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| Beemer |
Wade, who is ur Visa card with? I'm curious, cos u say u won't be charged any fees - but every Visa issuer I've looked at charges fees for using ur Visa card overseas.... The general rule seems to be that u get charged something in the region of:
1) 1.5% of the value of ANY foreign currency transaction (whether it be a cash advance or a purchase)
2) for cash advances from an ATM, a minimum of either $4 or 1.5% of the amount
Unless it's Visa Gold - then u don't get charged fees for cash advances overseas, but u do get charged the 1.5% currency conversion fee for purchases....
Can u lemme know who ur Visa is with? Cos if u've got a totally fee-free one, then maybe I need to switch!! hehe I have ANZ Qantas Telstra Visa...
Mastercard has similar rates - I have Virgin Mastercard and with that, u get charged:
1) $2.50 for a cash advance if ur account isn't in credit
2) 1.5% of the value of the cash advance if ur account is in credit
3) 1% of the value for all overseas purchases
So seems to me if u use just credit cards, ur gonna get slugged with fees no matter what u do..........for me personally, the frequent flyer points aren't worth that - cos u have to spend like 15 grand just to get a return flight to melb!! *lol*
For me, using cash will be fee-free....so I'll probably try to do that more than use my cards, at least to start with.......also, with it being fee free it means u can withdraw small amounts every couple of days - so if ur gets stolen u won't lose a large amount like u would if u had enuff cash on u for a week at a time.....
Also wade, u don't need to pay anything to open a UK bank account - don't get conned by the companies here that say its super hard to open an account there, and ask u to hand over cash to assist u in doing it - its CRAP!!! I looked up Lloyds bank on the net, found that they have a specific service which allows non-UK ppl to open an account with them before u even leave Aus - they don't charge anything for it, and u don't have to deposit anything in it to open it....I did that and it worked GREAT!!! Just got my UK account ATM card and cheque book in the mail a few days ago :)
Tubby - if u have a westpac account already, there's nuthin more u need to do :) just keep the list of fee-free atms u can use overseas, and go for it!! |
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| tubby |
| i've never noticed fees on visa for foreign purchases, they just factor that into their exchanges. still ends up better than going to a forex outlet who charge their commission on top of the advertsied rates. |
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| djway |
Never noticed an extra 1.5% on top of my bill for international transactions. Perhaps they sneak like $1.5 on my bills? (sounds familiar, but can't find it listed anywhere).
Anz FF visa.
--djway |
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| stamper |
Haha, someone get a job with Westpac?? :)
I'm quite sure nearly every bank has option where u can take out money from anywhere and not get charged, its not just Westpac. |
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| Beemer |
| quote: | Originally posted by stamper
Haha, someone get a job with Westpac?? :)
I'm quite sure nearly every bank has option where u can take out money from anywhere and not get charged, its not just Westpac. |
*lol* sif i would ever sell my soul and work for a bank :p
believe me i've done the research - westpac really does seem to be the only major aus bank that is part of any international alliance that enables fee-free atm transactions overseas....every other bank i looked into charges anywhere from $1 to $5 to use foreign atms :(
wade, my Visa is ANZ too - so, ur definitely gettin slugged 1.5% on all ur foreign currency transactions - if u use net banking, have a look at ur credit card statement on there - under all ur foreign transactions it'll say "Includes ANZ Conversion Fee $XX.XX AUD" - mine all do........it doesn't seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it can add up fast if ur using ur Visa a few times a day overseas......well, it's enuff to make me not wanna use it for absolutely everything over there..... |
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