dreamon

janisj, one could argue that bank fees are just part of the cost of travel. But when I added up the bank fees for our family holiday to Europe, they were nearly $400. And that was only a one month holiday on a budget. I'd rather spend that money on something else than give it to the bank. I don't think it's worth spending a huge amount of effort on either, but if easily resolved by opening an account with a bank that doesn't charge, then why not? Who knows, if travellers move to banks with a lower fee structure, perhaps other banks will follow suite?

esj

You can no longer preload 28 degrees card with cash, it was possible to do a year or so ago, now you will be charged a fee (I think ~3%) if you withdraw cash from this card. It's a credit card after all, you not suppose to use it for cash.

Basically, use 28 degrees credit card for credit payments, e.g paying for hotels, restaurants etc. as Master card has best exchange rate and no conversion fees.

For taking out cash in ATM's, Citibank debit card is considered the best as they don't charge any fees and their exchange rate is good as well (not as good as 28 degrees but good enough not to worry).

Maudie

Yes the 28 degrees card was the best until they closed the loophole as esj stated above. We have just opened a Citibank Plus visa debit card, this seems to be the next best thing according my research - will find out for myself in a couple of months. Make sure you look at the Plus card, that's the one to get.

janisj

Man- Aussie banks must really pile it on (or you withdraw cash too often). I've never had even $100 in fees . . . But then I don't mind carrying a fair amount of cash w/ me.

bvlenci

People who are spending hundreds of dollars in bank fees for ATM withdrawals must be paying for everything in cash, which is never a wise strategy. To rack up $400 in fees at a rate of 2.5% plus $2.50 per withdrawal would imply ATM withdrawals of over $11,000 if you withdraw €250 at a time. Even for a month, it's about €400 a day. I never withdraw anywhere near that much on holiday, but, as I said, I pay for all hotels with a credit card. I also pay for major purchases and most restaurant meals with a credit card. What's left is museum entries, the occasional snack, and small purchases.

People who travel a lot may have a good reason to find a bank with minimal fees for foreign ATM withdrawals. People who take an overseas holiday once every five years or who don't have multiple bank acccounts should have more important criteria when choosing a bank. No bank operates on the principle of philathropy. If they don't get it from you in ATM fees, they'll make their profit in other ways, maybe just by understaffing their branch offices so that every time you need to speak to a human it's pure torture.

Michael

<i>People who travel a lot may have a good reason to find a bank with minimal fees for foreign ATM withdrawals.</i>

Fees also apply in the States. For example, BofA does not seem to have any branches in New Orleans or southern Utah. Using an ATM means paying on both ends of the transaction. But my Credit Union reimburses me for those transactions and for foreign transactions charges only the 1% Visa fee. If Visa can make a profit by charging a 1% conversion fee I do not see why I have to pay more to any bank; and this applies to credit card charges as well.

bvlenci

We were talking about changing banks to avoid fees for foreign withdrawals. Of course, for your everyday banking, it pays to choose a bank whose fees and services meet your particular needs. However, limiting the parameters to fees for withdrawals seems to me to be a little narrow. Many other factors should be considered, such as convenience of branches, ease of finding a person to talk to, and many other factors. My US bank is probably not the cheapest fee-wise, but I often have to call from Italy (where I live) and I've never been put on hold for more than about 30 seconds. I'll pardon a lot of fees for that

Also, Michael, as I said before, if a bank has low withdrawal fees, they'll certainly make it up somewhere else. You're paying somewhere for those low fees.

Michael

<i>Also, Michael, as I said before, if a bank has low withdrawal fees, they'll certainly make it up somewhere else. You're paying somewhere for those low fees.</i>

"You" generically. BofA is my US bank, with many branches where I reside, and free safety deposit box because our retirement checks are deposited directly. My credit union is my travel account. I do not borrow from them or have long term deposits in either one. Unless I walk into my BofA branch, I get otherwise better service from my credit union. I do low cost banking, paying no extra fees to my bank.

kybourbon

>>>Also, Michael, as I said before, if a bank has low withdrawal fees, they'll certainly make it up somewhere else. You're paying somewhere for those low fees.<<<

That's not true of credit unions which are member owned. They simply don't gouge you on fees (here or abroad) and aren't getting it elsewhere. In earlier years, they didn't even charge the 1% on my credit cards issued by them. I have both Visa and Mastercard from my CU and a Visa debit/ATM card. I've checked the conversion rates when I get my statement by looking at the history (you can look at the exchange rate on particuar days) on XE or Oanda for each transaction. They actually give me the lowest rate for that date (the rate fluctuates throughout the day). They also don't care if I leave only $5 in account for years on end where a regular bank would start charging dormant fees. I use a different bank (regular bank) for my everyday things at home, but I use my credit union account for travel and a few savings accounts (they pay higher interest rates than banks).

dreamon

For non-Aussies: most Australian banks charge 2.5-3% conversion fee on all purchases and ATM withdrawals made overseas. Doesn't matter whether you pay by card or in cash. Our banks are amongst the most profitable in the world.

