BB3Lions
Distinguished Member
Ola, has anyone used one of these? Monarch | Travel Money, Currency Cards, Great Exchange Rates | Home if so any good or pointless.
How does the total cost add up though? There are lots of interest/commission free deals available but if your exchange rate is rubbish then the deal is rubbish, end of story.
For, say, £200 into euros its better to pay a fiver and get nearly the exchange rate than have no costs and get 10 centimes to the pound or more lower than the exchange rate.
I've used a similar one which is the Caxton FX card. Have taken it on two holidays now but they were outside the EU, the best card depends on location. Worked fine. Caxton have an app so you can topup your balance with your debit card if you need. I generally split the money as half cash with me and half on the card. I found you get a marginally lower rate via Caxton than using the money counter abroad but it's something like £15 over £1000. For the peace of mind of not carrying all that cash, it's worth it to me.
I have the Euro card and found it very handy. Just use it as you would a debit card in the UK. So no more £1.50 every time you use it like you would with a regular credit/debit card. And if you load it up daily and it gets nicked there's only whatever is on the card that could potentially be stolen if they had your PIN.