Travel Money for Sailors

In this post we look at making your travel money go further. I always say that it does not matter if you forgot to pack something as long as you have money and a passport, anything you forget can be easily purchased.

If you know in advance what country you will be travelling in you can arrange foreign currency, however remember many countries do not allow you to buy or take currency out of there national borders.

Carrying large sums of cash is never a good idea, often on a trip you may make an unexpected stop in a foreign country due to poor weather  or mechanical problems. The two most accepted currencies in the world are the Dollar and the Euro, sadly the Euro has taken over from the British pound. In many developing countries marina staff, pilots etc. prefer their little gifts (bribes) in dollars. Try and carry notes that are not too large to avoid problems with change.

When changing money the most important thing to consider is the rate you are getting and weather there is a handling fee. When dealing with large sums of money the difference can be huge. Your first defence is having a rough idea of the exchange rate, XE's website is one of the best they also have an App you can download a and view off-line if you have a smart phone. One of the best sources of information (sorry for the UK slant) is Martin's Money Saving Website. This is regularly updated with the latest best offers.

It's a fair bet that if you use a foreign exchange desk at the airport or your banks ATM card you will get ripped off. One common problem with credit and debit cards is the new security measures. When the system sees transactions from aboard it assumes fraud and blocks your card. This is very embarrassing in a  restaurant when you come to pay your bill. It used to be the case that you could phone your bank in advance to let me know which countries you are travelling to but this does not always work. You have been warned!

The safe way to carry cash used to be travellers cheques, although they are secure they were a real pain as you had to go to a bank to exchange them and if you lost them, the paperwork was a nightmare. The latest alternative are pre-paid debit cards. The great thing about them is that you do not require a credit check or an account to receive a card. You simply pre-pay the amount of money onto the card you want for your trip. You then use the card overseas as normal, as they have a chip and pin code they are very secure. At the moment they are only available in Euro's   or US dollars. Being MasterCard it is widely accepted and unlike your bank card you will not be changed for taking money out of an overseas ATM. Fairfx offer by far the best rate and if you top up more then 500 pounds there are no fees.

Part Two of this Article will be published In Feb 2010