Do travel card research

Do travel card research to avoid overseas Christmas holiday cost surprises

Travel cards can provide a safe and convenient way to pay for things when you are overseas, but if you use one that’s not suited to your requirements, there could be problems and unexpected costs, says Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden.

“We’ve issued a Quick Guide on Travel Cards because we receive complaints from people caught out by fees or charges they didn’t expect or because they didn’t fully understand how the card worked. What makes it worse when there is a problem is that it can be hard to work out where to complain, and our guide explains that too,” Ms Sladden said.

Travel cards enable travelers to load money onto the card which can then be converted to different foreign currencies. Several different currencies can be held on the card at once.

“But different cards have different fees and charges so it’s important to know what your card requires in advance. Depending on the card it may or may not have fees to load money or withdraw from ATMs. There may even be a cost if you don’t use your card for a while.

“Another thing to know is that if you don’t have enough local currency, any spending may be deducted in another currency and currency conversion charges may apply,” Ms Sladden said.

Here are some tips for using travel cards based on Banking Ombudsman Scheme complaints:

• first and foremost, protect your travel card PIN like any other PIN-operated bank card - see our Quick Guide on Looking after our credit and debit cards and PINs

• try to have enough of each local currency you want loaded onto your card to cover your costs in each destination

• have another means of accessing funds while travelling

• balance the convenience and safety benefits of using a travel card to withdraw cash against any costs as some travel cards offer free ATM withdrawals, but others charge a fee

• be aware that if you use your travel card to check in for services such as hotels, cruises or rental car companies, these businesses will generally ‘pre-authorise’ an amount to your card to check its validity and ensure there are sufficient funds to pay for at least part of transaction

• until this pre-authorisation is lifted you won’t be able to use those funds for other purchases so you may wish to consider taking a credit card for pre-authorisation

• read your travel card’s terms and conditions for all the applicable fees and charges.

ENDS

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