Nationwide0% load in Europe, plus extra perks

• Loading (exchange rate fee) Europe: 0%  | Worldwide: 1%  

• Cash withdrawalsFee: 2.5% min. £3 | Interest: Yes even if repaid in full

• Representative APRs Spending: 16.9% | Cash: 27.9% (see official rate example)

If you never travel outside of Europe, are aged over 25 and earn more than £25,000, Nationwide's* Gold card is a good option. It's fees-free for european travel, though charges 1% for worldwide purchases, and a 2.5% cash withdrawal fee everywhere.

Good for european travel plus extra perks.

The big bonus is the fringe benefits of a year's extended warranty and purchase protection on UK-bought electricals (see the Credit Card Perks guide). It also offers 15 months 0% on balance transfers with a fee of 3% of the amount transferred, see the Best Balance Transfers guide for how this compares.

Sainsbury's Gold Includes travel insurance, but £5 a month

• Loading (exchange rate fee) Europe: 0%  | Worldwide: 0%

• Cash withdrawals Fee: FREE | Interest: No, notif repaid in full

• Representative APRs Spending: 20.1% | Cash: 24.9% (see official rate example)

The Sainsburys Gold* card charges no fees whatsoever for overseas spending, and gives you worldwide family travel insurance, but you have to pay a £5/month fee to get it.

Fees free abroad plus annual worldwide family travel insurance included, but costs £60 per year.

It has a 0% load worldwide - meaning it gives a perfect exchange rate - no cash withdrawal fees and doesn't charge interest on cash if paid off in full each month, beating even Halifax for pure rate.

The travel insurance covers two adults under 65 and up to six children worldwide, including up to 17 days of winter sports per year. See how this compares in the Travel Insurance guide.

This is a good option if you'll use the additional perks. You can cancel at any time and only pay the fee for months you've used - though remember like all cards you will be credit scored.

Other top travel optionsIf you already have one or can't get Halifax

These cards nearly match those above, so if you have one it's probably not worth switching away

Saga Platinum

• Loading (exchange rate fee) Europe: 0%  | Worldwide: 0%

• Cash withdrawalsFee: 2% (min £2) | Interest: No, notif repaid in full

• Representative APRs Spending: 11.9% | Cash: 19.6% (see official rate example)

For over 50s: The Saga* Platinum card has no load fee worldwide, but does charge a low-ish 2% (min £2) for ATM cash withdrawals. The big plus is there's no interest on those if you repay in full each month (many credit cards charge 25-30% even if you do).

Santander Zero

• Loading (exchange rate fee) Europe: 0% | Worldwide: 0%

• Cash withdrawalsFee: FREE | Interest: Yes even if repaid in full

• Representative APRsSpending:18.9% | Cash: 27.9% (see official rate example)

Branch only for most: Santander Zero* has no usage fees worldwide, but only existing Santander customers can apply online (branch only otherwise). You'll pay 27.9% cash withdrawal interest even if you fully repay. The T&Cs mention a £10 dormancy fee, but Santander says it's never been charged; to be safe use the card every so often.

Post Office Credit Card

• Loading (exchange rate fee) Europe: 0% | Worldwide: 0%

• Cash withdrawalsFee: 2.5% min. £3 | Interest: Yes even if repaid in full

• Representative APRsSpending: 16.9% | Cash: 24.1% (see official rate example)

Alternative option The Post Office* credit card has no foreign exchange loading anywhere, so you get the best possible exchange rate at all times, and anyone can apply online There's a 2.5% fee (min £3) for cash machine withdrawals, plus 24.1% interest, so Santander Zero beats it if you take cash out while abroad.

Do you want a debit card instead?

If you can't get a credit card due to a weaker credit rating, or would prefer a bank account with a debit card to spend on abroad, you have a few options:

• Norwich & Peterborough BS has changed its current account range, for both new and existing customers, to have 0% overseas spending fees and no cash withdrawal fee worldwide. However to avoid all charges you must meet some requirements...
  • Gold Classic
    
    The Gold Classic card* charges a £5 fee unless you pay in £500 per month (approx £6,100 salary). There's also a £5 monthly fee if you go into your authorised overdraft by more than £10.
    
