Travel Money Query

[Coolcup]

Hi there

I am travelling to Europe (UK, France, Switzerland, Italy) in September 2010. I am trying to make a choice as to how I carry my travel money. I have reviewed a number of posts, and have several additional questions which I have set out below:

1. What is a better card the NAB Gold Visa Debit or the Wizard Clearadvantage? It is not clear to me what the key differences are other than obviously one is a debit card while the other is a credit card.

2. I have heard that Clearadvantage are no longer allowing people to put their card into debit, to take advantage of the low transaction fees while also not copping exorbitant interest rates on cash withdrawals. Is this true?

3. How do I actually use the NAB Gold Visa Debit and how does this impact the fees I pay? If I am at a hotel or shop and paying my bill should I press credit or debit to pay? If I am at an ATM what do I press to take advantage of the low fees?

4. If I am able to preload my Clearadvantage with funds of my own, how do I use this card? If I am at a hotel or shop and paying my bill, do I press credit or debit to pay? If I am at an ATM, what do I press to access my money, rather than the bank's money which will attract the high interest rate of the credit card?

5. Is the NAB Gold Visa Debit card widely accepted? I have read on some sites that it may not be as widely accepted as it is a "Debit" card. I find this confusing given I have also read that you should press "credit" to use it, it just uses your own money. Any clarity on this would be most appreciated.

My apologies if these questions are basic and simple in nature. This is my first big offshore trip and I have no experience in such things. Any help you can provide would be most appreciated.

Thanking you kindly in advance.

 

[Flashback]

Hi there

I am travelling to Europe (UK, France, Switzerland, Italy) in September 2010. I am trying to make a choice as to how I carry my travel money. I have reviewed a number of posts, and have several additional questions which I have set out below:

1. What is a better card the NAB Gold Visa Debit or the Wizard Clearadvantage? It is not clear to me what the key differences are other than obviously one is a debit card while the other is a credit card.

2. I have heard that Clearadvantage are no longer allowing people to put their card into debit, to take advantage of the low transaction fees while also not copping exorbitant interest rates on cash withdrawals. Is this true?

3. How do I actually use the NAB Gold Visa Debit and how does this impact the fees I pay? If I am at a hotel or shop and paying my bill should I press credit or debit to pay? If I am at an ATM what do I press to take advantage of the low fees?

4. If I am able to preload my Clearadvantage with funds of my own, how do I use this card? If I am at a hotel or shop and paying my bill, do I press credit or debit to pay? If I am at an ATM, what do I press to access my money, rather than the bank's money which will attract the high interest rate of the credit card?

5. Is the NAB Gold Visa Debit card widely accepted? I have read on some sites that it may not be as widely accepted as it is a "Debit" card. I find this confusing given I have also read that you should press "credit" to use it, it just uses your own money. Any clarity on this would be most appreciated.

My apologies if these questions are basic and simple in nature. This is my first big offshore trip and I have no experience in such things. Any help you can provide would be most appreciated.

Thanking you kindly in advance.

1. Wizard
2. Just don't tell them you're going to do it and you should be OK!
4. Select Credit. Can use for general transactions as well as cash advance but beware that the balance drops each time you do it so be sure to keep the card with a positive balance.

Another option is the ING Direct Orange Everyday account. It's $2.50 per withdrawal but is a simple Visa Debit account and also has no commission rates.

 

[medhead]

I can't really help with your questions. Buri would offer another suggestion for ATM withdraws. Being NAB gold banking which offers ATM withdraws overseas with no extra NAB fees. Gold banking also includes the gold debit card. So that should give the option of access savings via an ATM.

 

[JetLagged]

FWIW - the Teachers's Credit Union has a great debit card linked with Visa - when withdrawing from O/S the exchange rate is pretty well spot on Forex rates, and when used for purchasdes no fee. If withdrawing from an ATM, there is a one off $4 fee, regardless of how much you withdraw - so make one withdrawal rather than many smaller ones. I would imagine that most CCUs have same - so worth investigating.

 

[markis10]

Another option is the ING Direct Orange Everyday account. It's $2.50 per withdrawal but is a simple Visa Debit account and also has no commission rates.

The ING account does have a 2.5% fee on purchases and lacks the purchase insurance the NAB offers, once you have done four ATM transactions you equal to the NABs $10 monthly fee assuming you dont qualify for the waiver, or a $400 purchase will also equal the monthly fee.

