Supercharging abroad.....

[Mr H]

to avoid 'foreign transaction fees' i have ordered one of these which links to your bank account.

Supercharge in local currency with no extra bank charges, just link it in your account as with any other card

Currensea – a travel money card that connects to your bank

 

[speedyranger74]

Used Revolut for my trip across to Europe

 

[mick4545]

I prefer to use a pre-payment card. That way I can load euros to it on the rare occasions when £ is up. My card has £s and euros on it. I've tested it on a UK Supercharger but won't be able to check it out in Euroland until November.

 

[Mr Miserable]

to avoid 'foreign transaction fees'

Except for an extra 0.5% on the exchange rate or £25 per annum!
I use a credit card that doesn't charge for foreign transactions and is free.

 

[CMc1]

Except for an extra 0.5% on the exchange rate or £25 per annum!

Classic marketing

 

[LongRanger]

Starling bank also offer a Euro account with wholesale exchange rates and you can use your UK debit card “in euros”.

 

[Mr H]

I've no intention of opening yet another bank account - this option is not for everybody but it suits me. the meagre fee is tiny in the grand scheme of things and it took me all of 2 mins to set up. My time is more important.

 

[M3noob]

to avoid 'foreign transaction fees' i have ordered one of these which links to your bank account.

Supercharge in local currency with no extra bank charges, just link it in your account as with any other card

Currensea – a travel money card that connects to your bank

But do they tool you on the exchange rate?

TANSTAAFL

 

[LongRanger]

I've no intention of opening yet another bank account - this option is not for everybody but it suits me. the meagre fee is tiny in the grand scheme of things and it took me all of 2 mins to set up. My time is more important.

... roughly the same time it took me to open the Starling account ! All digital done through the phone, including ID checks. I like the options they give you as you have contactless debit card plus Apple Pay etc so all bases covered with the Euros account a cheeky free bonus.

 

[MrBadger]

Worth noting that Starling is a pretty good exchange rate too. Plus its faster than instant, so even before the third party has notification that the transaction has gone through, its already popped up on the Starling app showing the indicative £ pricing - it may change by a few penny's when it is settled overnight. So you get early warnings of dodgy transactions and what sort of exchange rates to compare it with. Not for everyone though. App based only, no web or physical sites but they do have phone.

 

[Jeeves]

There are now many alternative Internet-based bank accounts that offer near perfect exchange rates. Each seems to have a subtly different way of doing things combined with different options for non-core banking activity.

I use Revolut and Monzo. You occasionally get an issue with one or the other, so it is handy to have a backup and be able to draw quite a bit of cash out of an ATM with no fees. I also like the fact that you can instantly transfer just the amount of funds you need to cover anticipated expenditure for a day. Heck, you can even use a credit card with ApplePay to top up your Revolut account and not incur any charges to withdraw it as cash.