I am travelling overseas for the first time next year. I just wanted to know what is considered the best card for travelling and thought this group would be best to ask as I am a bit of a noob in this situation.
I am probably looking more for a pre-paid card as it is a one off international trip. I'm just worried about using my Bankcard overseas as the conversion rate and fees might be expensive. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks for the suggestion! I had a look at the terms of the card though and it said $350 withdrawal from ATMs per month were free, not per day. Am I missing something?
Sorry, you're correct. It's $350 withdrawal a month with anything after that a 2% fee (just checked on the app).
Similarly, it's $9000 a month for currency exchange a month and 0.5% fee afterwards.
Looks like Wise or Revolut is the best, i was using Citibank global currency account before covid but seeing as they have just been bought out by NAB i doubt they will be good anymore..
There's a wiki page on it:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/cards_with_no_overseas_tra…
Prepaid cards are generally more expensive in terms of exchange rates. There are bankcards with no international transaction fees which will work out better than prepaid currency cards.
This wiki is the best resource. Check out the Commonwealth bank Ultimate card. Effectively no annual fee, and earns rewards points, plus all the travel benefits.
I use a Citibank savings account to draw cash from ATM's all over the world fee-free.
Both these cards use the Mastercard exchange rate, which is identical in both directions, so there are no fees & no commissions.
UP Bank has been working well for me. No international fees and can send Wise transfers directly from the app.
For spending (i.e. where I can use a credit card) I used Bankwest Platinum Zero. For ATM withdrawals 86 400 works fine (I also had Citibank but the card didn't work on my last trip).
I always bring cash.Credit card only for emergency.
I’ve been using Revolut. Works well. Only downside is small cash out limit. Is fine for me as we don’t use cash.
Been using it in the uk and just been to Croatia and all happy days.
Thanks all for the suggestions. Many options that I would never had considered so the Ozbargain community has come through for me and I appreciate it.
I will probably get Wise or Revolut as both seem to be cost effective and easy to use with good transfer rates and low fees.
Where are you travelling? Some countries have unique circumstances that make certain cards/alternatives better than others.
Singapore.
Singapore is one of the good countries for ATM usage, you'll be fine with any of the suggestions above.
Can't speak highly enough for the Citibank Debit card.
No ATM fees. No extra conversion fees. Works with Apple Pay. I recently used it in Bali with the taxi apps (Gojek, MyBluebird and Grab) and it was seamless - prepaid taxis at local rates is an absolute gamechanger.
Have used it in 50+ countries for about 8 years. Lost it in Russia and Indonesia and had cards delivered to both locations in barely 2-3 days. Needed the help of a branch in Thailand when my card was expiring, they couldn't have been more helpful.
Have also used the Bankwest credit card; no complaints and very similar to the Citbank (I'd have both operating if I was going overseas for 3+ months) - except when I returned to Australia to apply for new credit cards for points churn, they asked me to close this.
So, all up, set up a Citibank and it's basically good for life.
I used the Citibank Plus for many years and it worked well. However, on a recent trip to South Korea, the card failed to work (it did on previous trips there). It seems like the Citi Plus card only works for selected currencies now.
it's more of the issue with the ATM than the card itself. There're similar report in other countries, even Wise and Revolut are in the complaint too.
Except Citibank was bought by NAB. Not sure how long the Citicard will last for - certainly not for life unfortunately.
I used revolut recently in Indonesia and it was great.
Conversion rate was good (excluding weekend) and can withdraw from ATM up to $350 a day - all of this without any additional fees per transaction.