 

[markis10]

FWIW - the Teachers's Credit Union has a great debit card linked with Visa - when withdrawing from O/S the exchange rate is pretty well spot on Forex rates, and when used for purchasdes no fee. If withdrawing from an ATM, there is a one off $4 fee, regardless of how much you withdraw - so make one withdrawal rather than many smaller ones. I would imagine that most CCUs have same - so worth investigating.

All their cards have a 2.5% conversion fee for foreign transactions.

 

[Coolcup]

Does anyone have an answer to question 3 or 5? Also, anyone know what other differences there are between NAB's Gold Visa Debit and Clearadvantage (other than the obvious credit vs debit difference)?

Thanks so much for the help so far.

Cheers

 

[markis10]

Does anyone have an answer to question 3 or 5? Also, anyone know what other differences there are between NAB's Gold Visa Debit and Clearadvantage (other than the obvious credit vs debit difference)?

Thanks so much for the help so far.

Cheers

Apart from the monthly fee of $10 I am not sure there is much difference, the issue with Debit cards not being accepted is maonly with the woolworths group, I have not heard of there being any real issues overseas lately given it is a Visa and debit cards are far more widely accepted.

 

[kmartin56]

take your credit cards as a back up only and get the new Travel Money Cards

I got one recently from the CBA and you can load various currencies to it before you go

so you can have Euros USD etc and as they are converted on the day you do the transaction in Australia you are not subject to the ups and downs of the FX rates

I found it great works at all types of ATM's and although the fee to withdraw is a bit steep it is worth having the convenience. They also give you two cards in case one is lost and you can top it up on line

 

[markis10]

take your credit cards as a back up only and get the new Travel Money Cards

I got one recently from the CBA and you can load various currencies to it before you go

so you can have Euros USD etc and as they are converted on the day you do the transaction in Australia you are not subject to the ups and downs of the FX rates

I found it great works at all types of ATM's and although the fee to withdraw is a bit steep it is worth having the convenience. They also give you two cards in case one is lost and you can top it up on line

Welcome to AFF, there are some good tips here about saving money on travel including quite a few threads on cash overseas.

I have no idea why you would use one of them over the other options mentioned, much higher fees and the forex rates used are terrible, you could be lucky by locking in the rate but another thread showed the currency needed to move by 10% in order for you to gain!

I mean seriously, $15 to buy the card, after the initial load they take 1% for the privilege of you giving them cash and charge 2% for an ATM withdrawl on top of the ATM fee.

 

[sonlake]

kmartin56, its good that you are happy with your travel money solution but I think that you will find that your cash is costing you up to 5% more than can be achieved through the Wizard Clear Advantage MasterCard

 

[dmouy]

Hi there

I am travelling to Europe (UK, France, Switzerland, Italy) in September 2010. I am trying to make a choice as to how I carry my travel money. I have reviewed a number of posts, and have several additional questions which I have set out below:

1. What is a better card the NAB Gold Visa Debit or the Wizard Clearadvantage? It is not clear to me what the key differences are other than obviously one is a debit card while the other is a credit card.

2. I have heard that Clearadvantage are no longer allowing people to put their card into debit, to take advantage of the low transaction fees while also not copping exorbitant interest rates on cash withdrawals. Is this true?

3. How do I actually use the NAB Gold Visa Debit and how does this impact the fees I pay? If I am at a hotel or shop and paying my bill should I press credit or debit to pay? If I am at an ATM what do I press to take advantage of the low fees?

4. If I am able to preload my Clearadvantage with funds of my own, how do I use this card? If I am at a hotel or shop and paying my bill, do I press credit or debit to pay? If I am at an ATM, what do I press to access my money, rather than the bank's money which will attract the high interest rate of the credit card?

5. Is the NAB Gold Visa Debit card widely accepted? I have read on some sites that it may not be as widely accepted as it is a "Debit" card. I find this confusing given I have also read that you should press "credit" to use it, it just uses your own money. Any clarity on this would be most appreciated.

My apologies if these questions are basic and simple in nature. This is my first big offshore trip and I have no experience in such things. Any help you can provide would be most appreciated.

Thanking you kindly in advance.

I'd recommend travelling with both the NAB GoldVISA Debit card and the Wizard Clear Advantage Credit Card.

Whenever possible, I used Wizard Card for all transactions other than obtaining cash from an ATM. As it is a credit card, there is a statment cycle of about 1 month and 25 days after the billing date, you have to make a minimum payment (but preferably pay the amount owing in full). There are no additional charges for exchange back to AUD which other card issuers will charge. If you don't pay the closing balance in full, the interest charge is high!

For cash from ATMs the NAB GoldVISA works well as long as you have money in the account. No extra charge for foreign currency.