    If you apply via moneysupermarket (the link above takes you there) you'll get a £150 holiday voucher, however it can only be used on brochure holidays for minimum seven day stay for two people. It's likely you can beat this price using our Package Holidays guide.

  • Gold Light
    
    The Gold Light card charges £5 if you make fewer than five transactions a month. There's no authorised overdraft for new customers, so ensure you don't spend more than you have in the account or you'll be hit with some big fees.

• Santander Zero. If you have a Santander savings account with over £10,000 in, or a mortgage or investment product with it, you could apply for the Santander Zero* account, and get fees-free spending and ATM withdrawals worldwide.
  
  Provided you haven't already got a current account with Santander, you'll also get a £100 sign up bonus. See Best Bank Accounts guide for how this compares.

• Top prepaid card. You top these up with cash, then can spend as much as is on there, see the specialist overseas prepaid cards section.

• Load-free debit card (London only). New high street player Metro bank charges no foreign exchange loading or cash withdrawal fees on the card that comes with its current account. However, you have to go to one of its four London branches to get one (its opening more in future, but all within the M25 area).

Top overseas card charges table
	Halifax Clarity	Nationwide Credit	Saga	Typical Debit	Typical Credit
Load Europe	None	None	None	2.75%	2.75%
Load Worldwide	None	1%	None	2.75%	2.75%
Spending Fee	None	None	None	Some cards up to £1.50	None
Cash w/d fee	None	£3 or 2.5%	£2 or 2%	£3 or 3%	£3 or 3%
Cash w/d interest (fully repaid	12.9%	27.9%	No	N/A	Up to 22%
KEY
Good		Mid		Poor

Getting the cheapest foreign cash

Don’t ever think that commission free automatically makes it a winner, if you want to get the best deal for spending overseas, it involves a combination of the best exchange rate and the lowest commission (read more on commission versus rate ).

To cut through this, we’ve built a special daily updated free website at TravelMoneyMax.com. It whizzes to all the main online bureaux de change to compare who'll give you the most foreign cash, incorporating commission charges and rates for every country.

Though do remember if your money is held by a currency provider, eg, buying in advance, it's not protected if it goes bust, so be careful.

TravelMoneyMax.com can only search companies with an online presence, luckily though these usually undercut their high street competitors. It’s occasionally possible to get a better rate at some local specialist dealers. Yet this is rare and they’re only located in areas with large amounts of overseas visitors where competition on rates is very high, such as Bayswater in West London.

If you live near these it's worth checking them out; if they do start websites and delivering currency, they'll be added to TravelMoneyMax.com.

Beware when paying on credit OR debit cards!

Sadly, buying currency from a bureau de change in the UK on a credit or debit card isn’t always treated as a UK transaction. All credit cards and some debit cards charge an additional fee on top of what you pay the bureau de change. See a full list of cards that charge.

The cards that charge...

• All Credit Cards.
  
  All credit cards charge a fee of around 2.5% (minimum £3) when you buy foreign currency; it's treated like withdrawing cash from an ATM. In addition, you could be charged interest from the day you make the purchase, even if it's repaid in full at the end of the month. See a full table of charges

• Visa Debit cards.
  
  If you have one of the following debit cards, you'll be charged a 2%-ish fee. The banks that charge issue 'Visa Debit' (previously Delta) cards, though that doesn’t mean every Visa Debit card charges.

Debit cards that DO charge a fee	Debit cards that DON'T charge a fee
Santander	Coventry BS
Alliance & Leicester	First Direct
Barclays	Halifax
Cahoot	HSBC
Co-op	Intelligent Finance
Lloyds TSB	Nationwide
Smile
Natwest / RBS

Got a card that charges?

There are a number of options...

• Use a different card if possible. This is the simple option.

• With debit cards withdraw cash and pay with that.
  
  Take the money out of a UK cash machin with a debit card and use that to pay at a high street bureau de change and you'll avoid the fee, though check the gain isn't defeated by a worse rate.

• Spend on the card itself.
  
