Luxury Hotels - Luxury globetrotters - travelling with sufficient funds + currency xchange costs

I wanted to ask a practical question to forum members concerning travel and foreign currency; especially for those adventurous forum members who might find themselves in remote countries and/or rural environments where accessibility of banks and funds is not always convenient, or comes at a lofty price.

As most are surely aware, there are exorbitant foreign exchange costs when sourcing most credit or debit cards for purchases or sales in foreign countries/currencies, making direct plastic transactions wholly inefficient. Most banks or credit cards charge anywhere between 2.5% to 5% conversion on their daily listed rates (not always reflective of the actual dollar for dollar exchange!) which adds up significantly when travelling in excess of tens of thousands of dollars for hotels, food, tourism, etc.

I am now banking through Bank of America in the U.S. and TD in Canada. The former charges $5 per ATM transaction + 1% currency exchange on all transactions, not sourced through the Global Alliance network of ATMs. In the interest and common sense of not carrying around thousands of dollars on person at any given time, this makes cash withdrawal a major hassle and inconvenience in certain cities or regions where say, a BoA associated ATM might not be accessible. These are not things I want to worry about on a vacation anyhow! TD fares only slightly better, but charges an even higher fee on the currency exchange. I believe I pay somewhere in the realm of 3% fees on my Visa for all swipes and withdrawals (cash advance) too.

Again, when spending in excess of 20-30k on a luxury trip, these costs can be significant and accumulate quickly. It's no fun to have to worry or even consider these things when enjoying a vacation.

I am travelling to the Middle East next month with my girlfriend and we're estimating about 26k collectively in expenses. I am looking into several options including pre-paid Visa cards or something similar that might allow me the option of withdrawing cash from global ATM's and branches without conversion costs, and for direct payments offering low/minimal exchange fees, if any. Traveller's Cheques are an inconvenient, non-secure form of payment and not necessarily widely accepted as currency; especially in remote areas. I'm unsure of what other resources are available and had made a note to explore options this coming week, as our trip is coming up soon. As most of you are frequent travelers who surely at times, based on the nature of this forum, do so on a premium or lavish budget, I wanted to ask how the majority of you chose to safely and securely carry money when travelling outside of North America, and without being subjected to the high price of exchange rates through major banks and credit cards?

You are planing on spending 26K on what? Are you talking about pocket money or to pay for hotels airfares etc? If the second then book your hotels in advance if you are talking about pocket money then good luck.

I wanted to ask a practical question to forum members concerning travel and foreign currency; especially for those adventurous forum members who might find themselves in remote countries and/or rural environments where accessibility of banks and funds is not always convenient, or comes at a lofty price.

As most are surely aware, there are exorbitant foreign exchange costs when sourcing most credit or debit cards for purchases or sales in foreign countries/currencies, making direct plastic transactions wholly inefficient. Most banks or credit cards charge anywhere between 2.5% to 5% conversion on their daily listed rates (not always reflective of the actual dollar for dollar exchange!) which adds up significantly when travelling in excess of tens of thousands of dollars for hotels, food, tourism, etc.

I am now banking through Bank of America in the U.S. and TD in Canada. The former charges $5 per ATM transaction + 1% currency exchange on all transactions, not sourced through the Global Alliance network of ATMs. In the interest and common sense of not carrying around thousands of dollars on person at any given time, this makes cash withdrawal a major hassle and inconvenience in certain cities or regions where say, a BoA associated ATM might not be accessible. These are not things I want to worry about on a vacation anyhow! TD fares only slightly better, but charges an even higher fee on the currency exchange. I believe I pay somewhere in the realm of 3% fees on my Visa for all swipes and withdrawals (cash advance) too.

Again, when spending in excess of 20-30k on a luxury trip, these costs can be significant and accumulate quickly. It's no fun to have to worry or even consider these things when enjoying a vacation.

I am travelling to the Middle East next month with my girlfriend and we're estimating about 26k collectively in expenses. I am looking into several options including pre-paid Visa cards or something similar that might allow me the option of withdrawing cash from global ATM's and branches without conversion costs, and for direct payments offering low/minimal exchange fees, if any. Traveller's Cheques are an inconvenient, non-secure form of payment and not necessarily widely accepted as currency; especially in remote areas. I'm unsure of what other resources are available and had made a note to explore options this coming week, as our trip is coming up soon. As most of you are frequent travelers who surely at times, based on the nature of this forum, do so on a premium or lavish budget, I wanted to ask how the majority of you chose to safely and securely carry money when travelling outside of North America, and without being subjected to the high price of exchange rates through major banks and credit cards?


I believe most international hotels are equipped to receive a wire transfer, particularly for a five-figure bill. You'd only need a credit card to guarantee the booking.


In terms of 'petty' cash for meals and the like, I don't think a few thousand USD split between two people is unintelligent to travel with provided that you take typical precautions. I'll usually withdraw $1,000-$2,000 in local currency prior to a trip--sometimes more if it's Euros and I"m traveling to several continental European countries. Of course, this isn't always an option for more 'exotic' states and currencies.

Having said all that, I put most things on my Amex, as whatever the exchange fees are, I at the very least break even with the points that ultimately accumulate.

As most are surely aware, there are exorbitant foreign exchange costs when sourcing most credit or debit cards for purchases or sales in foreign countries/currencies, making direct plastic transactions wholly inefficient.

This has changed dramatically in the last year. Several of the Chase cards have no f/x fees. There are AMEX cards that do not as well. I now carry my Chase Sapphire card when I am traveling internationally and use it preferentially wherever I go.

This has changed dramatically in the last year. Several of the Chase cards have no f/x fees. There are AMEX cards that do not as well. I now carry my Chase Sapphire card when I am traveling internationally and use it preferentially wherever I go.

I hope that's the Chase Sapphire Preferred (or whatever it is called), the regular, free Chase Sapphire has a 3% FX charge.

This is a discussion that happens regularly in the credit card forum. I am going to refer the poster to what appears to be the most relevant thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1250450&referrerid=14479

As to ATM cards, if you are staying regularly at luxury cards, you should be able to have a sizable enough relationship to get a totally fee-free ATM card. For example, Citibank makes such an offer to their CitiGold members, and I bet most other major banks do too.

Since this thread is not about luxury hotels, I am going to suggest that further discussion continue in the above-referenced thread and close this one.

RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotel forum