RT2015

I like that this has got everyone talking as that seems to be the purpose of this forum and the more questions we ask the more discussion it generates. It's great to be able to do this from all corners of the world, so thanks everyone!

esj and dreamon: In reference to the 28 Degree Mastercard - I looked at this and thought it was the perfect option for paying with credit in store/cafes/restaurants/tours etc. But my colleague explained that he knew several people who had had trouble with Mastercard in Europe. Basically, the credit transaction has refused to work in a number of cases and when this happens it defaults to a cash advance, costing plenty as a transaction.

Hence, I am searching for a Visa that will allow me to pay for credit transactions without the fees. As you say dreamon at the rate of 2.5-3% per transaction it makes cash the only really affordable way to pay (and avoid a lot of those expenses adding up each day).

So, in terms of cash payments it seems Citibank is the way to go. But esj and Maudie, is the Citibank plus the same as the dual currency card?

Maudie

RT2015, no! I have not heard of the dual currency card but a Google search shows it's something quite different. Citibank Plus is a Visa debit card. We use our 28 card now for bookings we make for travel arrangements like train fares, accommodation etc where we are paying in a currency other than AUD.

theotherside

Hello RT2015,

Checkout Travelex's cash passport card. They have no withdrawal fees outside of Australia, although they do charge a 1% top up fee via BPAY and charge you to withdraw any excess funds in Australia, ongoing fees etc if you leave the card active. One other thing to checkout is what their exchange rate is when loading the card in the required currency. I hear a lot of people say Aust' Post don't charge any fees for foreign cash, but what is their exchange rate in comparison??

bestexchangerates.com.au has some good info on rates for cash and also travel cards.

Travelex info

https://www.travelex.com.au/prepaid-...-cash-passport
note download PDF file showing fees

Let us know how you if you find better options

theotherside

Note the bestexchangerates site is .com.au on the end!

bvlenci

Not all credit unions have low rates. My pension check is deposited in a university credit union, but its rates are no better than a normal bank. Still, it's convenient for me for other reasons, so I don't change it.

RT2015

Thanks theotherside, I don't think I will go for a travel card though. Thanks Maudie, I did look and you're indeed correct. I think this might be a good option also for paying with as a visa, just using the Visa debit option. That's how I live here anyway as I don't use credit cards. It means I don't spend what I don't have!

rellie2

Hi
We travelled to Europe for the first time last year and spent a bit of time researching the best way to access money while over there.
We ended up getting a NAB Travellers Card (we bank NAB) but I think lots of places do them including Aust post. Essentially you pre-load money on them in the currency you want to use over there. I found this quite good as I tried to take advantage of the exchange rates when they were good leading up to the trip. From memory I wasn't charged for adding money to the card. We pre-loaded Euro (but you can load multiple currencies on the one card). We used this as both a Visa and an ATM card to withdraw cash - I don't think we got charged any ATM fees. You can also hook it up to internet banking and we could add our Aussie funds to the card while we we're away.
If you use a credit card/debit card I'm pretty sure all insto's charge conversion fees for each transaction as well as ATM fees. This is worth looking at as for example I know Comm Bank charge a lot more than NAB when converting and you're also subject to the movement on exchange rates on a daily basis.

esj

RT2015, no Citibank Plus is not a dual currency card - it's a simple debit card, but one benefit is that they don't charge any ATM cash withdrawal fees and also no currency conversion fees and their exchange rate is not bad either.

Regarding 28 degrees I never heard anyone having issues and used it myself many times in Europe/East Europe, Japan etc. Newer 28 degrees card has chip so should work fine. Of course it's always good to have another card like Visa as a backup.

Speaking of Visa, I also have Citibank Signature Visa credit card, amongst other good things it offers you also get free travel insurance if you buy flight tickets with this card.

Peter_S_Aus

I am an Australian. I use a Citibank card when travelling, with a Citibank Plus transaction account. No transaction fees on foreign ATM, and a better - by about 1.5% - than the Big Four Australian banks.

Card is chip and pin.

CounterClifton

In answering, it would be good to remember that the rules on conversion and other fees is set by the customer's bank and the bank's rules are set by the market and laws in their home country.

Having lived in the US and Australia, yes - how things work and what is charged are often very different between them. This is also true for domestic business, loans and interest rates... all sorts of things.

I'm making note of some of the advice here myself.