Best way to bring money abroad??

B

ButtermilkJa

Registered User
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I'm heading to Australia (for 3 weeks) on Saturday and have all my money in my current a/c with my Laser card. Is this the best way to have it, or should I transfer it over to my Visa. I will be bringing a few hundred AUS$ in cash but I just dont want to get stuck at an ATM that wont take my Laser Card (or be charged sky-high fees either!). I will have my Visa with me anyway for purchases, eating out etc. I was planning on using my Laser to withdraw cash from the ATM's in Australia.

Does anyone have any idea of costs involved with ATM withdrawels on both Laser and Visa?

Cheers :)
 
Cash withdrawals (not advances!) from an account pre-loaded (in one go before travelling or as you go while abroad using online banking and allowing for any delays in transferring from current to CC account) cost the amount of the forex margin charged - usually at least 1.75%. There may be security issues with using a CC in this way - e.g. if you stick a load of cash in the account and the card is lost/stolen/compromised and somebody takes the cash then, depending on the terms & conditions of your card agreement, you may be liable for any losses (up to some limit?). Also you need to make sure that the lodged cash covers all withdrawals and purchases over the relevant period of time to ensure that interest charges don't rack up on cash advances.

Laser is an Irish only debit card facility so is useless abroad. However if your ATM/Laser card includes Cirrus/Maestro/Plus+ then these can be used to make cash withdrawals from your current account abroad. Check with your bank for charges but [broken link removed] are the Cirrus charges that my bank (PTSB) levies.
 
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