Travel finances - best cards and accounts

[Whipster]

Hi all, hoping to get some guidance on travel money management. Will be spending the next year in South America, so want to avoid as many bank fees and charges as humanly possible. Based on my research here and elsewhere it looks like the following is the best solution for me and my wife:

Joint Citbank Plus transaction account for day-to-day spending and cash withdrawals

AND

28Degrees Mastercard OR Bankwest Zero Platinum Mastercard with additional cardholder, for other spending

My thinking is that these options seem to have the best fee structure (no annual fees, no conversion fees, no atm fees for the Citi acct) and offer some redundancy - i.e. debit (Citi) and credit options (28D/BW) would both be available, visa (Debit card; Citi) and mastercard (28D/BW) would both be available.

We'd take the existing Diamond CBA cards (Amex and Visa) as emergency backups, but obviously wouldn't use them day-to-day due to the fees.

Because we will be in South America, travel money cards will be ruled out - I have already looked ito QCash, AusForEx, etc - they really only have mainstream currencies not obscure ones like Pesos etc. But if I've overlooked an option please let me know!

Would anybody care to comment on this plan?
- Does the above make sense, have I got anything wrong or missed any other good options?
- Anybody have any ideas as to the better of the 28 Degrees / Bankwest CCs? I am probably leaning toward the Bankwest card, only because they are affilliated with CBA who I do a lot of other banking, but no other real reason.

Many thanks in advance for assisting with my first query on AFF! Cheers, Mike.

 

[burmans]

Hi all, hoping to get some guidance on travel money management. Will be spending the next year in South America, so want to avoid as many bank fees and charges as humanly possible. Based on my research here and elsewhere it looks like the following is the best solution for me and my wife:

Joint Citbank Plus transaction account for day-to-day spending and cash withdrawals

AND

28Degrees Mastercard OR Bankwest Zero Platinum Mastercard with additional cardholder, for other spending

My thinking is that these options seem to have the best fee structure (no annual fees, no conversion fees, no atm fees for the Citi acct) and offer some redundancy - i.e. debit (Citi) and credit options (28D/BW) would both be available, visa (Debit card; Citi) and mastercard (28D/BW) would both be available.

We'd take the existing Diamond CBA cards (Amex and Visa) as emergency backups, but obviously wouldn't use them day-to-day due to the fees.

Because we will be in South America, travel money cards will be ruled out - I have already looked ito QCash, AusForEx, etc - they really only have mainstream currencies not obscure ones like Pesos etc. But if I've overlooked an option please let me know!

Would anybody care to comment on this plan?
- Does the above make sense, have I got anything wrong or missed any other good options?
- Anybody have any ideas as to the better of the 28 Degrees / Bankwest CCs? I am probably leaning toward the Bankwest card, only because they are affilliated with CBA who I do a lot of other banking, but no other real reason.

Many thanks in advance for assisting with my first query on AFF! Cheers, Mike.

Pretty much what I'd suggest.

Not sure about what you are looking for as "better" in the two debit mastercards?

Not sure the link with CBA is going to add much value for you in South America, both are mastercards so acceptance should be the same and fees are similar (or similarly non existant in most cases). GE are a pretty big company in the Americas so I don't see support being an issue, so all in all I don't really think there is any standout winner here.

 

[Pushka]

The 28 degree MasterCard is good. I wish they hadn't removed their fee free ATM transactions though.

Their security is a little OTT though. Eg receiving texts at 3am regarding potential illegal transactions. The information was texted as "confirm 3 transactions with a total of $350 spend". You then have to text back 1 or 2. Trouble is, they don't know who the merchants are, and the $ has been converted to AUD so when overseas that's hardly helpful. And you can't call security until they open at 8.30ish Oz time. But they did stop three illegal transactions before I even knew about them.

 

[Whipster]

Thanks for the replies. Pushka, is your experience with the 28 Degrees card recent? Am I likely to run into trouble if I don't have a phone for security validation purposes? I'm not intending to travel with roaming or a consistent mobile contact number... so I would want to be opting out of all mobile-based protections...

 

[Pushka]

Thanks for the replies. Pushka, is your experience with the 28 Degrees card recent? Am I likely to run into trouble if I don't have a phone for security validation purposes? I'm not intending to travel with roaming or a consistent mobile contact number... so I would want to be opting out of all mobile-based protections...

