my normal debit card. Now I have upgraded to Nationwide Plus account, the £1 fee is waved, so the Escape Travel Card has become useless. Even worse they don’t allow to cancel it till the end of the contract and would charge £1pm fee for dormancy.

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