Working this way you use your own money when you need cash and you get extra time to pay for credit transactions on Wizard's credit card. My last trip finished in mid-June and I have just finished paying for purchases/car hire/accommodation on that journey.

Hope this helps.

 

[coolsteps]

I'd recommend travelling with both the NAB GoldVISA Debit card and the Wizard Clear Advantage Credit Card.

Whenever possible, I used Wizard Card for all transactions other than obtaining cash from an ATM. As it is a credit card, there is a statment cycle of about 1 month and 25 days after the billing date, you have to make a minimum payment (but preferably pay the amount owing in full). There are no additional charges for exchange back to AUD which other card issuers will charge. If you don't pay the closing balance in full, the interest charge is high!

For cash from ATMs the NAB GoldVISA works well as long as you have money in the account. No extra charge for foreign currency.

Working this way you use your own money when you need cash and you get extra time to pay for credit transactions on Wizard's credit card. My last trip finished in mid-June and I have just finished paying for purchases/car hire/accommodation on that journey.

Hope this helps.

I also recommend travelling with both the NAB GoldVISA Debit card and the Wizard Clear Advantage Credit Card. I did on my last trip around europe and asia in Nov 2009 and had no problems using both cards except for KL, Malayasia. Just use the wizard card for credit purchases and the NAB GoldVISA Debit card for ATM cash withdrawals. Im not sure on which one gives you the best exchange rate though? both of mine are old and dont have a chip on them so i got stuck at a resturant in KL malayasia they kept rejecting them. Luckly i had brought along another banks visa card that had a chip which worked. I think you may be able to get the monthly NAB gold account fee waived if you are a NAb share holder? how ever i avoid the monthly fee by simply seting up an auto pay of 5k into it and back out the next day. Also an option would be citibank debit visa card for cash atm withdrawals but i think they charge 2.5% for the exchange conversion and even more if you use it to make purchases.?

 

[medhead]

Does anyone have an answer to question 3 or 5? Also, anyone know what other differences there are between NAB's Gold Visa Debit and Clearadvantage (other than the obvious credit vs debit difference)?

Thanks so much for the help so far.

Cheers

Your thread prompted me to ring up NAB today about this very topic. Based on that conversation, in relation to question 3, it seems that you press credit if purchasing something, which will then make it act as a visa card. The visa debit card can also be attached to your saving account and so it that case if using an ATM you would press savings. This advice was linked to my situation where I have other transaction accounts with NAB, so the ideal situation would be that I link those other accounts and also have the debit account (it did seem from the conversation with the CSR that the debit card account would be the same as my "savings" account.)

I'd also say that if you have NAB gold banking then even your normal ATM card can be used overseas to access your "savings" account funds without the extra penalties.

I hope this post makes sense, as I've kind of fudged some details.

 

[Coolcup]

Thanks so much everyone, this has been extremely useful.

For the visa gold debit card, if I am paying at a shop or hotel for a bill, I press "credit" right? And if I am at an ATM I should withdraw using "savings" right?

Thanks again!!

 

[p20]

Hi

Generally with Visa Debit, when at a retail store - press the "Credit" key on the terminal. When overseas, this is probably the ONLY option you'll have as Eftpos systems tend to be country specific - a fact Visa rely on heavily to promote Visa Debit cards to international travellers.

Back home in Australia, if the retailer has a surcharge for using a Visa or Mastercard that you don't want to pay - then you press Savings (and the transaction processes as a normal Eftpos transaction). I know Aldi and some other smaller retail stores do this! For several months now, Woolworths group stores will not give the "Credit" option when you use a Visa Debit card.

Also, if you don't need it for some other purpose, remember to shut down that NAB Gold account when you're back home. Otherwise that $10 monthly fee will erode whatever balance is left in the account fairly quickly.

 

[Fifa]

This thread has prompted me to 'upgrade' our Wizard CA cards to ones with a chip before our visit next month to France!

Thanks

 

[Flashback]

This thread has prompted me to 'upgrade' our Wizard CA cards to ones with a chip before our visit next month to France!

Thanks

AFAIK they don't have chipped versions of the cards...

 

[p20]

[AFAIK they don't have chipped versions of the cards...]

My Wizard CA is chipped, issued April 2010.

 

[serfty]

... Also, if you don't need it for some other purpose, remember to shut down that NAB Gold account when you're back home. Otherwise that $10 monthly fee will erode whatever balance is left in the account fairly quickly.

If you are able to put $5K per month through the NAB gold account (Salary?) the fee is waived.