I know this has been talked about before, but what does everyone do about debit/credit cards that deal in the local currency of where you are?
E.g. you load it up with say €1,000, and can top it up online from your home bank. Then all transactions and withdrawals are done in euros.
They’re fine as long as the POS and ATM bank accepts them. For example in Greece, Piraeus bank wouldn’t accept these kind of cards. This was from CBA and Westpac respectively.
Had a 2-night stopover in Singapore on the way home. First time leaving the airport there in probably 20+ years. If I’m being honest that’s probably more than enough time for me. Just doesn’t push my buttons (sorry!). And that’s before the climate is taken into account.
The biggest shock was just how expensive the city is. The same level as some of the most popular European capitals. A simple coffee was uniformly around SGD7.50, around AUD8.50. Ouch!!
On the positive side the MRT is fantastic. Everything a transport system should be: frequent, modern, clean, easy to use and gets you just about everywhere. It’s obviously been expanded massively since I was last there.
And, of course, Changi is a destination in itself and a pleasure to use. Can’t say that about many airports.
Agree on most points there. Yeah it’s pretty expensive that’s for sure. I probably could have lived there 10 years ago and had the chance to buy knocked it back. Now the heat and humidity really knocks me around as I’m older and it never used to affect me.
Changi functionally is still probably the best airport going around albeit with a huge advantage of having no domestic traffic to consider. It all just works smoothly and if you are lucky enough to have admission there are are several lounges that are top notch
My kids love the Changi transfers - mini cinema, butterflies, shuttle trains, even when you don’t clear immigration to see all the other stuff in the airport you can kill time well.
I’d do the same, but I’m with Telstra. Their roaming rates are extortionate, so I always get a local SIM. I’m going to Greece and Turkey later in the year and I don’t know if there are any SIMs that cover both countries.
They’re throwing huge amounts of money at it. They’ll be spitting chips it won’t be done in time for the Olympics, but at least there will be very visible progress.
Have you looked into esims?
I’ve found in my past two trips I’ve barely needed to use my travel debit card.
I have a Wise Travel Debit Card - lets you deposit AUD and convert it to foreign currency, or just leave it in there as AUD and withdraw it as the foreign currency in your location. Revolut is the other big one. There are some minor differences but doing a lot of research on both, they are both very good. One of them has more currencies on it (cant remember which).
Most places I’ve been lately have just accepted credit card / digital credit card (via wallet on the phone). The need to withdraw cash has been pretty limited - but appreciate this depends on the country you are going to. I’ve been using the 28 Degrees Travel Mastercard for the best part of a decade. Never paid any fees on it. Been very very good.
I was more hoping to get free travel insurance which sometimes comes with the fancier cards, and looking for something that gives me both. I’ll probably just get €1,000 or so in cash and use my NAB Visa.
Not really. I have no idea how they work or how to use them. Can I buy one here in Oz that can be used in all other countries?
And does it matter that I’m with Telstra?
New iphones and im sure probably samsungs and pixels you can have two sim cards.
A physical one and an e-sim.
An e-sim there is no physical sim card, you just enable it in settings and usually scan a qr code that the provider sends you. (Or some have an app you get from the app store)
Then you just enable it when you land and you can switch to this phone number.
There are cheaper overseas resellers but you can buy them from Australian resellers.
Its about convenience. For a few extra dollars you can sort yourself out before you leave.
The cheapest option is usually always a local sim card but you have to sort that out when you land and show more ID.
Revolut.
0 fees, an excellent app where you can see charges to your card almost straight away. The app is what makes it so convenient.
You can pre purchase currency(ie euros) or get the going rate which is awfully close to what google will tell you on a currency convert.
Has some fees if you withdraw a bit of cash over a limit but none for card purchases. I used one exclusively in brazil recently and it was great.
Loaded my card up with money before i left the hotel for the day with a simple aussie bank transfer via my aussie net bank.
Im still using the card for purchases at home where i want to be careful.(eg internet transactions with an unfamiliar retailer or buying in a foreign currency)
I’ve a CBA Gold Mastercard which comes with free travel insurance. Not an especially fancy card! No requirement to use the card to purchase any of the travel, either. Just register the policy once all your travel details are set.
Wise debit cards get great reviews. I’ve just got one and I’ve used it here but I haven’t tried it overseas yet. Its big plus, like 28Degrees and Revolut, is that there’s no transaction fee or buy/sell differential on FX transactions, although you do have to pay a fee for cash ATM withdrawals. I’ve also found that 28Degrees often won’t work on a non-bank ATM, but I’ve never had problems with an ATM that’s operated by a registered bank.
My latest trip is the first where I had no local currency the whole time. Used a combination of a Latitude/28 Degrees credit card and a Citibank debit card. Worked really well with not a fee in sight.
Obviously this won’t be appropriate in some places but I suspect it won’t be too long before the need to carry cash becomes redundant.
I have friends who’ve just returned home from o/s today and used eSims. I’m catching up with them in the next couple of days and I’ll get all the inside info.
In your settings- in the Mobile section, you can change the provider to eSIM.
As said above you can buy it online and then use the info to install. I believe it’s pretty straightforward.
Not totally sure about phone calls or if it’s just data.
Yeah i had no issues at all with revolut anywhere.
Mind you i used my card a lot rather than cash withdrawals.
When card transactions carry no fees and the exchange is spot on i just basically tapped and go everywhere. Even for the smallest transaction.
It was cheaper than transacting in Australia! (Where the big 4 sock businesses or they sock us a transaction fee all the bloody time!)
Its not normal to pay fees all the time on card transactions.
Yet us aussie consumers just bend over and take it. Like so many other things.
That’s pretty good.
I normally use my NAB Platium card as that comes with Allianz TI but need to spend $500 of travel expenses on the card and have a return airfare booked before leaving.
They pay out very quick though and never had problems with them so I just stick with them.
I use the card as much as possible too, but in some countries it’s not always possible. I was in India for 3.5 weeks last year and cash was needed quite often for purchases and especially tips. I took $500 in rupees with me when I went and had to get the same again from an ATM while I was there.