  With most of the cards you're likely to be better off by just spending on it while overseas, than buying foreign cash with it.
  
  The big exceptions are Lloyds and Santander debit cards, which if you spend on them abroad will slap ANOTHER charge on top every time you spend in a shop, as well as the normal foreign currency fees - these are the DOUBLE cards from hell.

Read More

Pick it up at the airport, but always pre-order

The worst place to exchange money is the airport. Don’t assume you’ll get the same rate there as at a bureau de change’s high street branch or online quote, it's usually much worse.

The best thing to do if you want the convenience of airport pick–up, is order it online first and then ask to collect it at the airport, you get a much better rate.

Prepaid cards for added security

Prepaid cards do exactly what they say on the tin; you load cash onto one, and then it can be used in shops and restaurants just like a debit or credit card.

While not quite as cheap as the specialist credit or debit cards, the vast majority are accepted by most shops which take the Maestro network (the substantial bulk) both in the UK and abroad.

Their big advantage over cash is if you lose your card, for a fee of around £10 most providers will replace it, with all the funds in tact. Lose a wallet of Dollar bills in Times Square and it's gone for good.

Prepaid cards have a variety of different charges, but the two top cards keep these to a minimum. More Info: Prepaid Card Fees

The Cheapest Overall: FairFxNo spending or 'load' fees.

• Cash withdrawals€1.50 / $2

• Loading (exchange rate fee) 0%

• Currencies: Euros/Dollars

• Top up: Free via Debit card online

• Exchange rate: FairFX's own rate, determined daily

The FairFX* prepaid card, which must be applied for online, charges no spending or foreign 'loading' fees, and can be topped up for free by debit card or bank transfer.

Cheapest card prepaid overall

Apply via its own website and there's a £9.95 application fee, but the link above takes you through comparison site Moneysupermarket, meaning the fee is waived provided you load more than €10/$20.

To get the fee structure described here, you must select either Euros or Dollars - so obviously no good if you need a more exotic currency. If you go for the third option - the Anywhere card - you'll be hit with a 1.5% charge for every transaction.

However, with FairFx it's the rate on each day you load up (not spend) that counts. So if the pound strengthens after you load the card, you will lose out. Though conversely if it weakens you'd gain. You get a different rate each time you load the card.

The only cost is €1.50/$2 to withdraw cash from an ATM, less than most credit or debit cards. You get FairFx's own exchange rate, which changes daily but generally beats the other prepaid cards and cash rates (compare it with TravelMoneyMax.com's best).

The next cheapest: CaxtonFxNo fees, but slightly worse exchange rate

• Cash withdrawalsFree outside UK or €2/$3

• Loading (exchange rate fee) 0%

• Currencies: Euros/Dollars/Sterling

• Top up: Free via Debit card online / tel

• Exchange rate: Caxton's own rate, determined daily

Next best is Caxton FX*, again available online, which also has no spending or foreign load fees and can be topped up online or over the phone for free by debit card. You get Caxton's exchange rate, which is usually worse than FairFX but beats the best you’d get for cash.

No fees, but not as good exchange rate

Again, the Euro and Dollar version of this card will charge less than the 'Global Traveller', and the former are the one's described here.

The minimum amount of foreign currency you can load up the card with is £100/€150/$200, and there's no ATM withdrawal charge outside the UK.

Travelex Cash PassportIf you need a card quick

• Cash withdrawals:FREE

• Loading (exchange rate fee): 0%

• Currencies: Euros/US/Dollars/Sterling

• Top up: 2% (min £3)

• Exchange rate: Travelex's own rate, determined daily

Not far behind is the foreign exchange giant Travelex’s Cash Passport. There's no fee for spending abroad, but it does charge 2% when you top up online, by phone or in stores.

Some fees, but easier to get at speed

You’ll get the prevailing Travelex exchange rate, generally not as good as FairFX/Caxton, and the exchange rates you get on the best credit and debit cards.

The big boon over the above cards is it's available at Travelex branches, plus Thomas Cook and Co-op Travel agents, meaning you can get one mega quick if your holiday is soon, though buy there and you can only then top-up in branches (where you'll be charged that shop's commission) or by bank transfer .

