How to take spending money

[bobcat]

Hi everyone

We Have worked out our spending budget for our trip next year and have a caxton fx card.

Just wondering whether other people put all the spending money onto the caxton card or whether its better to take say 20% in dollar notes and the rest on the card

I think they charge for atm withdrawals so figured that it may be best to take some dollar notes in case some places do not accept the card

Advice as to how others manage this would be appreciated

Thanks
Nadim

[SteveandJan]

Hi Nadim, welcome. The prepay cards are useful and you can use them in shops but they usually do charge for withdrawals just like my UK bank does. i would take some cash too, RBS were charging me about 1.25 per transaction and a little more on cash withdrawals

[woldm1]

Hi Nadim - This was brought up in an earlier post. The following was my reply to that and my opinion remains the same.

I have been going to Florida since 1996 and have been on 7 occasions. Each time i have used a mixture of cash and travellers cheques. I have never had an issue with travellers cheques and always get the cash back in change. This way there is no issue with lost cards, ATM transactions charges or anything else. Until there is an issue, I have no reason to change, if it's not broken, don't fix it! I look forward to using my travellers cheques again on October 7th when I am next visiting Florida.

Mel

[Ian Mcc]

Had the debate over cash/cheques/card recently and plumped for mostly cheques with some cash to get us going, looking fwd to spending it all when i go next week

[ncmurray]

You won't need too much in cash, just enough to get through tolls, and for small items of $10 or less. I think Santander are still offering their credit card with no transaction fee for overseas purchases. If you wanted to use a credit card, that might be a good idea.

Nuala

[bobcat]

Hi

Thanks for the info. It does seem that a lot of money agents etc are encouraging the use of these cards rather than travellers cheques, I guess its a bit like cheques here in the UK, nowadays hardly anyone writes a cheque its all card transactions

Hope you have a nice trip next week Ian

Nadim

[kitch50]

We have always taken money + travellers cheques but last year we only took money and that worked brilliantly for us, we kept it in the locked safe in the villa and used it as we needed it. We also take the credit card for emergencies (handbags and the like !!). That is how we will take our spending money when we go next time as it works for us.[msnsmile2]

[sammibabe]

We too take TC's and cash. When we are running low on cash we just pay for something with a cheque and get the change as cash. No aggro, no charge and no having to find an ATM. I asked this within (I think) the last month if you want to have a look at the thread to find opinion. Never had an issue with TC's

[Tonish]

I have been travelling to the USA, more or less at least once or twice a year, for well over 30 years. The last time I used a travellers cheque was much more than 20 years ago. These are yesterday's technology. There are cash machines on every corner, we all have a plethora of debit and credit cards, all shops accept them and I just can't understand why anyone would carry travellers cheques around.

Take a couple of cards and about USD200 in cash. That's all you need.

P.S. Just asked Mrs T when was the last time we used travellers cheques - her response was 'good grief, I've no idea, years and years, do people still use them?'

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I have been travelling to the USA, more or less at least once or twice a year, for well over 30 years. The last time I used a travellers cheque was much more than 20 years ago. These are yesterday's technology. There are cash machines on every corner, we all have a plethora of debit and credit cards, all shops accept them and I just can't understand why anyone would carry travellers cheques around.

Take a couple of cards and about USD200 in cash. That's all you need.

P.S. Just asked Mrs T when was the last time we used travellers cheques - her response was 'good grief, I've no idea, years and years, do people still use them?'[/quote]

Couldn't agree more!

I can't imagine why people would go to the bother of getting TC etc and get a poor exchange rate to boot.

If we don't use them in High Street UK why do people need them in High Street USA?

[Katys Grandad]

Clearly a matter of personal choice but I'd put TC's in the same category as telephone boxes - still there doing the same job but everybody has moved on since they were of any real use although it might be a while before they disappear completely.

Incidentally, am I the only person to notice that cash is going the same way? I flew on American Airlines last week and they have announced that "we no longer accept cash in payment" for in flight food and other items.

After standing behind 2 people in Starbucks yesterday who paid for 1 coffee each with 2 credit cards, I'm wondering how long it will be before just a credit card will suffice.

[ncmurray]

The sooner the better, as far as I am concerned. I just can't get my head around cash, and I never seem to have any on me. The smallest amount I ever put on a credit card was 19p (yes, that is nineteen pence!).

Nuala

[LL]

Credit and Debit cards as the easiest way to travel. Santander Zero Credit card or teh post office credit card have no charge for purchases and Nationwide charge 1% (I think) for credit or debit card use. The only time we use cash is for the tolls. The exchange rates are good very close to the bank rates. You can check all the accounts online so can see the exchange rate being used and how much is being spent!!