We took travellers and used our card out there, but couldn't tell you which was the best rate (I think it was using the card as our bank didnt charge for the doing it)

If at all possible you could open a Nationwide account. They don't charge for withdrawals abroad and have an excellent exchange rate.

yea ive read about that but ive left it too late

im going on sunday

your assumption looks about right however if you are taking your card PHONE the card dept and advise them or you may find it blocked

Good point about phoning the card company... last year we went to the machine and it wouldn't work (was it this machine we used last time?..) so we went to another machine and it still didn't work (I'm sure we used this one, maybe the link is down?)..so we waited a day and tried again... still no joy... spent 45 minutes ringing back to the UK to get it sorted out !!

Steve

some people dont like leaving loads of money in their safety deposit box, but it doesnt bother me. I dont like travellers cheques. I go into the bank in Protaras with my passport and visa card and get what i want usually 1100 worth of cypriot money, and i only get charged once, personally i cant see the point of going to the cash machine 4 times and drawing 400 out when you can do it once in the bank. last time i was in Protaras my halifax visa wouldnt work in the cash points, it kept saying wrong pin number, which it wasnt.

You can only withdraw CY£200 at a time from the ATMs. If you bring cash, it is best to bring Sterling and change it at the local kiosks who give a very good rate of exchange without commission.

Hi,We came back from cyprus 2 weeks ago.I changed the money here,but wish i hadn't.I got 82 to the £1,but when you changed english money over there you got 86 to the £1.Also we used the machines aswell,but you got charged by the bank for using it and then got charged by our bank back home for the same transaction.I've paid alot of charges,so i've learnt my lesson now.Next time i'm going to take english money and just use the safe which we always get.Good luck,kats

thanks kats and others

cash it is then

It may be worth checking your travel insurance to see how much cash you are covered for in the case of loss or theft.

luci

We opened a Nationwide account and only use it for withdrawing money when abroad......it's great. They don't charge any fee and you can withdraw as little or as much as you need for the holiday. All resorts we have visited have ATM machines that take the Nationwide card and it is just so much more convenient.

Having seen quite a number of posts on the Nationwide card one question how long does it take to replace if you lose it,and how do you draw money during the time it takes to replace????

We have never lost ours yet. When abroad we usually keep it in our safety deposit box along with the spare currency, usually Euros. I always take my Bank of Scotland Visa card with me as back up in case of emergencies but have never needed to use it yet.

We both have a FlexAccount card on a joint account so if one was swallowed, we'd use the other one. We could also use our Nationwide credit card to pay for things.

luci

So what's the rate in Paphos at the moment, 86..??

There is a currency sticky topic at the top of the forum which should be used to discuss exchange rates, etc.

luci

Hi I am still looking for a reply to my question above anyone any ideas.
I am looking at this as an alternative to Travellers cheques which I know will and have been replaced in 24hrs when lost.

I believe with the Nationwide Debit card you would have 2 hopes of getting a speedy replacement especially if you were abroad They do have a lost/stolen dedicated tel number to report it but I doubt very much you would get another card and I've just checked my rules & regs on my card info and it doesn't state anywhere about other means of getting your hands on your money if this happened.

Having said all that the Nationwide Credit Card is a different kettle of fish, again there aren't any charges for using it abroad but they state they will replace via a courier service regardless of where you are.

We have 3 Flex accounts with Nationwide including a joint one so that if anything untoward did happen then we have other options. But if your only going to open an account for the purposes of holiday use then it's not really an option, unless you did a joint account which would give you 2 cards.

Another option to Nationwide is the Post Office credit card as this doesn't charge for use abroad either.

Thank you for your reply,I have an Arab Bank credit card so I will stick to Travellers cheques.