It charges a £2/€3/$3.50 monthly charge if the card goes unused for twelve months. If you’re heading towards that situation, simply cancel the card as it’s rarely worth it.

What happens if the Prepaid card company goes bust?

All prepaid cards listed are backed by a bank or building society. If the prepaid card company goes bust then the bank or building society that issues the cards will be liable for your cash.

However if the bank or building Society who provides the card goes bust your cash is NOT protected. While with some institutions the money can be ring fenced in separate accounts (though it may be with the bank themselves) there is always a very minor risk as the money is not counted as a deposit thus not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

So as a precaution do consider it only a card to have enough cash on for immediate spending requirements rather than as a place to store your cash.

The Debit and Credit cards from hell

While the right card is absolutely the best way to spend abroad, the wrong one is absolutely the worst way.

Use most plastic overseas and you could be hit by a thwack of hidden charges. This includes a load on the exchange rate so £100 of foreign currency costs you £103; cash withdrawal fees on both credit and debit cards; as well interest charges even if you pay off in full. More info: Read the full hidden holiday spending charges note.

These are bad enough, yet six specific debit cards have yet another fee, so they're the cards from hell. Let's make this plain – do not use the following cards for spending overseas; any of the methods above beat them.

Halifax Debit Card
Spending penalty: £1.50. Load fee: 2.75%. Cash withdrawal fee: £1.50

Lloyds Debit Card
Spending penalty: £1. Load fee: 2.99%. Cash withdrawal: 1.5% min £2 max £4.50

IF Debit Card
Spending penalty: £1.50 Load fee: 2.25%. Cash withdrawal fee: £1.50 or 1.5%

RBS Debit Card
Spending penalty: £1.25. Load fee: 2.75%. Cash withdrawal: 2% min £2 max £5

NatWest Debit Card
Spending penalty: £1.25. Load fee: 2.75%. Cash withdrawal: 2% min £2 max £5

Santander Debit Card
Spending penalty: £1.25. Load fee: 2.75%. Cash withdrawal: 1.5% min £1.99

Full list of charges for major UK credit and debit cards.

 

Halifax Clarity Credit Card

Keep things simple with clarity

The Clarity card is our newest credit card with no usage fees and a simple rate of 12.9% APR representative variable, however or wherever you use it.

If you apply by the 6th March 2011 you'll also be able to benefit from the balance transfer offer too.

• 2% cashback on balances transferred in the first 90 days (up to £60)*
• No balance transfer fee
• No cash withdrawal fee
• No fee to use it anywhere worldwide
• No annual fee.

That's it, it really is that simple

Representative Example:
Based on borrowing £1,200 repaid over 12 months	the representative rate would be 12.9% APR (variable).	The purchase rate is 12.92% pa (variable).
Credit limits and interest rates will vary based on your individual circumstances.

We're giving you even more reason to apply:

We're offering a bonus cashback reward on any balances you want to transfer in the first 90 days. So if you've any balances on a card with a higher rate you can make a double saving. Firstly, benefit from having lower interest payments and secondly, for every balance that you transfer when you first open your account you'll get a 2% cashback reward (up to a maximum of £60).

*To benefit from the 2% cashback on balance transfers offer:

• Transfer a balance to your Clarity credit card and you'll get 2% cashback credited to your account. This offer applies to balances transferred in the first 90 days and is available to new customers only.

• The maximum cashback value is £60, so if you transfer a balance of more than £3,000 your cashback will be capped at £60.

• The cashback amount will be applied within 30 days of the balance transfer being added to your account.

Find out more about our personal pricing in your APR explained (new window).

Credit available subject to status to UK residents aged 18 or over.

Halifax is a division of Bank of Scotland plc. Registered in Scotland No.SC327000. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ. Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority. We subscribe to The Lending Code; copies of the Code can be obtained from www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk.

Please note, whilst we don't charge a cash advance fee some independent cash machine providers may charge a fee for their service. The cashback reward on the Halifax Clarity Credit Card is tax-free and will be credited directly to your credit card account