This happened in the last 12 months. In the end I rang them an explained that their method wasn't helpful in detecting fraud. And that the texts at 3 am were not welcome when I wasn't able to speak to someone for several hours as they were closed. They stopped doing this.

I would call them and discuss it with them. I usually dont bother telling credit card companies I am overseas but I always do with 28 degrees.

 

[Whipster]

Gotcha, thanks very much for the heads up

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for the replies. Pushka, is your experience with the 28 Degrees card recent? Am I likely to run into trouble if I don't have a phone for security validation purposes? I'm not intending to travel with roaming or a consistent mobile contact number... so I would want to be opting out of all mobile-based protections...

I call 28 degrees before I leave and give them my itinerary. I have never received a call/text (but then I don't have international roaming). But my account has never (thankfully) been suspended (touch wood).

 

[Pushka]

My credit card was hacked and we were rung in the Qantas Club on our way to Paris. But 28 couriered a new one to me in Paris less than five days later.

 

[burmans]

My credit card was hacked and we were rung in the Qantas Club on our way to Paris. But 28 couriered a new one to me in Paris less than five days later.

Now thats good service.

 

[williamsf1]

I just returned from South America and used the QF/Bank west debit card .... No issues in getting cash out or paying for hotels etc. The exchange rates were great ... and they do not charge a conversion fee

 

[Sprucegoose]

I would always do this and indicate transaction pattern and levels.

The 3am thing would be time zone from ops.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I usually dont bother telling credit card companies I am overseas but I always do with 28 degrees.

I would always do this and indicate transaction pattern and levels.

The 3am thing would be time zone from ops.

 

[aaflyer]

Now thats good service.

You can get it within 48 hours. They have the capability of doing so via MasterCard services.

I've had Visa, Amex and Mastercards all replaced within 48 hours globally. You may have a 'temporary' card that does not work in a swipe machine or a generic card (I have a Mastercard that says 'mastercard' as the bank; no mention of the actual financial institution).

5 days is actually pretty poor when you're travelling. I rarely spend more than 2-3 days in any one location, and often change plans at short notice.

 

[Pushka]

You can get it within 48 hours. They have the capability of doing so via MasterCard services.

I've had Visa, Amex and Mastercards all replaced within 48 hours globally. You may have a 'temporary' card that does not work in a swipe machine or a generic card (I have a Mastercard that says 'mastercard' as the bank; no mention of the actual financial institution).

5 days is actually pretty poor when you're travelling. I rarely spend more than 2-3 days in any one location, and often change plans at short notice.

The five days was our choice as we were staying in London for two nights (over weekend) first and then in transit. Paris seemed the safest delivery option.

 

[bPeteb]

Pretty close to what we have.

Citibank Plus with additional card and two x 28 degrees with additional cards.

Why two of the latter? When they didn't use to charge for withdrawals we loaded one with cash and one was for purchases. We'll eventually get rid of one of the 28 degrees accounts as the Citibank account has now made the second account unnecessary.

 

[yohy?!]

You can get it within 48 hours. They have the capability of doing so via MasterCard services.

I've had Visa, Amex and Mastercards all replaced within 48 hours globally. You may have a 'temporary' card that does not work in a swipe machine or a generic card (I have a Mastercard that says 'mastercard' as the bank; no mention of the actual financial institution).

5 days is actually pretty poor when you're travelling. I rarely spend more than 2-3 days in any one location, and often change plans at short notice.

Amex is the best for emergency card replacements that are free and prompt - Visa and MC almost always have a heft fee attached for a rush replacement

 

[Whipster]

Thanks for all the replies so far! Sounds like great service with the 28 Degrees card. williamsf1, the QF/Bankwest Debit Card sounds intriguing but I just had a look at their website and it does say that a conversion fee applies - 2.95%. So were you using the card overseas, and not being charged any conversion fees?!

 

[Isochronous]

If you want points, upgrade the BW to Qantas World card

 

[aaflyer]

Amex is the best for emergency card replacements that are free and prompt - Visa and MC almost always have a heft fee attached for a rush replacement

I've never paid a rush fee. Domestic, yes, but never when travelling Internationally. I've had cards from Bankwest, Citibank and HSBC all sent overseas emergency in the past few years without a fee.

 

[Whipster]

The Qantas World card looks good - but there's got to be a catch, right? They can't just be handing out the QFF points for free. Alas, even if there's a minor atm withdrawal/currency conversion fee attached we will have to forego it I think, this trip really is going to be about cutting every cost we can