Travel Money

[mike carey]

I feel a certain degree of cognitive dissonance posting this after posting about spending cash to buy J class tickets rather than chance an award ticket or points upgrade, but here we are. My excuse (and I'm sticking to is) is that I'm looking for value in both cases. It's also a topic that comes up from time to time.

The consensus always seems to be to pay with a card that offers points or no foreign transaction surcharges or preferably both, and for cash (sometimes cash is king) use a local ATM at your destination after researching what your bank charges. Not everyone agrees of course!

I had generally followed that script but also bought currency at the Travelex at the airport which had reasonable rates, and no commission if you ordered online to collect at the airport.

In planning ahead I'd again done local research online and then went into my bank (HSBC) to ask them. After a brief conversation, somewhat at cross purposes, with the concierge (or whatever he was) who seemed to be saying that they didn't do random exchanges of currency notes, turned out they do it for customers. Their rate (with $10 flat commission) was 1.5 cents better than what I'd found on line. My account is multi-currency and if I'd chosen I could have withdrawn US cash directly from the US funds in the account (which I'd bought at 10 cents higher than today's rate and which I can add to at the prevailing rate any time online). (Later, if I need to, I can deposit any US cash back into the account without converting it.) [Any purchases I make or cash I withdraw in the US with my HSBC debit card come from my US funds.] Not for everyone but another data point in the travel money conversation.

I have to thank @Tarte Gogo for suggesting the Honkers and Shankers as a good bank if you travel, or are something of an itinerant resident.

[+ Tarte Gogo]

Thanks, but HSBC is not what it was anymore in the US. A few years ago, they were still interested in retail business here, but They have now closed most of their branches here as they focus on large accounts only.
I had to leave them.
They are still very strong in the rest of the world.  

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

I always use no foreign transaction fee credit cards, and use a no foreign transaction fee debit card to withdraw cash in the local currency at the airport.  I wanted to get a second debit card account in case one was lost or the account became frozen while abroad.

I researched and found Charles Schwab offers a no fee, interest bearing debit card account with no foreign transaction fees, AND they reimburse all ATM fees charged by others.  It sounded too good to be true, but I've been using it for about six months and it has delivered.  At the end of each month I get a deposit equal to the sum of all ATM fees I incurred that month.

The only caveat: I had to open a Charles Schwab brokerage account, but that also has no account maintenance fees and I am able to leave it sitting empty and still take advantage of their debit account.

[mike carey]

46 minutes ago, Tarte Gogo said:

Thanks, but HSBC is not what it was anymore in the US. A few years ago, they were still interested in retail business here, but They have now closed most of their branches here as they focus on large accounts only.
I had to leave them.
They are still very strong in the rest of the world.  

That's a pity but I guess the banking landscape is crowded in the US. There are few HSBC branches here, only one in Canberra, and they aren't chasing mainstream customers, but there are enough branches if you live in larger cities. Even the high street banks are closing branches here, to the exclusion on many suburbs and not-so-small towns, and internet banking and apps are king these days. HSBC here has foreign transaction fees if your transaction doesn't draw on local currency already in your account.