When we were in Melbourne we had an absolute nightmare changing £ into Aus$ ,we had to pay commission on every transaction - and that was where we could get someone to change the money -including banks!!

Thanks for that Denny.

When I said cash, I did mean Australian and New Zealand Dollars.

Did you take pre-loaded card that you can get now?

Sue

I only take pounds as a pure back up, you may be able to change them at the airport, but I never tried anywhere else. I used ATM's or my CC all of the time and never had a problem.
Looking in to obtaining of the prepaid cards may be the answer then you are not paying fees everytime you use your dedit or credit cards.
I'm sure there is a topic somewhere about the best place to get a prepaid card.

Just saw your next post Sue. Prepaid is probably the answer

Sue
The question is do you want to carry lots of cash around with you, a card and cash might be the answer. It's always the safest to carry more than one form of payment.

Judith

Thanks Judith

We also take some cash with us on holiday, not much, just enough for emergencies, never safe to take too much. Just looking on line at these pre-paid cards, there are quite a few to choose from. Also we do have out CC and Debit Cards which we will take. Could I ask you how much they charge for getting money from the ATM's using a debit card. Say for instance we wanted 100 punds worth of AUS, how much would the charge be?

Thanks.

Sue

Norwich & Peterborough Building Society have an account which allows free withdrawals using their debit card from an atm. Have used it in Australia & New Zealand.

Sue

I have an account with the Halifax, it's not one of the better ones, they charge 2.75% for foreign exchange on each purchase or cash withdrawal and a flat 1.50 pounds each time I use the card abroad . Most banks charge different amounts. It's worth while to do a bit of research for the best rates, as Babs says her bank allows free withdrawals.