Preferred card to load cash on for Europe & England

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Question if I may about this 28deg card.

Effectively this is a credit card . So the way I read it is say you load $1000 onto the card you are putting the card into credit and then you use this as a way of withdrawing cash at an ATM.Then you can still use it as a credit card which comes off you balance.

 

Just doing the pros and cons with this card against the CBA travel card.

 

Cheers

Johhno

 

That's right..... but I wouldn't go loading too much onto the credit card at once. With the ease of the internet I would load it the night before you need to attack an ATM and then withdraw the amount the next day from the shore ATM. Might I suggest you both get one.... you can use yours for the credit transactions and S can use hers for the cash withdrawal.... just make sure you keep the cash withdrawal one in enough credit so you don't get charged interest. You will have to use it now and again for purchases but you can easily keep an eye on your transactions online. We did this on our cruise this year and it worked out beautifully. It sure is easy to keep a control of your spendings nowadays due to the internet. :D

[joll]

...... So the way I read it is say you load $1000 onto the card you are putting the card into credit and then you use this as a way of withdrawing cash at an ATM.Then you can still use it as a credit card which comes off you balance.

Johhno

 

It is a MasterCard, so its main purpose is to be used as a credit card for purchases.

 

However, it is possible to load it with cash by using BPay which can be withdrawn at an overseas ATM displaying the MasterCard symbol.

 

For example, If your credit limit on the card is $5000 and you load it up with $1000 cash (ie. $6000 available funds for use), you can withdraw cash up to $1000 at an ATM overseas without paying the international transaction, conversion or advance cash fees.

 

However, my understanding is that if you were to use it to purchase goods/services say for $800 before withdrawing any cash, that would immediately reduce your available funds to $5200, and only leave you $200 (the amount left above your credit limit) to withdraw for cash. Any amount of cash withdrawn in excess of this would then incur the high cash advance fee from the date of withdrawal. Therefore, if you are using this card for your onboard cruise expenses, remember that the cruiseline will submit your account on the disembarkation date, thus immediately reducing or probably eliminating the amount of cash you may want for any post cruise expenses.

 

We have successfully used this card for a number of years for our onboard cruise account, PayPal, overseas ATM withdrawals and general day to day credit card purchases. There are no annual charges and we have never paid any fees.

 

If you get the card, give it a test run by transferring a small amount into it by BPay, go to a Westpac Bank (no ATM fee), try your PIN and withdraw up to the amount. There should be no fees and hopefully you will have no trouble overseas. Make sure you let 28 Degrees know where and when you are travelling!!!!

 

Also we have found that because you have to use BPay to load the card and pay the account, it may take 3-4 days for the transactions to show up in your account on internet banking.

[Johhno]

Thanks for the replies.

28 deg card has now been ordered.

 

Big hello to Billy and Charlie's Mum ( and dad ) from R & S

 

Cheers Johhno

[Pushka]

Also, remember that Hotels etc quarantine a portion in excess of requirements which might also bite into funds availability for fee free withdrawal.

[Australian family]

I have successfully applied for one of these cards for when we next travel. And my parents who are going to Europe have applied for one as well.

 

I have spoken to them and they told me to go to this website for currency conversion rates:

 

https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/

[newfarmers]

28 degree master card. Perfect for OS travels. No ATM fees and excellent currency conversions in YOUR favour.

 

Make sure you dont pre load with a lot of cash without also using it as a credit card. Establish it as a credit card first (ie use it for purchases before pre loading). Dont load thousands all at once, but do it in chunks and buy something on credit during the process.

 

Not sure why you've stated the above Pushka. We load LOTS onto one of our accounts before we go to use for cash withdrawals. The other we also load some cash so as to lessen bill shock when we get home. We usually don't make purchases on the cash card during a holiday unless we're using the last of the cash up. If there's lots left we just draw it from a westpac machine when we get home (free).

 

We have two accounts with two cards each. The cash withdrawal cards have an identifier on them so that we know which one to use.

 

We were contacted by 28 degrees last week due to someone making some small fishing transactions on one the cards. Card stopped and replacement received within three days.

 

Great service from GE Money. We were very concerned when wizard sold to GE but nothing has changed at all.

