Cash/Credit Card or even Travellers Cheques?

[Minimanam]

I guess this question has been asked many times but hoping people can help me make a decision!

In the past we have taken $'s and TC's but I know TC's are becoming less and less common.

We have had a bad experience with Currency Cards so we are very reluctant to use these again.

We have a Natwest Credit Card but know this will be any expensive way to spend money.

We are anticipating spending $2,500 on food, gifts and shopping for the 5 of us over 3 weeks.

Any advice would be most welcome as the depature day is fast approaching

[Scaramouche]

Personally for us it’s cash and TCS! Old school I know - I’m 26 I’m impressed I know what TCS are! But they’re the way for us in America

[malt1977]

$2500 between 5 of you...wow, that’s not much.

Anyway, forget the travelers cheques, that’s so 1990. We took 1/3 of our money as cash, 2/3 on Revolut. We also took our Amex as back up.

[Minimanam]

Originally Posted by malt1977

$2500 between 5 of you...wow, that’s not much.

Anyway, forget the travelers cheques, that’s so 1990. We took 1/3 of our money as cash, 2/3 on Revolut. We also took our Amex as back up.

See more...

We are on the DDP so money for tips, treats, gifts and a quick mall trip

[Burgmeister]

You'll get people giving you pros for all of the options you've asked about.

Personally, we take some dollars (a few hundred- nothing much) then use Revolut for daily spends and a Clarity card for hotels, car hire etc where a hold may be put on the card.

Whilst your Natwest card won't be the cheapest way of spending it isn't as bad as you think. You'll get about as many $ per £ (even allowing for a transaction fee) as you would buying Travellers cheques or exchanging cash (just check out the exchange rates you get compared to the mastercard rate).

[Picalily]

Cash and a credit card for emergencies only

[mick]

Yes it is asked regularly as you say and it's a perfectly reasonable question to ask again and everyone is entitled to a valid and respected opinion.

I might be 73 but I do understand the insurance implications of taking cash and, as at last month, was still capable of spotting the difference between a $1 bill and a $50 note in my wallet.

We are a mature couple who stay in a villa and eat breakfast and dinner out nearly every day. We take cash with a CC as back up and for spending on larger purchases at the likes of Macy's and B&BW.

We take out $100 a day which 90% of the time covers our dining. Anything left goes into a kitty in the safe. When the kitty is large enough we use it for supermarket shopping and gas.

When we run out of our original $$ I withdraw in $600 chunks from Wawa - they don't charge.

Tried a card about 10 years ago. Maybe they've improved but not for us. Seen loads of DIBB posts saying "had trouble with an XYZ card". Never had trouble with little green bits of paper.

Nothing against TC either. Used them up to maybe 6 or 7 years ago but found increasingly that younger staff in stores didn't know how to process them.

Mick

[jonsgirl80]

So what if TC are old fashioned? Still the safest way to take money.

No they are not perfect but i regularly see people posting that they are having problems with their cards so thats not foolproof either!

For us we do a combination - cash,cards and TC. Would never want to rely on a sole source of funding - would always want to have a back up in case one method failed for any reason

[swintonowl]

I would suggest having a look at tandem credit card, no foreign exchange charge and they give you 0.5% cash back. I’ve never had a problem with it being rejected anywhere in the US or Europe. Also gives you more protection than taking cash or putting money on a pre-paid card.

I usually have a bit of cash, credit card (tandem) plus revolut and starling so even if I have a problem with one payment method I should have a backup.

[Andybear]

A lot of Dibbers use the Halifax Clarity credit card for most things as there are no fees for foreign purchases. I'm going on a solo trip in September for 10 nights. I'm staying in Beach Club and have free DDP and free $200 gift card. I'm taking my Halifax Clarity card and about $100 in cash. I'm spending a day in Discovery Cove and will buy a couple of souvenirs there with the card. The rest of my time will be at Disney.