Cash?Travellers cheques? prepaid plastic?
 

I'm planning on taking loads of cash on my trip (hidden all over the bike and me) but read an article in the Money section of todays Guardian (a Uk newspaper - sorry couldn't find a link on their website). It suggests getting a pre-paid MasterCard currency card. I've had a quick look and the Caxton FX Global card looks the best. Caxton FX Currency Cards - Global Card, Euro Card, Dollar Card, No ATM Fees, Best Foreign Exchange Rates, Chip and PIN Secure, Prepaid MasterCard


You load the card with money from your account and can pay with it or withdraw from a cashpoint abroad with no charges. It's also safer as if you lose it it's not connected to your bank account.

I can't see a down side and am planning of getting one next week. Anyone got one of these? Is there anything I'm missing and a good reason why I shouldn't bother ( and should get travllerers cehques???)

The currency card sounds like a solid idea, may get one m'self when they are available here.

Whatever you do do NOT get travellers cheques. They are a by-gone era's solution. They are far too cumbersome to use as you need to take them to a bank to get cashed, and usually pay a hefty fee for t he privelege, pus wait in line ... if the banks are open. Small denomination cheques might be accepted at small businesses , but then you still need cash to make up exact amounts. And roadside stalls do not deal in cheques nor credit ca

Also do NOT stash cash all over the bike.When you need it yiou will likely not be near the bike, and what if the bike gets stolen? Bye cash.

Carry your passport and cash card and any other banking cards on your body someplace at all times .Get a supply of cash to last a few days and replenish your supply as needed. Credit card can serve for big emergency expenses

I used a thing called a Travellex card when I went to the US. I bought the card in US dollars and I can recharge it online from my normal bank account as I go, just allowing for the transfer times, I allowed 5 working days.

This allowed me to get cash from any VISA cash dispenser, as a cash advance from pretty much anywhere I needed it.

Note though, they have limits. They charged me 2-3 bucks for each transaction so I made sure I took out the daily limit of $800. Some Central and South American cash dispensers would not allow this, so the max they would give me was $150 and it still cost the same, factor this in.

There is also a limit to the amount of funds passing through that card or $30,000 in 12 months, so if you use it for ALL purchases as well as cash, this can soon add up, then you must return home for a new one, just keep this in mind, it is to stop international money laundering.

As for carrying cash all over the bike, yes it is a good idea to do so. But, not thousands and thousands of dollars. I carried $300 in low denomination US dollars for emergencies on my bike. I also carried most of my cash money on my person but not in my wallet, only a minimal amount there.

Make sure if you take a credit card, that you take two, one Visa one Mastercard(do not take american express, no shop wants them). The reason for two is because if like me you get scammed. you can cancel that card, apply for a refund and still have spending power on the other one. Recently I only had one card and when it was cancelled I then had to wait in Buenes Aires for an extra week or so before I got an emergency card sent out and could then buy a plane ticket out of there.

Cheers
TS

I looked into these a while ago and will be getting one. The only thing to bear in mind is when is the exchange rate applied. With some its when you load the card, with others its when you spend it as I recall at least. So if you think the Euro is going to take a nosedive while you're using the card and buying in pounds, then having the rate fixed now may not be the best choice.
Caxton has been reccomended to me before though, and may even do both types?

:)=

Yeah I have a couple of these, no harm in carrying them. Definitely better than hiding money everywhere, what if you ride through a river or something lol.

Hi George,

I used to work for a company that specialised in comparing ways of transferring money and carrying money when travelling etc and can confirm that pre-paid cards are the way forward.

We're currently on the road at the moment and the card I chose from all those we reviewed was the Caxton Global card. It's dead simple to load money onto your card from your bank a/c, is free to withdraw cash from the vast majority of ATM's, it's accepted like a credit card, and the exchange rate we get is the closed 'bank' rates and not the high street rate.

A combination of our 'his and her' caxton global cards and a hidden stash of cash is all we need.

Get one, it's the best on the market.

The other one I couldn't remember yesterday!

FairFX

Santander Zero and Saga Platinum CCs do not charge any fees for o'seas transactions, Nationwide do not charge in Europe and a couple of French outposts but 1% in rest of the world. Nationwide DCs with a flexaccount source of cash charge 1% except for the above so as a good combination maybe the Santander Zero which is Mastercard and the Saga Platinum which is Visa with some prepaid cards or Visa DCs for ready cash is the best idea. ride safe.

Thanks for all the info.

I'm gonna get a caxton Global which loads pounds and then converts into the other currency when I do the exchange.

Check out my blog in a couple of months to see how it goes!