 

cheers

 

pete

[Pushka]

Not sure why you've stated the above Pushka. We load LOTS onto one of our accounts before we go to use for cash withdrawals. The other we also load some cash so as to lessen bill shock when we get home. We usually don't make purchases on the cash card during a holiday unless we're using the last of the cash up. If there's lots left we just draw it from a westpac machine when we get home (free).

 

We have two accounts with two cards each. The cash withdrawal cards have an identifier on them so that we know which one to use.

 

We were contacted by 28 degrees last week due to someone making some small fishing transactions on one the cards. Card stopped and replacement received within three days.

 

Great service from GE Money. We were very concerned when wizard sold to GE but nothing has changed at all.

 

cheers

 

pete

 

 

Because some people have had their cards cancelled for doing exactly what you have done. That is why I posted. :rolleyes: Using the card as a debit card and not a credit card is against their terms and conditions. You are using the card as an ATM fee free, excellent exchange rate debit card. GE do not make any money when you do that so why would they allow it. You have been lucky using the card as a debit card and may simply have been missed. Your luck may or may not hold. Check the forum site I quoted earlier.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Thanks for the replies.

28 deg card has now been ordered.

 

Big hello to Billy and Charlie's Mum ( and dad ) from R & S

 

Cheers Johhno

 

Hello to you both too! All is well with you two over there? :D:D

[Xcitdcruiser]

Thank you all for the information posted. Another question with the 28 Degrees card which I don't think has been asked -

With the falling rate against the USD I'm thinking it may be a good idea to 'lock in' an exchange rate, or 'buy' USD before our AUD$$ before it falls further.

If I were to apply for a card, use it as credit & bpay AUD I assume it wouldn't buy USD?

 

The amounts would continue to be AUD & only when I withdraw in the US would it use the best rate at THAT time....

 

Is this correct? If so, any recommendations on how to purchase USD now with minimal or no fees?

[Pushka]

Yes. You can only get Aussie dollars while in Australia. Your best bet is to get actual USA dollars. But the banks charge fees and the exchange rate is poor. There are some cards that preload USA dollars, maybe Travelex? NAB? And the Qantas card coming out soon will allow this also. Unfortunately it is only the 28degree card that has no fees and good exchange rate.

[joll]

If I were to apply for a card, use it as credit & bpay AUD I assume it wouldn't buy USD?

 

The amounts would continue to be AUD & only when I withdraw in the US would it use the best rate at THAT time....

 

Is this correct? If so, any recommendations on how to purchase USD now with minimal or no fees?

 

Your balance in the account will always be in AUD. If you charge any goods or get cash from an ATM overseas, it will be at the exchange rate for the day it is processed by MasterCard.

 

USD to AUD is a straight transaction by MasterCard (because it is US based), but I vaguely remember something about if you buy goods in another currency ie. EUR, it may be processed through the USA as EUR-USD-AUD.

 

We usually order currency through our local Australia Post. They say there is no commission but the exchange rate may be a couple of cents less. They don't charge an administrative fee like some banks ($8).

[Xcitdcruiser]

With the 28 degrees card,does anyone know where one can find the exact exchange rate they use? I read on another post it's currently at .88 but xe.com is .92?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[The_Big_M]

With the 28 degrees card,does anyone know where one can find the exact exchange rate they use? I read on another post it's currently at .88 but xe.com is .92?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

It's very close to the mid-rate or interbank rate that you can find on various sites. As of right now, that's around 0.922 to the USD (if that's the currency you're after). Note that other currencies are converted to USD first, so there's an impact due to that.

 

There is an indication also available here: https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/

 

although it's not working for me at the moment. Also note the rate does change throughout the day in line with market activity so there will be slight variations from the above - it's not a single rate per day.

[Xcitdcruiser]

It's very close to the mid-rate or interbank rate that you can find on various sites. As of right now, that's around 0.922 to the USD (if that's the currency you're after). Note that other currencies are converted to USD first, so there's an impact due to that.

 

There is an indication also available here: https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/

 

although it's not working for me at the moment. Also note the rate does change throughout the day in line with market activity so there will be slight variations from the above - it's not a single rate per day.

 

Thanks Big M!

For some reason the tool isn't actually working :/