From credit card, prepaid travel card, debit card to cash, here is best way to carry money while travelling abroad

Travelling overseas, especially for a vacation requires lot of planning and preparations as it involves not only hotel and airline bookings, but also a sound strategy about carrying your money safely in a hassle-free manner. Three things must be followed to ensure you find the best best way to carry money while travelling abroad: 1. it should be in a format that invites less risk, 2. it must give you flexibility to spend anywhere and 3. it must offer benefit of offering reasonable associated charges and currency rate fluctuation impact is limited. 

Before we list the various options, let us tell you what the best option for is? Do not rely on one instrument to carry money in an overseas destination. Go with multiple instruments. Carry some amount in cash as you may need some money immediately after landing in the foreign country. You can carry a credit card for emergency use. Consider carrying rest amount in prepaid travel card too as it is easy to use, can be used to carry multiple type of currency, it is safe to use, and it can be topped up anytime. 

Here is the best best way to carry money while travelling abroad:

Credit Card For Foreign Travel

Credit Card is a versatile financial product that gives us the freedom to spend money anywhere anytime. It is a great tool while travelling abroad as it takes away the burden of carrying physical cash. Before you travel abroad, do check if your credit card is qualified to make a transaction in foreign currency. If not, then ask the card company to enable it. While using the credit card in a foreign country, you need to pay the currency conversion cost which may vary from 1.5% to 3.5%. 

While using the credit card abroad, you must be careful about the place where you use the card to avoid fraudulent transactions. It would be wise to inform the card company immediately if you sense any wrong activity.

The advantage of using the credit card for foreign travels is that it is convenient to use and is handy for sudden plans. Some card companies give you extra points for spending money abroad. However, you should exercise caution while using a credit card as you may end up paying extra charges on your bill. Credit cards may not be accepted at all the places when you travel abroad.

Prepaid Travel Card Option

You can get the prepaid card loaded with desired amount on your doorstep by booking it online. You can also get it from your nearest bank branch as well. You are charged with currency conversion fees each time you use the card abroad. If there is any unutilised amount left in the card after your return, then you can easily redeem it from the issuing bank.

Prepaid travel card can be used for multi-currency transaction, i.e. if you are travelling to more than one country. 

Advantage of a prepaid card is its low forex charges and easy top up facility in case of shortage of funds.

Cash Currency

Cash is preferred by many people due to its quality of easy transaction, quick conversion and acceptance at all the places.

The most important benefit of carrying cash is that you don’t need to worry about money even if you are travelling to a distant location in the foreign country.

While carrying cash in a foreign currency, you always have the risk of robbery. For converting the local currency to a foreign currency, you may need to pay high conversion fee and commission. Also, if you are travelling to multiple countries, then you may need to carry different currency for different country causing unnecessary worry.

Debit Card To Carry Money

Like a credit card, you can carry money in Debit Card while travelling abroad. Ensure that your card is valid for international transactions. You can use the card till fund is available in your bank account. You can also set a restriction on the maximum transaction amount by requesting to the issuing bank.

Debit card is charged for conversion fee when you use it at foreign destination for withdrawing money or to pay at a merchandise.

By Adhil Shetty 

(Author is CEO, BankBazaar)