Which is the convinient Aus bank card to use backpacking around the world?
Replies: 15 - Last Post: Jun 7, 2012 4:53 AM Last Post By: parikh333
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Which is the convinient Aus bank card to use backpacking around the world?
I live in Perth, WA, Australia.I have booked tickets to go to few european cities in late June 2012. Then I am off to Russia, Mongolia and China for two months.
I would like to know "Which is the convinient Australian bank card to use backpacking around the world?".
Your help on my querry would be appreciated.
Cheers,
ANkit
2
Any bank will be fine as long as the issued credit/debit card is linked to VISA or Mastercard.However I would stick to larger banks as they may have more resources to assist you should you lose your card when overseas (e.g. 24/7 help desk, partner bank overseas etc)
The pros of a VISA prepaid card (or sometimes known as Travel card from various banks, Thomas Cook etc) has already been highlighted above but note that the rates they give you are not the best compared to just using your credit/debit card and wearing the overseas transaction fee.
5
As some who has lived in Europe for more than 10 years i would advise you to not rely on Credit Cards alone in Europe, just because they are as useful as stones as a currency for the most part. You can pay in big Hotels and at the Airport and maybe get some cash on selected ATM's, but don't expect to pay with a credit card in restaurants, guesthouses or hostels. Also, ask you bank about Transaction fee's and how much it will coast you to use your card overseas. Friend of mine figured out that they charged him an extra $2 or so per transaction, and he was using his card multiple times each day for a number of smaller purchases, instead of just getting a bigger amount of cash from a ATM every now and then.So my advice would be to use cash whenever possible; otherwise go for Visa- oder Mastercard. Stay away from AmEx.
6
Yes. Look into the price. Aus bank fee per transaction can be up to $5 plus 3% conversion fee.I use a Credit Union Visa card (no fee and 2.4% conversion) and carry an ANZ debit Visa card as an emergency, but any Australian bank should be OK.
7
I've used the travelex cash passport which you can get from the post office. the fees on it were reasonable compared to other cards. Plus you can get them in foreign amounts thus locking in the exchange rate, which is the main reason i use them. Budgetting in australian dollars when i'm paying with euros is a pain. If the card is in euros, much easier to track.That said, you need to compare a few things.
Firstly anything that says comission free, may actually have worse exchange rates, so compare the comission free amount converted vs the comission amount converted.
also check the fees for withdrawing, some may have different fees if its an ATM withdrawal vs a credit card transaction.
When it comes down to it though, You may find everything varies by less than 2% which is $20 per $1000, so yes can make a difference, but I can think of plenty of ways to waste $20 :-)
10
Visa and Mastercard credit cards (both) combined with a prepaid of some description and judicious use of ATMs will keep you safe.Never forgetting the $500 (us) in your boots. Changed from time to time if you're squeamish about odour.
I forgot....the two credit cards should be from different banks. Bankwest for instance can let you down at times as all of them can.
Edited by: shaen
11
Never forgetting the $500 (us)Large, centrally located Bank of China offices will cash AUD. I changed some AUD in Guilin last January. And at the moment, you get more yuan / rmb for AUD, than USD, and don't lose out in bank fees to change AUD > USD > Yuan / rmb. (or Euros).
